One-Two Finish for Scion at 2015 Formula Drift Irwindale
Photos by Andrew Chen
The final round of the 2015 Formula Drift (FD) season was definitely one for the history books as the teams and drivers gave it their all in front of a sold out crowd at Irwindale Speedway on Saturday, October 10th.
Fredric Aasbo vs Kristaps Bluss – Top 32
Under an abnormally hot Southern California sun, Fredric “The Norwegian Hammer” Aasbo secured his 2015 FD USA and FD World championship by advancing to the Top 16 in his Rockstar Energy Drink Hankook Tire Scion tC. With a sizable points lead coming into Irwindale, Aasbo’s win over Kristaps Bluss in the round of 32 made it mathematically impossible for anyone else to challenge the #1 spot.
Fredric Aasbo
With 2nd place in the FD USA championship still up for grabs, Ken Gushi and his GReddy Performance Scion Racing FRS pushed through to the Top 16 by defeating Jhonnattan Castro, despite experiencing two engine failures during Thursday’s practice and Friday’s qualifying sessions.
Ken Gushi
Before the evening’s main event, I caught up with GReddy Performance President Kenji Sumino and asked him about the challenges his team has faced over the week. They pulled an all-nighter, from 9 PM on Friday to 7 AM on Saturday, in order to get the FRS’s 840 horsepower 2JZGTE into competitive form. Even with routine engine refreshes throughout the season, the two motors that the team rotates through were simply “getting tired,” making it difficult to predict which component(s) would fail next. They’re considering a three engine program for next season to combat these late-stage gremlins.
Sung Kang and Ken Gushi talking shop.
In addition to maintaining a winning drift machine, GReddy has also been busy building a custom 1973 Datsun 240Z race car for actor Sung Kang (Fast & Furious, Better Luck Tomorrow), which will debut at this year’s SEMA Show. The entire build process is being documented by eGarage and Fox Sports Digital in a series called Z Dream. For my gearheads, the highlight of the build will be a GReddy Performance naturally-aspirated RB26 motor that will rev to 10,000 RPM. You can get a behind-the-scenes look at the project on Sung’s official Facebook page.
Final battle: Ken Gushi vs Fredric Aasbo.
As the sun set and the track temperatures cooled, I made my way back to the Scion Racing suite to witness some of the best drifting action this side of the Pacific Ocean. Starting on opposite ends of the elimination bracket, Gushi and Aasbo fought their way through the competition until they met in the final battle. Gushi was the first to lead with a fast and clean run, but Aasbo maintained an aggressive position by his side.
Fredric Aasbo wins first place.
In the reverse order, Aasbo pulled away from Gushi and ultimately claimed first place for the event — icing on the cake for the 2015 USA and world series champ.
Photo courtesy Formula Drift.
It was an awesome 1 – 2 finish for Scion, who’s been dominating this season along with Hankook Tires, and a bittersweet conclusion to the season as this is the last time FD will race at Irwindale Speedway. The city of Irwindale has approved a project to turn the race track into an outlet mall beginning as early as 2016.
For complete event results, go HERE.
Stay sideways, fellow drifters! See you at Long Beach in 2016.
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