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Category Archives: Driver news

Updates on your favorite drivers!

Papadakis Racing Toyota drivers Fredric Aasbo and Ryan Tuerck join Kenda Motorsports

Posted on February 21, 2025 by George

Papadakis Racing Toyota drivers Fredric Aasbo and Ryan Tuerck join Kenda Motorsports

Tire supplier to vie for Formula Drift Tire Cup in 2025

 

LOS ANGELES, California (February 18, 2025) — Fredric Aasbo and Ryan Tuerck will join the Kenda Motorsports team in 2025, campaigning the Formula Drift series for Papadakis Racing Toyota on Kenda VEZDA UHP MAX+ tires. The team’s veteran drivers are favored for podium performance in the series.

 

“At Papadakis Racing, our goal is always to win,” said team owner Stephan Papadakis. “We are excited about working closely with Kenda’s technical team to optimize our performance and bring Kenda its first Formula Drift podiums this season.”

 

Kenda joined the Formula Drift series in 2023 with the launch of the Kenda VEZDA UHP MAX tire. The series provides the ultimate test bed for street legal tires. Teams need to optimize grip for speed off the start and then put durability to the test as drivers slide the course sideways, generating tremendous heat while still needing to maintain control. Series rules require tires to be DOT-approved and available to the public for purchase.

 

Kenda Tire uses competitive, open racing competition to develop and showcase its technologies with positioning as Premium Performance at a Value Price. It only races its VEZDA UHP products in series which permit DOT tires, as these tires can be used on the street and in grassroots competition as well as in extreme competitive environments like Formula Drift. Strong performance in open competition allows Kenda to demonstrate its Podium2Pavement™ commitment to a growing audience across the drifting community.

 

“Kenda embraces this partnership with Stephan, Fredric, Ryan and the team. We believe that competing on Kenda tires will give the Papadakis team a tremendous opportunity to build on its winning legacy and for Kenda to work with them to continue its development of the next generations of VEZDA products for enthusiasts and grassroots competitors!” said Brandon Stotsenburg, Vice President of the Automotive Division.

 

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 Fredric 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.

 

Norwegian driver Aasbo will return to Formula Drift this season behind the wheel of the Rockstar Energy Toyota GR Supra. He started working with Kenda in Europe last season as a product development driver. He 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 achieved 19 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 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. The highlight of his 2024 season was a win at Round 6 in Seattle.

 

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.

 

About Kenda Tire

Founded in 1962, Kenda Tire is a global leader in tire and wheel manufacturing with market presence in multiple industries, including automotive and light truck, bicycle, motorcycles, ATV, RV, industrial, golf, and more. With more than 12000 employees globally, Kenda Tire prides itself as an organization where quality, honesty, innovation, and customer service are core values.

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Posted in Driver news, Formula Drift, Press Releases | Tags: drifting, Papadakis Racing | Leave a comment |

EVASIVE MOTORSPORTS TESLA MODEL 3 IS FASTEST EV AT PIKES PEAK

Posted on June 30, 2022 by George

In challenging conditions, Dai Yoshihara drove to second in class, ninth overall at 100th running of Pikes Peak International Hill Climb

A wet course and dense fog during the 4,724ft climb to the finish line made the 100th running of the Pikes Peak International Hill Climb especially challenging for drivers. Yet Japanese champion Daijiro Yoshihara was able to master the 156 turns on his way to the 14,115ft peak. He set a time of 11:06.205 in the Turn 14 Distribution / Yokohama Tire / ENEOS / Evasive Motorsports Tesla Model 3 Pikes Peak, which placed him ninth overall. As the fastest EV, he was second in the Exhibition Class because PPIHC currently lacks dedicated classes for electric vehicles. Winner of the class was a production 2022 Porsche 911 Turbo S Lightweight.

This year’s event was only the second outing for the Tesla Model 3 prepared by Evasive Motorsports in Cerritos, CA. Despite its promising form in practice and qualifying, a mechanical issue prematurely curtailed its 2021 attempt. During the interim, the team worked hard to understand the car and fine-tune both its aerodynamic and cooling efficiency (see Tech Spec below), making few additions to the race-prepped chassis other than switching to Yokohama racing tires for 2022. 

“It’s been an incredible week with no issues,” Dai Yoshihara told us after his successful run. “Practice and qualifying went great, which almost seemed too good to be true. And then coming into today [Sunday] the weather became a big factor with the rain and fog. However, we felt it could give us a real chance because our weakness is the power of the car but the Yokohama wet tires work really well. Effectivley, the rain erased the advantage of the other cars and I think we got a really good result because of it, which I’m obviously delighted about.”

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Posted in Driver news, Other Motorsports, Press Releases | Tags: dai yoshihara, Evasive Motorsports, Tesla | Leave a comment |

ENEOS OIL RETURNS TO 100TH PIKES PEAK RACE WITH TESLA MODEL 3

Posted on June 27, 2022 by George

ENEOS OIL RETURNS TO 100TH PIKES PEAK RACE WITH TESLA MODEL 3

Evasive Motorsports Tesla will again be driven by Dai Yoshihara.

ENEOS and Dai Yoshihara extend six-year partnership

The 100th running of the 2022 Pikes Peak International Hill Climb on June 26 will mark the fourth year ENEOS has supported the race efforts of Evasive Motorsports and driver Daijiro Yoshihara.

ENEOS is Japan’s largest oil company and supplier of motor oil and transmission fluids to the majority of Asian vehicle manufacturers. Through its relationship with the car makers, it introduced an EV Fluid Series last year, which is designed to optimize the efficiency and performance of electric vehicles. And while it might appear unusual for an oil company established in 1888 to compete in the “Race to the Clouds” with a Tesla, it reflects the transition the company is making as transportation evolves.

TESLA MODEL 3

In 2019 and 2020, Evasive Motorsports entered an ENEOS-supported 900-horsepower turbocharged Toyota 86 in the Pikes Peak International Hill Climb (PPIHC), which won the Unlimited Class at the second time of asking. However, the team made a radical shift in 2021, abandoning its proven race winner for a Tesla Model 3 Performance. 

Mike Chang at Evasive Motorsports in Cerritos, CA could see the market changing and knew it was time to embrace the future. But for a racing team and vehicle preparation specialist like Evasive, the Tesla Model 3 presented a number of challenges. In the past, a modified Toyota 2JZ turbo engine allowed them to compensate for the reduced air pressure on the climb to the 14,115ft finish line at the Pikes Peak hill climb. Unable to modify the electric motors in the Turn 14 Distribution / Yokohama Tire / ENEOS / Evasive Motorsports Tesla Model 3 Pikes Peak race car, the team needed to make other changes to prepare for the 12.42-mile sprint, which climbs 4724 feet. With the “Race to the Clouds” incorporating 156 turns, emphasis was placed on the chassis to maintain speed through the corners. 

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Posted in Driver news, Press Releases | Leave a comment |

ENEOS RENEWS PARTNERSHIP WITH DAI YOSHIHARA FOR 2021 FORMULA DRIFT, PIKES PEAK AND MORE

Posted on May 5, 2021 by Toxic

ENEOS – Japan’s largest oil company and supplier of motor oil and transmission fluids to the majority of Asian vehicle manufacturers – is pleased to announce it will again support Japanese driver Daijiro Yoshihara in the Formula DRIFT PRO Championship. A week before the opening round at Michelin Raceway Road Atlanta, ENEOS and Dai are marking the fifth year of their motorsports partnership, although Dai’s connection to the brand dates back to when he worked at an ENEOS gas station as a young man in his native Tokyo. Rising to become the 2011 Formula DRIFT Champion, Dai continues to be among the top drivers in the sport he’s been committed to since its inception in 2003.

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Posted in Driver news, Press Releases | Tags: Dai Yoshihahra, ENEOS, falken tire, Formula D, formula drift, Pikes Peak, Subaru BRZ, Turn 14 Distribution | Leave a comment |

Alexander Lichliter Brings A Mission to Drift Racing

Posted on July 10, 2019 by George

Mission Dispensaries Announces Sponsorship with Leading Drift Racer

Phoenix, AZ – (June 27, 2019) – Mission Dispensaries today announced an official partnership with Formula Drift Racer Alexander Lichliter. The wellness-inspired dispensary will sponsor Lichliter’s participation in upcoming races, including the most recent Drift Nirvana Trilogy of Drift event.

Alexander Lichliter, who got his start in racing in 2009, will now race with Mission as a primary sponsor. In alignment with Mission’s goal to promote cannabis and CBD as part of a healthy and active lifestyle, Mission sees this partnership as an opportunity to provide approachable access to information on cannabis on a national platform. 

“Mission has been a great sponsor to work with and their support of me and my team has exceeded our expectations,” said Lichliter. “We’re looking forward to bringing Mission into our drift racing family.”

Formula Drift is recognized as the premier North American professional drifting championship series. The series consists of an eight-round championship played out at race tracks across North America. Judged on line, angle, and style, rather than who finishes the course in the fastest time, Formula Drift brings together traditional racing and extreme sports. Continue reading →

Posted in Driver news, Formula Drift, Press Releases | Tags: Alexander Lichliter, formula drift, Mission | 11 Comments |

FREE RTR VEHICLE PACK AVAILABLE NOW FOR FORZA MOTORSPORT 7 AND FORZA HORIZON 4

Posted on March 14, 2019 by Toxic

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:::

CHARLOTTE, NORTH CAROLINA, MARCH 12, 2019 — Now available for free on both Forza Motorsport 7 and Forza Horizon 4 for the Xbox gaming system, the RTR Vehicle Pack gives gaming enthusiasts the opportunity to drive, drift and burn rubber in both Vaughn Gittin Jr.’s and Chelsea DeNofa’s incredibly powerful, 1,000 horsepower Mustang RTR Spec 5-D Formula Drift competition vehicles. Players will also be able to drive the 700 horsepower Mustang RTR Spec 5 street car.

All three vehicles are available on the driving simulator Forza Motorsport 7 and the incredibly massive open-world of Forza Horizon 4. As a DLC (downloadable content), the free car pack will automatically update once players connect to Xbox Live.

Posted in Driver news | Tags: Chelsea Denofa, Ford Mustang RTR, Ford Mustang RTR Spec 5-D, formula drift, Forza Horizon 4, Forza Motorsport 7, Vaughn Gittin Jr | 1 Comment |
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