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Formula DRIFT Round 7: Final Fight Results

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Formula DRIFT Round 7: Final Fight Results;
Fredric Aasbo Takes the Event Victory and Wins the Overall Pro and World Championship

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Long Beach, Calif. – October 11, 2015 – Formula DRIFT presented by GoPro finished the 2015 Pro Championship and World Championship season at Irwindale Speedway. Fredric Aasbo in the Rockstar Energy Drink / Hankook Scion tC had a successful evening winning the final event of the season, while taking both the Formula DRIFT Pro Championship and inaugural World Championship.

Round 7: Final Fight showcased tremendous action to a sold out crowd at Irwindale Speedway. Drivers had to adjust to a new course configuration which created a new dynamic to the competition. Close to 400,000 viewers tuned into the Driftstream to watch the Finals weekend.

“History was made tonight with the crowning of the first World Champion,” said Jim Liaw, President of Formula DRIFT. “Having the PRO 2, Pro, and World Championship all come to a climatic finish at Irwindale Speedway made for a very special weekend. The fan base continues to grow each and every year and the sell out crowd was treated to a very entertaining event.”

Aasbo entered the event with a significant lead in the points standings, yet was able to keep his cool and drive consistent throughout the night. As the event unfolded, he was able to clinch the Pro and World Championship by moving on to the Top 16 competition creating a significant point margin that could not be overcome. Aasbo met with Hankook and Scion Racing teammate, Ken Gushi, who sat in second place in the standings, in the Finals. Aasbo edged out Gushi to take the win and make a clean sweep for the weekend. Gushi finishes the season in second place overall, his highest finish in his career. Number one qualifier, Forrest Wang, in the Get Nuts Lab Nissan S15 rounded out the podium with a third place finish. Two-time Formula DRIFT champion, Chris Forsberg in the NOS Energy Drink / Hankook Nissan 370Z finishes the season in third place overall.

The night was successful for Scion and Hankook as they finish with the Manufacturer and Tire Manufacturer season championship. Scion also finished one and two in the event and overall for the season. Hankook finished successfully with a first, second, and third place finish in both the event and overall championship, making for the first podium sweep for the tire manufacturer in their Formula DRIFT history.

“What an incredible night. Winning the event and clinching the Formula DRIFT U.S. Championship and the first World Championship, you couldn’t have scripted a better story,” said Fredric Aasbo, winner of Round 7: Final Fight. “It’s been a rollercoaster and we’ve had ups and downs over the past five years, but the team has stayed on top of everything helping to grow to a championship contender and I couldn’t be more proud of what we have achieved this season.”

For more information visit: www.formuladrift.com and find Formula DRIFT on Instagram, Facebook and Twitter. Tune into Formula DRIFT on CBS Sports and check your local listings for airtimes.

Round 7: Final Fight Event Results

1. Aasbo, Fredric Rockstar Energy Drink / Hankook Scion tC Winner
2. Gushi, Ken GReddy Racing / Hankook Tire Scion Racing FR-S 2nd Place
3. Wang, Forrest Get Nuts Lab Nissan S15 3rd Place
4. Pawlak, Justin Roush Performance / Car Crafters Ford Mustang 4th Place
5. Whiddett, Mike Red Bull / Mobil 1 / Mazda “Radbul” 5th Place
6. Forsberg, Chris NOS Energy Drink / Hankook Tire Nissan 370Z 6th Place
7. Bakchis, Aurimas Feal Suspension / ARK Performance / Nitto Nissan 240SX 7th Place
8. Ng, Charles Maxxis / Sparkplugs.com / Speedhunters Infiniti G37 8th Place
9. Field, Matt CX Racing / Yokohama Nissan S14 9th Place
10. DeNofa, Chelsea BC Racing / GT Radial BMW 3-Series 10th Place
11. Foust, Tanner Rockstar Energy / Nitto Tire Volkswagen Passat 15th Place
12. Tuerck, Ryan Retaks / Maxxis / Nameless Performance Scion FR-S 12th Place
13. Yokoi, Masashi D-Max Nissan S15 Silvia 13th Place
14. Essa, Michael SLP Performance / Yokohama Chevy Camaro 14th Place
15. Saito, Daigo Achilles Radial Nissan GT-R 15th Place
16. Mordaunt, Pat DriftPaddock.com / Falken Tire Nissan 350Z 16th Place

2015 Formula DRIFT Championship Presented by GoPro Top 3 Final Standings

1. Aasbo, Fredric Rockstar Energy Drink / Hankook Scion tC 530.00 Points
2. Gushi, Ken GReddy Racing / Hankook Tire Scion Racing FR-S 431.00 Points
3. Forsberg, Chris NOS Energy Drink / Hankook Nissan 370Z 382.00 Points

2015 Formula DRIFT World Championship Top 3 Final Standings

1. Aasbo, Fredric Rockstar Energy Drink / Hankook Scion tC 793.00 Points
2. Bakchis, Aurimas Feal / ARK Performance / Nitto Nissan 240SX 534 Points
3. Field, Matt CX Racing / Yokohama Nissan S14 407 Points

2015 Manufacturers Championship Final Standings

1. Scion 1113.00 Points
2. Nissan 640.00 Points
3. Ford 515.00 Points
4. Chevrolet 390.00 Points
5. Mazda 318.00 Points
6. Infiniti 229.00 Points
7. Dodge 222.00 Points
8. BMW 193.00 Points
9. Toyota 123.00 Points

2015 Tire Championship Final Standings

1. Hankook 1094.00 Points
2. Achilles 696.00 Points
3. Nitto 673.00 Points
4. Falken 659.00 Points
5. Yokohama 642.00 Points
6. Maxxis 555.00 Points
7. GT Radial 356.00 Points

Formula DRIFT PRO 2 Irwindale Speedway Results

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Formula DRIFT PRO 2 Irwindale Speedway Results;
Alex Heilbrunn Wins the PRO 2 Championship

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Long Beach, Calif. – October 9, 2015 – Formula DRIFT PRO 2 completed the final event of the 2015 season at Irwindale Speedway. Juha Rintanen in the Juha Rintanen Motorsports Nissan S14 takes the event victory while Alex Heilbrunn in the IMR BMW 3-Series wins the PRO 2 championship.

The PRO 2 finals provided an action packed evening for the Friday night crowd. Rintanen, the number one qualifier, met Cameron Moore in the final battle. Rintanen out drove his opponent to take his first PRO 2 victory and move up to third in the overall PRO 2 standings.

“I’m so excited as we had so many troubles over the past two years here in Formula DRIFT PRO 2,” said Juha Rintanen, winner of Round 4 of 4 events of the PRO 2 Championship. “We stayed here for two months and tuned the car better so it turned out for the best.”

The top eight finishers in PRO 2 will earn or renew their Formula DRIFT Pro license next season.

“It’s been great to see how PRO 2 has developed and it will be exciting to see these young drivers enter the Pro Championship,” says Jim Liaw, President of Formula DRIFT. “The future of the sport can be found through many of these talented up and coming drivers.”

Peruvian driver, Heilbrunn put the finishing touch on his successful season with a fifth place finish to take the PRO 2 championship. Despite not finding the podium, Heilbrunn accumulated enough points through the season to enter the Finals with the title clinched.

“It feels amazing! I’ve had a great season and great team,” said Alex Heilbrunn, winner of the PRO 2 Championship. “It was good that everything came together and we were able to perform the way we wanted to and get the championship and I want to thank everyone that was part of it.”

For more information visit: www.formuladrift.com and find Formula DRIFT on Instagram, Facebook and Twitter. Tune into Formula DRIFT on CBS Sports and check your local listings for airtimes.

PRO 2 Round 4 of 4 – Irwindale Speedway Event Results
1. Rintanen, Juha Juha Rintanen Motorsports Nissan S14 Winner
2. Moore, Cameron VIP Performance / Falken Tire Lexus SC300 2nd Place
3. Lawrence, Kevin Enjuku Racing Nissan S13.4 3rd Place
4. Jones, Jeff DNA Motoring Nissan S14 4th Place
5. Heilbrunn, Alex IMR BMW 3-Series 5th Place
6. Litteral, Ryan N/A 6th Place
7. Gray, Andy DriftEbisu.com / Achilles Tire Toyota Chaser 7th Place
8. Evans, James Sikky Racing Nissan 350Z 8th Place
9. Sumida, Hiro Bluemoon Performance / Tomei Powered USA Toyota Cressida 9th Place
10. Wicknick, Brandon Chase Bays / RUN2JZ Nissan S13 10th Place
2015 Formula DRIFT PRO 2 Championship Standings
1. Heilbrunn, Alex IMR BMW 3-Series 354.00 Points
2. Evans, James Sikky Racing Nissan 350Z 229.00 Points
3. Rintanen, Juha Juha Rintanen Motorsports Nissan S14 228.00 Points

Formula DRIFT Cancels China World Championship Round

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Long Beach, Calif. – September 29, 2015 – Formula DRIFT announced today the cancellation of the final round of the World Championship that was originally scheduled for December 2015 in southern China.

The Formula DRIFT team has been working very hard to make this event a new and exciting part of our Series, but unfortunately Irena World and Goldenport Enterprises did not meet their contractual obligations. Our ability to operate events depends on the mutual effort of our partners and without that, we cannot put our sponsors, teams and employees at any unwarranted risk.

Due to the cancellation, Round 7 at Irwindale Speedway will be the final round of the World Championship and will be worth double points for the World Championship contenders. We will also still honor our World Championship prize purse.

Formula DRIFT World Championship: Canada Round Results

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Formula DRIFT World Championship: Canada Round Results;
Fredric Aasbo at Top of the Podium in Canada

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September 10, 2015 – Scion presents Formula DRIFT Canada entered Autodrome St. Eustache for the 8th Round of the inaugural Formula DRIFT World Championship. Fredric Aasbo in the Rockstar Energy Drink / Hankook Tire / Scion tC take the victory to extend his World Championship points lead.

Formula DRIFT Canada at Autodrome St. Eustache was the second world championship round outside of the U.S. Thousands of fans came to witness the on-track action from 39 drivers that represented 8 different countries including the home country of Canada.

“Canada has shown to be a valuable market for the Sport and the Series. The fans here proved once again that they are some of the most enthusiastic fans in the world,” said Jim Liaw, President of Formula DRIFT. “The drivers awarded the fans with a dynamic and dramatic competition.”

The semi-finals pitted two World Championship contenders, Fredric Aasbo and Matt Field in a battle against each other. A mechanical issue with Field’s car caused a sudden power shut off which forced his car to straighten out giving Aasbo the win to advance to the finals. The other semi-final match-up was an all-Canadian battle between two Quebec locals, Tomy Boisvert-Bellemare in his Signature KCS Nissan S13 and Marc Landreville in his Perry Performance Nissan S14. Bellemare edged out Landreville to get to the finals to face World Championship points leader Aasbo.

In the final head-to-head battle, Boisvert-Bellemare challenged Aasbo with aggressive and close driving. Both drivers were near perfect in their lead and chase run, but a slight correction by Bellemare helped the judges make the unanimous decision giving Aasbo the victory.

“Hats off to all the local competitors who welcomed us to their home and put on an amazing show here this weekend in St. Eustache,” said Fredric Aasbo, winner of Formula DRIFT Canada. “The win here was the icing on the cake and great momentum for the team as we head into Irwindale next month.”

The 2015 Formula DRIFT World, Pro, and PRO2 Championships will continue to Irwindale Speedway: Final Fight on October 9-10 just outside of Los Angeles, California. For more information visit: www.formuladrift.com and find Formula DRIFT on Instagram, Facebookand Twitter. Tune into Formula DRIFT on CBS Sports and check your local listings for airtimes.

Formula DRIFT Canada: Autodrome St. Eustache Event Results

 
1. Aasbo, Fredric Rockstar Energy Drink / Hankook Scion tC Winner
2. Boisvert-Bellemare, Tomy Signature KCS Nissan S13 2nd Place
3. Field, Matt CX Racing / Yokohama Tire Nissan S14 3rd Place
4. Landreville, Marc Perry Performance Nissan S14 4th Place
5. Ng, Charles Maxxis / Sparkplug . com / Speedhunters Infiniti G37 5th Place
6. Wang, Forrest Get Nuts Lab Nissan S15 6th Place
7. Kearney, Dean Oracle Lighting / Achilles Motorsports Dodge Viper 7th Place
8. Ovcharik, Miro N/A 8th Place
9. Laflamme, Jeff Chez Dan Mechanic Lexus IS 9th Place
10. Cyr, Pat Eneos Oil / Yokohama Tire Scion FR-S 10th Place
11. Bakchis, Odi Feal Suspension / ARK Performance / Nitto Tire Nissan 240SX 11th Place
12. Nishida, Robbie Achilles Radial Infiniti G37S 12th Place
13. Baribeau, Mats Gold in The Net Toyota Mark II 13th Place
14. Guitard, Jonathan Lacroix Tuning / Go Fast Lexus SC 14th Place
15. Grosselin, Alex Redline Auto Aesthetics / Hyperforme Nissan S14 15th Place
16. Patinka, Bob Patinka Motorsports / BC Racing Nissan S13 16th Place

 

2015 Formula DRIFT World Championship Standings

 
1. Aasbo, Fredric Rockstar Energy Drink / Hankook Scion tC 587.00 Points
2. Bakchis, Odi Feal Suspension / ARK Performance / Nitto Tire Nissan 240SX 432.00 Points
3. Field, Matt CX Racing / Yokohama Tire Nissan S14 331.00 Points

Formula DRIFT Round 6: Showdown Results

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Formula DRIFT Round 6: Showdown Results;
Rookie Masashi Yokoi is Victorious

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Long Beach, Calif. – August 23, 2015 – Formula DRIFT presented by GoPro returned to Texas Motor Speedway for Round 6: Showdown. Japanese rookie Masashi Yokoi in the D-MAX Nissan S15 earns his first Formula DRIFT victory. The championship will be determined at the Series finale on October 10.

Round 6: Showdown was an action packed event weekend. The new course configuration at Texas Motor Speedway proved to be challenging and highly competitive for the drivers. With only one event remaining in the 2015 season a champion will be crowned at the season finale at Irwindale Speedway.  Over 400,000 fans tuned in live throughout the event weekend on the Driftstream.

“Texas has some of the most diehard fans as they braved the heat to see the action through the weekend and were rewarded with intense drifting action,” said Jim Liaw, President of Formula DRIFT. “With only one event remaining, the season will come to climatic conclusion to end a remarkable year.”

Points leader and number one qualifier, Fredric Aasbo lost in the Great 8 opening the chase for the championship up to the rest of the field. Aasbo will head into the championship with a considerable lead of 80 points. The semi-finals had Daigo Saito in the Achilles Radial Nissan GT-R face against his close friend Ken Gushi in the GReddy Performance / Hankook Tire Scion FR-S. Gushi was able to outdrive his opponent on his way to his third podium of the season. Yokoi battled Chris Forsberg in the NOS Energy Drink / Hankook Tire Nissan 370Z. Yokoi beat the former champion to head into the Finals. The Finals were close with the rookie Yokoi being awarded the win by the judges for his first podium and victory in Formula DRIFT. Gushi’s second place finish moves him into second place overall.

“I wanted to come out and show the Japanese style of driving and really worked hard in the tandem battles,” said Masashi Yokoi, winner of Round 6: Showdown. “In the end I wasn’t able to show everything that I wanted, but I’m really happy to get the victory.”

The 2015 Formula DRIFT Pro Championship season will conclude at Round 7: Final Fight at Irwindale Speedway on October 9-10. For more information visit: www.formuladrift.com and find Formula DRIFT on Instagram, Facebook and Twitter. Tune into Formula DRIFT on CBS Sports and check your local listings for airtimes.

Round 6: Showdown Event Results
1. Yokoi, Masashi D-Max Nissan S15 Silvia Winner
2. Gushi, Ken GReddy Racing / Hankook Tire Scion Racing FR-S 2nd Place
3. Forsberg, Chris NOS Energy Drink / Hankook Tire Nissan 370Z 3rd Place
4. Saito, Daigo Achilles Radial Nissan GT-R 4th Place
5. Aasbo, Fredric Rockstar Energy Drink / Hankook Scion tC 5th Place
6. Moen, Kenny Bridges Racing / Achilles / Gatebil Nissan S14 6th Place
7. Hohnadell, Alec 11 Racing Nissan S14 7th Place
8. Yoshihara, Dai Falken Tire / Turn 14 Distribution Subaru BRZ 8th Place
9. Whiddett, Mike RedBull / Mobil 1 Mazda “Radbul” 9th Place
10. Tuerck, Ryan Ryan Tuerck Racing / Retaks / Maxxis Scion FR-S 10th Place
11. Wang, Forrest Get Nuts Lab Nissan S15 11th Place
12. Kearney, Dean Oracle Lighting / Achilles Motorsports Dodge Viper 12th Place
13. Bluss, Kristaps HGK Motorsport BMW 3 Series 13th Place
14. Evans, James SIKKY Racing Nissan 350Z 14th Place
15. Ng, Charles Maxxis / Sparkplugs.com / Speedhunters Infiniti G37 15th Place
16. Castro, Jhonnattan E3 / Hankook / Progresso Nissan 350Z 16th Place
2015 Formula DRIFT Championship Presented by GoPro Top 3 Standings After Six Rounds
1. Aasbo, Fredric Rockstar Energy Drink / Hankook Scion tC 428.00 Points
2. Gushi, Ken GReddy Racing / Hankook Tire Scion Racing FR-S 348.00 Points
3. Tuerck, Ryan Ryan Tuerck Racing / Retaks / Maxxis Scion FR-S 332.00 Points
Manufacturers Championship Standings After Six Rounds
1. Scion 924.00 Points
2. Nissan 555.00 Points
3. Ford 447.00 Points
4. Chevrolet 337.00 Points
5. Mazda 248.00 Points
6. Infiniti 211.00 Points
7. Dodge 204.00 Points
8. BMW 157.00 Points
9. Toyota 123.00 Points
Tire Championship Standings After Six Rounds
1. Hankook 905.00 Points
2. Achilles 643.00 Points
3. Nitto 570.00 Points
4. Yokohama 569.00 Points
5. Falken 557.00 Points
6. Maxxis 470.00 Points
7. GT Radial 302.00 Points