The Formula Drift series will take place for the first time in Australia this year, to be held at Calder Park in Melbourne during the weekend of April 27 – 28. Fans can look forward to catching high adrenalin drifting action when 32 of Australia’s best drifters battle it out in the Australian Drifting GP on Day 1, with the top 4 drivers earning a wildcard entry to compete in Achilles Formula Drift Australia 2013 on Day 2.

Expect nothing but the best from these top Australian drifters as they battle it out against the world’s top drifters in a true test of mastery and machine.

Spirit of Drifting award – BULLZAI!!!

This award recognises the efforts of the driver who believes in the sport and keeps on trying at every single round regardless.

Team Manager of the Year award – Leonard Gozali of GT Radial Team

Unfortunately, he was unable to make it for the end-of-year awards party.

Crew of the Year award – Team RS-R

Best Drift Style award – Robbie Nishida

Pioneer of Drift award – Tengku Djan

This award recognises the driver invoved who has significantly contributed to the scene in Asia since the inaugural Formula Drift Asia event.

Congratulations!

]]> http://formuladriftasia.com/blog/2012/11/formula-drift-asia-2012-subsidiary-awards/feed/ 0 http://formuladriftasia.com/blog/2012/11/daigo-and-djan-lethal-combo-takes-the-36bol-asia-drift-cup/ http://formuladriftasia.com/blog/2012/11/daigo-and-djan-lethal-combo-takes-the-36bol-asia-drift-cup/#comments Sun, 18 Nov 2012 01:37:30 +0000 Cheryl Tay http://www.formuladriftasia.com/blog/?p=2071 Continue reading →]]> What was previously the Nations Cup is now the 36bol Asia Drift Cup, where selected drivers are paired according to country or driver. Held after the qualifying, here are the pairs that took part:

Team M7 Drive:                Daigo and Djan

Team X-Mini :                    Ken Gushi and Frederic Asabo

Team GT Radial:                Josh B and Rio Saputro

Team Achilles:                   Amandio and Armando

Team Driftpac:                  Robbie and Saranon

Rules for this competition are as follows -

• Competition will be judged based on 2 elements:
• Each team is given 2 runs each
• Each team is to take the same line and angle as qualifying
• Cars are to be in close proximity to each other
• On each run, the chase car must overtake the lead car during drift
• Each run is scored on a scale of 10 points
• Team will highest combined score from both runs win

Here are the rest of the results:

Felix Lim is the only Singaporean taking part in Formula Drift Indonesia this weekend. It is his first Formula Drift event outside of Singapore, having participated in all five Formula Drift Singapore events so far.

He suffered some damage to his car during practice for the 36bol Asia Drift Cup today, but the latest update we got was that his car has been fixed and he will be ready to rock JI Expo!

For added confirmation, his wife Charmain posted this on her Facebook:

“Yes, Felix had an accident during practice at Formula Drift Indonesia, crashing the rear of his car. But a million thanks to his hardworking technical crew from Garage R and friends from UFO Jakarta, his car is able to race tomorrow! Also many thanks to Team M7 for lending their expertise and tools, and Team RSR for their help! Race on!! =D”

Good luck Felix!

]]> http://formuladriftasia.com/blog/2012/11/sole-singaporean-representation-at-formula-drift-indonesia/feed/ 0 http://formuladriftasia.com/blog/2012/11/daigo-saito-hungry-for-a-double-formula-drift-title/ http://formuladriftasia.com/blog/2012/11/daigo-saito-hungry-for-a-double-formula-drift-title/#comments Fri, 16 Nov 2012 16:36:47 +0000 Cheryl Tay http://www.formuladriftasia.com/blog/?p=2053 Continue reading →]]> • Newly-crowned Formula Drift USA champion Daigo Saito eyeing his second Formula Drift Asia title
• Norwegian Fredric Aasbo makes his Formula Drift Asia debut
• Robbie Nishida and Kenshiro Gushi returns to compete in the last round
• New subsidiary awards added, including Pioneer of Drift, Best Drift Style, Crew of the Year, Team Manager of the Year, Spirit of Drift
• Title sponsor Achilles renews its contract through to 2015
• Formula Drift Asia will see a new venue next year – Sydney, Australia

INDONESIA, 16 November 2012 – The fifth Formula Drift Asia season is set for a showdown finale this weekend at Formula Drift Indonesia, the third leg of the series to be held on November 17 and 18 at the West Parking Area of Jakarta International Expo (JI Expo) in Kemayoran, Jakarta. At the end of the competition on Sunday, we will witness the crowning of the Formula Drift Asia 2012 champion. Current championship leader Daigo Saito of the Achilles Drift Team, who has won the previous two rounds in Singapore and Malaysia, is confident of defending his title.

Daigo, the recently-crowned Formula Drift USA 2012 champion and reigning Formula Drift Asia champion said, “I am pretty confident about winning the Formula Drift Asia series. It would be a perfect ending for me and my sponsor Achilles to wrap up the season with a win at Jakarta and the overall title.

Standing in second and third place of the championship are Tengku Djan Ley, Malaysia’s Prince of Drift, and Rio Saputro of Indonesia who will be eager to perform well on homeground. Toughening up the competition will be Formula Drift USA regulars Kenshiro Gushi and Robbie Nishida, as well as Indonesians drifting stars Emmanuel Amandio and Rulli Armando who finished second at last year’s Indonesian leg.

Making his Formula Drift Asia debut with the RS-R team is Fredric Aasbo, the Norwegian drifter who made a mark in the North American drift scene when he clinched the Rookie of the Year award at the 2010 Formula Drift USA series.

Commenting on his first time in the Southeast Asian premier drifting series, he said, “I am absolutely honoured to get to drive the RS-R Toyota Supra, which has previously been driven by my Scion Racing team mate Ken Gushi and the original drifting guru Max Orido. I have a lot of faith in the RS-R crew as they know the Formula Drift Asia scene and competition format very well. I am very excited to get to work with them for this round. This is a learning experience for me, but – as always – we will be taking on the competition to the best of our ability.”

In addition to the main event, the new competition segment introduced this year will not be missed in Jakarta. Called the 36BOL Asia Drift, selected drivers will be paired up to represent their sponsors and perform two tandem runs where points are awarded for teamwork and coordination. The team with the most stylish and best executed runs wins.

Giving more recognition to the drivers and the crew, new subsidiary awards have also been added for this year. Besides the typical overall driver and team championship awards, there will be:

• Pioneer of Drift award – Recognises the driver invoved who has significantly contributed to the scene in Asia since the inaugural Formula Drift Asia event.

• Spirit of Drifting award – Recognises the efforts of the driver who believes in the sport and keeps on trying at every single round regardless

• Best Drift Style award

• Team Manager of the Year award

• Crew of the Year award

With the fans at heart, exciting limited edition memorabilia will be launched at Formula Drift Indonesia. A second limited edition Formula Drift Casio G-Shock watch will be released with Kenshiro Gushi as the ambassador again; this time the watch will be sporting a locally inspired theme. The first Formula Drift G-Shock was launched at the Singapore leg.

A collaboration with Sparco Singapore also sees two exclusive t-shirt designs – a classic “I Love FD” tinged with gold foil and a “Drift or DAI Trying” edition endorsed by Formula Drift USA 2011 champion and Formula Drift Asia judge Daijiro Yoshihara.

Last year, Formula Drift Asia made history with its first ever ‘live’ broadcast at its Indonesian leg. Since then, there has been a ‘live’ broadcast of the Top 16 battles at every round. This weekend, Formula Drift Indonesia 2012 will be broadcasted ‘live’ on STAR Sports on Sunday, 18 November from 3.30pm to 5.30pm (Jakarta time).

If you would like to catch the action personally, tickets are available for sale through Rajakarcis.com. Ticket prices are Rp. 260.000 (Pre-sale) / Rp.300.000 (At the door) for the grandstands and Rp.50.000 (Pre-sale) / Rp.65.000 for walkabout.

Good news await Formula Drift Asia fans as the series heads to a new venue next year – Sydney, Australia. Title sponsor Achilles has also announced its extension of the contract for three more years to 2015.

“This year has been another great season and it was a little more special than usual because we commemorated our fifth season. I would like to personally thank everyone who has been part of Formula Drift Asia one way or another throughout these years, growing with us. We will continue to work harder and progress further, to put on a better show and bring the fans, as well as drivers, more excitement,” said Marcus Lim, co-founder of Formula Drift Asia.

Here is the official first look at it:

There are two t-shirts – A Daijiro Yoshihara ‘DRIFT OR DAI TRYING’ version as well as an ‘I <3 FD’ one which has gold foil.

These will be on sale at Formula Drift Indonesia in Jakarta on 17 and 18 November, where you can get Dai to personally autograph the t-shirts for you. Thereafter, you can buy the t-shirts online from Sparco Singapore.

More details soon!

Q: How did you feel going into the last round of the FD USA season?
A: I know it was going to be a tough one but it was the finals so I was looking forward to it.

Q: Were you nervous or confident, especially when there were so many drivers vying for the title?
A: Well there was a gap in points so I knew the championship was really up to how JR did. I wasn’t really nervous or confident, just going into the round as usual.

Photo by Eric Eikenberry

Q: How was the last round like? Was it very tense?
A: I wasn’t really nervous but I know there was a lot of tension among all the other drivers within the points chase.

Q: This is your debut season at FD USA, were you expecting to win?
A: I was gunning for the championship at first and also confident, then as the season goes on I started to notice that it was a lot harder than I thought. Towards the end I wasn’t as confident as the beginning of the year.

Q: Which was the toughest battle you had in the FD USA season?
A: I can’t pick one, all of them since this was my first year competing in the States.

Q: How different is it competing in USA compared to Japan and Southeast Asia?
A: Everything, the course, the cars, drivers, judges.

Q: You have the FD Asia next. How confident are you of clinching it and making this a perfect year?
A: I am pretty confident about the FD Asia series.

Q: Are you aiming to win FD Indonesia? Home of your main sponsor Achilles?
A: Yes, of course. That would be the perfect ending for me and Achilles.

Q: What is the plan for next year? FD USA, FD Asia and D1GP again?
A: I will be competing all of the rounds just like this year.

“This was an exciting Tires.com Triple Crown chase. We could not believe how close it was and were excited to crown a new champion. JTP has a college fund to start and we are happy to provide the first deposit. We are very happy to support the sport and drivers with this prize,” said Discount Tire.

The Tires.com Triple Crown bonus prize is awarded to the driver that accumulates the most points within the selected three rounds of competition. For the 2012 Formula DRIFT Pro Championship season the event chosen were Round 2: Road to the Championship at Road Atlanta, Round 5: Throwdown at Evergreen Speedway and Round 7: Title Fight at Irwindale Speedway.

“Going into the year with two wins I really thought this could be my year for the championship,” said Justin Pawlak, winner of the 2012 Tires.com Triple Crown. “After things started to shank down I knew this wasn’t going to be the year. But winning the Tires.com Triple Crown kind of made it all worthwhile. All the trials of the season and the birth of my son, it’s the icing on the cake!”

Pawlak edged out the 2012 Formula DRIFT champion Daigo Saito and the 2010 Formula DRIFT champion Vaughn Gittin, Jr. in the closest chase for the Triple Crown in history. Pawlak joins past winners of the Tires.com Triple Crown that include:

2011 – Dai Yoshihara
2010 – Tanner Foust
2009 – Chris Forsberg
2008 – Rhys Millen
2007 – Chris Forsberg
2006 – Rhys Millen

Formula DRIFT enters its tenth season of competition in 2013. Tickets are on-sale currently and can be purchased through the Formula DRIFT website and Ticketmaster. Round 1: Streets of Long Beach will be held on April 12-13, 2013.

For more information visit: www.formuladrift.com

Yes, it is the same Supra that Max Orido has been fielding the past few rounds. No, we will not be seeing Orido in Jakarta unfortunately.

Aasbo earned his first Formula Drift podium at Evergreen Speedway last year and he also won the Formula Drift Abu Dhabi Invitational. This year he finished a commendable sixth in the overall standings for Formula Drift USA.

We chatted the Norwegian up as preparations for the Formula Drift Asia season finale at Indonesia are underway…

Q: How was the 2012 drifting season for you?
A: This has been our best Formula Drift season so far, finishing in sixth place and earning two second place finishes and one top qualifier along the way. We also earned the Best Drifting Style and Driver Fan Favorite Awards, along with the Team Manager of The Year award going to my crew chief Stephan Papadakis.

We have worked hard to get to learn the sport and move up the ladder, and to see it pay off feels incredible. In Europe, we built one of the very first Toyota GT86 drift vehicles, having Toyota support as the only manufacturer backed programme in Europe. We have a lot left to accomplish and I feel like we have more potential for 2013, but again, this is drifting and it is really hard to predict the future. What is for certain is that we will continue to push forward going into the New Year.

Q: What led to this opportunity to compete in Formula Drift Asia?
A: I got introduced to the RS-R crew at the 2011 Formula Drift Invitational in Abu Dhabi, which I won. Since then we have been discussing the idea of doing something together and it all came together for the last leg of this year’s Formula Drift Asia series in Indonesia. I am absolutely honored to get to drive the RS-R Toyota Supra, which has previously been driven by my Scion Racing team mate Ken Gushi and the original drifting guru Max Orido.

Q: What are you expecting on your Formula Drift Asia debut?
A: It takes time to work out a winning combination and learning how to work with an entirely new team, a new series and a new car. But with that said, I have a lot of faith in the RS-R crew as they know the Formula Drift Asia scene and competition format very well. I am very excited to get to work with them for this round. This is a learning experience for me, but – as always – we will be taking on the competition to the best of our ability.

Q: How confident are you of the RSR Supra?
A: I grew up drifting Toyota Supras and I love the car platform. The RS-R Supra is a lot more developed in many areas than the Japan Auto Supras I have driven, as this car has a stroker kit, a dog box transmission as well as other key features, and the crew has done a great job and created an amazing machine. I have always been very particular with my steering setups, and that is something we will be working on dialing in to my liking over the course of the Indonesia event weekend.

Q: What do you know of Formula Drift Asia and how are you preparing for it?
A: I am familiar with the Formula Drift style of international competition and I have met many of the key people involved during our international events participation. The city scene style is new to me though. Although I have watched some video from last year’s event I will continue to look into the specifics of the event as we get closer to the date.

Q: This is your second time competing in Asia, having drifted in China before. Your thoughts on Asia?
A: One of my goals, both competitively and personally, as we move forward with our global drifting programmes is to learn more about how the sport has developed in Asia and be a part of the global Formula Drift scene outside of the United States.

Q: Are there plans to return to Formula Drift Asia next year for more?
A: This is a test setup for both RS-R and myself, and we will evaluate further competition plans after Formula Drift Indonesia. Max Orido is the official RS-R driver and he will be instrumental in deciding RS-R’s plans for 2013, so at this point we are going step by step to see how it all works out. Things turn around very quickly in drifting and it’s difficult to plan too far ahead, but I would love to continue this Formula Drift Asia programme into 2013.

Q: A shoutout to your fans in Asia!
A: After having dreamt of being a part of Formula Drift Asia for a couple of years now, it is finally happening thanks to RS-R. I can’t wait to meet you all in Jakarta!