Defending Formula Drift champion and Nexen Tire driver Frederic Aasbo took on a spirited field of drivers as well as sweltering temperatures to emerge as the victor at Formula Drift’s Round 3 event at Orlando Speedworld oval track this past weekend.
Aasbo’s victory puts him in 1st place for the overall series championship.
Aasbo piloted his Rockstar Energy Nexen Tire SR by Toyota tC in qualifying to 4th place which put him in the bracket to compete against Tyler McQuarrie in top 4 with two "One More Time" runs in an epic battle. After their 3rd battle, Fredric Aasbo took on Kristaps Bluss for the final. During the top 16, Nexen Tire driver Jhonnattan Castro in his Gerdau Meltadom Nexen Tire SR by Toyota 86 battled Vaughn Gittin Jr. who was the incoming series leader in points. Castro was on point all weekend and was too much for Gittin Jr. to handle, and ultimately finished the weekend in 8th position.
Ken Gushi, in his Nexen Tire and SR by Toyota 86 also finished strong with a top 8 performance which has cemented him near the top of the series championship leaderboard in 6th place overall.
Round 3 in Orlando was heavily impacted by the weather. Extreme heat in the 90’s with humidity in the 70’s made for very some slippery conditions on the race track. "Extreme heat created unpredictable conditions and many top drivers were knocked out early", said Fredric Aasbo, "being consistent was important and the N'Fera SUR4 tire by Nexen was able to deliver that."
Commenting more on Nexen’s team and tire performance is Nexen Tire Senior Motorsports Marketing Manager Paul Jho. “The SUR4 has seen wet & dry conditions on a street course in Round 1 Long Beach, wet & dry conditions on road course in Round 2 Atlanta, and now extreme heat on an oval course in Round 3 Orlando.” Jho continues, “The fact that Nexen has the lead in both the driver and manufacturer championship points chase is a true testament to our drivers and our new competition tire.”
Nexen will attempt to keep its winning ways at Round 4 of the Formula Drift series on June 17th and 18th at Wall Stadium in New Jersey.
