Fredric Aasbø startet årets sesong i Formula Drift med å vinne løpet i Long Beach i amerikanske California.

Toyota-føreren slo James Deaene i finalen, og dermed har elitelandslagsføreren fått best tenkelige start på sesongen. Like bra gikk det ikke for Simen Olsen, som røk ut i Topp 32.

Fredric Aasbø, som vant Formula Drift i 2015, 2021 og 2022, har dermed fått en utrolig god start på sesongen. Selv mener han at drifting-trening på is og snø her hjemme i vinter har vært svært viktig for suksessen i sesongåpningen.
Aasbø har kjørt for temet Papadakis Racing Toyota siden 2011, og han har 100 pallplasser i Formula Drift.  Han endte på 3.plass i fjorårets serie.
Formula Drift regner som VM i drifting, og neste runde er på Road Atlanta, 8.-10. mai.

PRESSEMELDING fra Papadakis Racing Toyota team

Fredric Aasbo wins Formula Drift opener in Long Beach

Papadakis Racing Toyota team scores first series victory for new partner Kenda Tire

LONG BEACH, California (April 7, 2025) — Fredric Aasbo won the opening Formula Drift round this weekend on the Streets of Long Beach in the Rockstar Energy Toyota GR Supra. It was the first series victory for new partner Kenda Tire, which now has an early lead in the Tire Cup.

 This season, both Papadakis Racing Toyota vehicles are equipped with Kenda VEZDA UHP MAX+ tires. “People were telling us it was a brave move, but we came into Long Beach with a lot of confidence about the performance of the Kenda Tire,” said Aasbo. “With this win I think we’ve proven now that it was the right step for us.”

It was Aasbo’s 20th career win and his third on the Streets of Long Beach. He is the most winning driver in series history.

To get to the top step of the podium, Aasbo had to battle through a tough roster of drivers in an extremely competitive field. In the opening round, he advanced past rookie Connor O’Sullivan, then faced fellow Toyota driver Ken Gushi in the Top 16. In the Great 8, an unfortunate draw saw him battle his teammate Ryan Tuerck, and he took the round in a close fight to advance into the Final 4. There, he battled past Branden Sorensen to meet four-time champion James Deane in the Final. It was a battle of titans. The two drivers have seven championships between them and their match was near-perfect. But Aasbo kept the pressure on through a one-more-time battle to take the win after Deane made an uncharacteristic mistake.

For his part, Tuerck had a strong showing in his Rain-X Toyota GR Corolla. He opened the weekend with some of the most impressive driving of the weekend as he ran through two one-more-time battles to take down Irish driver Jack Shanahan. Tuerck’s performance showed strong potential for his new tire and suspension setup. “It feels like the whole team stepped up our game this weekend and I’m leaving Long Beach with a lot of confidence about what the rest of the season will bring,” he said. 

Before competing in the sold-out Long Beach opener, both team drivers attended the Night Lights at the Queen Mary event Thursday night to support partner Toyota Gazoo Racing in the unveiling of the Toyota GR Supra MkV Final Edition as well as a sneak preview of a GR Corolla development vehicle.

Also this weekend, the series revealed the final round of the 2025 PRO Championship will return to Long Beach on a purpose-built course expected to be vastly different from the Round 1 layout. The season-ending competition will take place using portions of Shoreline Drive and will be titled «Shoreline Showdown.»

Up next for the series is Round 2 at Road Atlanta on May 8-10. Both Tuerck and Aasbo consider the event a highlight stop of the season, offering some of the most exciting driving on the calendar. 

Norwegian driver Aasbo has won three Formula Drift titles since joining the Papadakis Racing Toyota team in 2011, earning his first series championship in 2015, as well as back-to-back titles in 2021 and 2022. He has a spot in the Guinness Book of World Records as the most winning driver in Formula Drift, having now achieved 20 No. 1 finishes in the premier USA series and 100-plus podium finishes on three continents over the past decade of global competition. In 2024, he finished third in the championship chase with a record of four podiums, including a win at Round 2 in Atlanta.

Tuerck, who hails from New Hampshire, is a Formula Drift title contender in the Rain-X Toyota GR Corolla. His down-home charm, commitment to the sport’s grassroots, and talent in front of the camera have brought him a social fanbase of 1.7 million followers. His build legacy includes the Celica, the Stout, and the Formula Supra, and started with the viral Toyota GT4586 build released in 2016. That inventive first project inspired the genre of build content online when he paired a Toyota GT86 with a Ferrari 458 engine to generate some 70 million digital impressions. He joined the Papadakis Racing team in 2020 and is a fan favorite for his go-big or go-home commitment to competition.

Based in nearby Carson, California, the Papadakis Racing team began drifting in 2004 and is the most winning in Formula Drift history, earning the 2022, 2021 and 2015 championship titles with driver Aasbo, as well as back-to-back championships with driver Tanner Foust in 2007 and 2008. Partner Toyota has won the manufacturer’s cup nine times since 2014. Team owner Stephan Papadakis is a legend of sport-compact racing who began building his reputation in the 1990s in drag racing.

Drifting is a high-skill, high-powered motorsport with an emphasis on car control. In the Formula Drift series, drivers compete in knockout heats on a closed course, sliding sideways in trials judged on speed and style. With origins in Japan, the sport has rapidly grown to one of the most popular youth-oriented motorsports in the world. Here in the United States, Formula Drift officially launched in 2004 and its national schedule of eight events routinely host capacity crowds, while live-streamed multi-platform broadcasts attract millions of online viewers.