After what was perhaps the longest Formula Drift Top 16 on record – a total of nine One More Time calls pushing the battles out to nearly four hours – Masashi Yokoi has taken the top podium spot at Texas Motor Speedway behind the wheel of his 2JZ-powered D-MAX S15 Silvia.
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 | |
Yokohama Tire, 2015 sponsor of one of the most exciting motorsports to date – Formula Drift sponsors several talents driver’s including former champions and our team travelled to Seattle for the 5th round of the 2015 Championships to see our Yokohama ADVAN AD08R tires in action. Driver’s who competed include former 2013 Champ Michael Essa, Young Up & Comer Matt Field, and International Talent Masashi Yokoi.
Although Team Yokohama missed the podium this round, they had some absolutely amazing performances & we have all the action directly from the track.
MICHAEL ESSA
Continue reading FORMULA DRIFT ROUND 5: SEATTLE – TEAM YOKOHAMA HIGHLIGHTS
