Florida Technician Wins Trip and Ride-Along with Vaughn Gittin, Jr.

MAHLE Aftermarket Inc. has awarded Robert Lewis, a technician from Lakeland, Florida, with the Grand Prize of its latest social media promotion. Lewis received a trip to the first round of the 2019 Formula Drift championship at Long Beach, California, on April 4-5; but the high point of the trip for Lewis was experiencing a ride-along with RTR Motorsports Drift Team Driver, Vaughn Gittin Jr.

“I follow Vaughn on social media and that was where I saw the MAHLE promotion,” Lewis said. “Getting to go to Long Beach to see the cars was a thrill, but getting to actually ride in one was an experience I’ll never forget. You’re taught when you learn to drive to keep your eyes forward. But in these drift cars, you have to look out the side window. It’s amazing how easy Vaughn makes it look.”

Lewis has been a technician at Lakeland Ford for more than two years. While the dealership uses original equipment parts from Ford, he has noticed the MAHLE logo on many of the engine parts they use. “I know that MAHLE makes many of the original equipment parts for Ford. The quality obviously has to be first rate.”

“When MAHLE approached RTR with the chance to collaborate on a really unique social contest, I was stoked about the opportunity,” said Vaughn Gittin Jr., president and founder of RTR Formula Drift. “It was really cool to hang out with Robert and his wife Vanessa and give him the ride of his life in a 1,200 horsepower Ford Mustang RTR Spec 5-D with MAHLE parts inside. I think this was an experience he will never forget!”

The trip to Long Beach was a return home for Lewis.

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