• Newly-crowned Formula Drift USA champion Daigo Saito eyeing his second Formula Drift Asia title
• Norwegian Fredric Aasbo makes his Formula Drift Asia debut
• Robbie Nishida and Kenshiro Gushi returns to compete in the last round
• New subsidiary awards added, including Pioneer of Drift, Best Drift Style, Crew of the Year, Team Manager of the Year, Spirit of Drift
• Title sponsor Achilles renews its contract through to 2015
• Formula Drift Asia will see a new venue next year – Sydney, Australia
INDONESIA, 16 November 2012 – The fifth Formula Drift Asia season is set for a showdown finale this weekend at Formula Drift Indonesia, the third leg of the series to be held on November 17 and 18 at the West Parking Area of Jakarta International Expo (JI Expo) in Kemayoran, Jakarta. At the end of the competition on Sunday, we will witness the crowning of the Formula Drift Asia 2012 champion. Current championship leader Daigo Saito of the Achilles Drift Team, who has won the previous two rounds in Singapore and Malaysia, is confident of defending his title.
Daigo, the recently-crowned Formula Drift USA 2012 champion and reigning Formula Drift Asia champion said, “I am pretty confident about winning the Formula Drift Asia series. It would be a perfect ending for me and my sponsor Achilles to wrap up the season with a win at Jakarta and the overall title.
Standing in second and third place of the championship are Tengku Djan Ley, Malaysia’s Prince of Drift, and Rio Saputro of Indonesia who will be eager to perform well on homeground. Toughening up the competition will be Formula Drift USA regulars Kenshiro Gushi and Robbie Nishida, as well as Indonesians drifting stars Emmanuel Amandio and Rulli Armando who finished second at last year’s Indonesian leg.
Making his Formula Drift Asia debut with the RS-R team is Fredric Aasbo, the Norwegian drifter who made a mark in the North American drift scene when he clinched the Rookie of the Year award at the 2010 Formula Drift USA series.
Commenting on his first time in the Southeast Asian premier drifting series, he said, “I am absolutely honoured to get to drive the RS-R Toyota Supra, which has previously been driven by my Scion Racing team mate Ken Gushi and the original drifting guru Max Orido. I have a lot of faith in the RS-R crew as they know the Formula Drift Asia scene and competition format very well. I am very excited to get to work with them for this round. This is a learning experience for me, but – as always – we will be taking on the competition to the best of our ability.”
In addition to the main event, the new competition segment introduced this year will not be missed in Jakarta. Called the 36BOL Asia Drift, selected drivers will be paired up to represent their sponsors and perform two tandem runs where points are awarded for teamwork and coordination. The team with the most stylish and best executed runs wins.
Giving more recognition to the drivers and the crew, new subsidiary awards have also been added for this year. Besides the typical overall driver and team championship awards, there will be:
• Pioneer of Drift award – Recognises the driver invoved who has significantly contributed to the scene in Asia since the inaugural Formula Drift Asia event.
• Spirit of Drifting award – Recognises the efforts of the driver who believes in the sport and keeps on trying at every single round regardless
• Best Drift Style award
• Team Manager of the Year award
• Crew of the Year award
With the fans at heart, exciting limited edition memorabilia will be launched at Formula Drift Indonesia. A second limited edition Formula Drift Casio G-Shock watch will be released with Kenshiro Gushi as the ambassador again; this time the watch will be sporting a locally inspired theme. The first Formula Drift G-Shock was launched at the Singapore leg.
A collaboration with Sparco Singapore also sees two exclusive t-shirt designs – a classic “I Love FD” tinged with gold foil and a “Drift or DAI Trying” edition endorsed by Formula Drift USA 2011 champion and Formula Drift Asia judge Daijiro Yoshihara.
Last year, Formula Drift Asia made history with its first ever ‘live’ broadcast at its Indonesian leg. Since then, there has been a ‘live’ broadcast of the Top 16 battles at every round. This weekend, Formula Drift Indonesia 2012 will be broadcasted ‘live’ on STAR Sports on Sunday, 18 November from 3.30pm to 5.30pm (Jakarta time).
If you would like to catch the action personally, tickets are available for sale through Rajakarcis.com. Ticket prices are Rp. 260.000 (Pre-sale) / Rp.300.000 (At the door) for the grandstands and Rp.50.000 (Pre-sale) / Rp.65.000 for walkabout.
Good news await Formula Drift Asia fans as the series heads to a new venue next year – Sydney, Australia. Title sponsor Achilles has also announced its extension of the contract for three more years to 2015.
“This year has been another great season and it was a little more special than usual because we commemorated our fifth season. I would like to personally thank everyone who has been part of Formula Drift Asia one way or another throughout these years, growing with us. We will continue to work harder and progress further, to put on a better show and bring the fans, as well as drivers, more excitement,” said Marcus Lim, co-founder of Formula Drift Asia.
