Hankook drivers win podium finishes in Formula Drift

Hankook driver Chris Forsberg drifted to a first place podium finish in front of a sold out crowd this past weekend at Formula Drift Round 5: Throwdown, at Evergreen Speedway in Monroe, Washington.  Hankook driver Fredric Aasbo rounded out the final podium positions with a third place finish, his first podium of the season.
 
Race day competition was intense, with all of Hankook’s Formula Drift drivers qualifying and quickly advancing from Top 32 into Top 16.  Moving forward to the Final 4 round later in the day found Forsberg in the Hankook Nissan 370Z up against Hankook teammate Fredric Aasbo in his Hankook Scion tC.  After an extreme battle, which saw Forsberg and Aasbo make contact towards the end of their run, Forsberg came out on top advancing him to the Final 2 round and securing Aasbo a consolation round run for a third place overall podium finish.
 
Final 2 pitted Forsberg against Michael Essa in his BMW 3 Series Coupe, but after a very close race Forsberg and the Hankook Nissan 370Z came out victorious with Forsberg winning first place overall, adding another podium finish to his previous two earned earlier in the season.  Forsberg’s win also puts him in the 2013 Formula Drift season Championship point leads and Hankook Tire second in the series’ 2013 Tire Cup standings.
 
“I am so proud of my team for all the hard work this weekend!  Seattle is the fastest course on the circuit and their work to dial in the car and maximize the grip from our Hankook Ventus R-S3 tires allowed us to close the gap on the competition,” said Hankook driver Chris Forsberg.  “We are very excited for Round 6 in Texas.  The Texas Motor Speedway is a new venue for Formula Drift and we are confident that we can dial in our car to be faster than the competition, giving us the extra advantage to succeed.”
 
Third place finisher, Hankook driver Fredric Aasbo, racked up his second podium finish at Evergreen Speedway, having received his first podium finish in the Formula Drift series at the same tack in 2011.
 
“Formula Drift Round 5 at Evergreen Speedway is a very special event to me as this is where we earned our first podium back in 2011,” said Aasbo.  “This was a historic event for Hankook Tire and a turning point for the championship standings. A true testament to the consistent grip of the Ventus R-S3 tires, Hankook Tire is now leading the Formula Drift championship. Let's build upon this and rock the house in Texas!”
All of Hankook’s Formula Drift drivers race on Hankook’s Ventus RS-3 Extreme Performance tire. The Ventus R-S3 is designed for serious sports car, sports coupe and performance sedan enthusiasts looking for race tire-like traction on the street or for use in autocross, drifting or track events.

“All of our teams did great this weekend and it’s a big statement of the performance the Hankook Ventus R-S3 offers for a Hankook Tire team to be leading in 2013 Championship points,” said Paul Jho, Hankook Motorsports Manager. “We have two more events to go, with the next round being a new location for the series, ensuring excitement for fans and drivers alike leading to the 2013 Formula Drift 2013 Championship.”
 
The Formula Drift series heads to Fort Worth, Texas and the Texas Motor Speedway for Round 6 on September 13th and 14th.