Papadakis Racing closes out Formula Drift season with team awards
CARSON, California (October 16, 2023) – The Papadakis Racing Toyota team closed out a challenging season with a handful of hardware as they took home the Formula Drift awards for Team Manager of the Year for owner Stephan Papadakis, Spotter of the Year for Brian Hartsock, and Best Drifting Style for Fredric Aasbo.
Despite three podiums for Aasbo this season, the team fell short of the overall championship podium. A tough final round at Irwindale Speedway saw three of the four championship contenders knocked out in the opening round of 32 – Aasbo among them. It was an unexpected turn of events for the defending champion, who took the win in his Rockstar Energy Toyota GR Supra at the 2022 running of the event to lock up his third career championship title.
“We may not have gotten the results we all wanted this year, but nothing good comes easy,” said Aasbo. “Nobody has ever won four Formula Drift titles and I’ll be back next season to fight to put my name in the record book.”
Aasbo remains the most winning driver in series history, with 18 career Formula Drift wins to his name – all with the Papadakis Racing Toyota team.
Driver Ryan Tuerck advanced to the Final Four round in his Rain-X / Nitto Tire Toyota GR Corolla through a challenging corner of the bracket line-up that included longtime friend and rival Dylan Hughes in the Round of 16 and veteran Forrest Wang in the Great 8.
Rockstar Energy documented the highs and lows of the 2023 season for Tuerck, Aasbo, and the whole Papadakis Racing Toyota team for Season 2 of the YouTube series “Controlled Chaos.” New episodes are available now on YouTube at https://www.youtube.com/rockstarenergy.
The Papadakis Racing team began drifting in 2004 and is the most winning team in Formula Drift history, earning the 2022, 2021 and 2015 titles with driver Fredric Aasbo, as well as back-to-back championships with driver Tanner Foust in 2008 and 2007. Partner Toyota has won the manufacturer’s cup eight times since 2014. Tuerck joined the Papadakis Racing team in 2020 in a Toyota Corolla Hatchback and has shown strong results, bringing home the third-place championship trophy twice in the past three seasons.
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.
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