Running crucial suspension upgrades from KW suspensions and Griffin Thermal Products, the team were charging hard from the get-go. However, the planned take on Formula Drift Las Vegas did not go down as planned, Fredric explains.

- I wanted to learn the track fast, and started off hard. A little too hard, as during Thursday night’s practice I hit the concrete wall at a backwards angle, nearly totaling the car. Concrete walls usually don’t move, but this hit was so hard I moved the wall a couple of inches!

The Japan Auto and FSR pit crew jumped on the car, miraculously getting it ready for the next day. However, new issues quickly arose with both ignition coils and fuel pumps going out just before Friday’s qualification session. Loosing one qualification run due to the intense time constraints, Fredric had only one shot on qualifying for Saturday’s main event. Putting down a strong but safe run the team got through to Saturday’s main competition, and Fredric was set to battle Asian touring car driver and fellow Formula Drift rookie Charles NG.

- Charles is a great driver and I really looked forward to the battle. I knew he had slightly slower entry speeds than me, but he is very consistant on his line and I really wanted to stick close to him and put on a good show. Unfortunately, I charged a little too hard yet again. I catched up too much on his Mazda RX7, hit him in the side and sent us both off the course. Second run had me initiate the way I wanted and I put up a thick smoke screen against the wall, but I missed a gear and straightened out in the latter part of the course. This was simply not our time, and congratulations to Charles Ng for moving on!

The team is now back at FSR Motorsport Creations in Los Angeles, California, working out a way to get the car back out for the remaining 2010 Formula Drift Rounds.

- Prior to this event we got over 1600 votes on Speedhunters “Most Impressive Formula Drift Driver” poll (check it out here: http://speedhunters.com/archive/2010/08/20/poll-gt–impressive-formula-drift-driver.aspx) and I was so focused on giving back to all the people supporting us. I simply wanted too much. This being our third event in our rookie Formula Drift season, we have to remember we are here to learn and have fun and this all came down to a hard core learning experience for us. The car was brought back from the dead twice, and this event clearly proved that the FSR Motorsport Creations and Japan Auto backing we have is second to none.

- As a driver I have a lot of experience to gain, and we are all focused on keeping the momentum we have built up this far. Let’s leave the gambling in Las Vegas for now, get the car back together and go out there again! Thanks to everybody that has rooted for us and helped us out along the way – we wouldn’t have been here without you!

Feel free to check out Speedhunters (http://www.speedhunters.com) over the next week to read Fredric’s driver blog from Formula Drift Round 5: Las Vegas.

Next up on the Formula Drift schedule is Round 6: Point of Impact, held at Infineon Raceway in Sonoma, California on September 10th-11th. As the team is set to compete at the Formula Drift finals at Irwindale Speedway in Los Angeles in October, the Japan Auto FSR Supra and Fredric Aasbo is not yet confirmed for Round 6 in Sonoma. Please stay tuned on http://www.fredricaasbo.com for further announcements from Team Japan Auto FSR.

Fredric Aasbo is a two time Nordic Drifting Series Champion representing Japan Auto, FSR Motorsport Creations, Toyota, PBC Auto, KRB Trading, Comp Turbo, Turbosmart Performance Products, Falken Tire, Biltema, CRC, Panvulk, BS Bildeler, Kimmit Sport Racing, Agip, Speed Max Performance, EBC Brakes, Brakes Norge, Nuke Performance, Auto-Sign, BlackBox Media and SWR in Formula Drift – the World’s premier drifting series.

Pictures courtesy of Larry Chen (http://www.driftfotos.com) and OMG Drift (http://www.omgdrift.com). For high resolution pictures, please visit http://www.flickr.com/fredricaasbo.

2010 Formula Drift – Versus Show Open from Formula DRIFT on Vimeo.

After taking out reigning Champion Chris Forsberg and placing fourth at Formula Drift Round 1 2010, Fredric Aasbo and Team Japan Auto FSR just got back to the US for Formula Drift Round 4 at Evergreen Raceway, WA on the weekend of July 8th-10th. Fresh off a new engine build courtesy of Comp Turbo, KRB Trading, KSR, SWR and FSR Motorsport Creations, Team Japan Auto was ready for the tense battles to come.

- This is our second event in our Rookie season, and we are out here to learn from the best. Still, in honor of our sponsors, friends and fans, I am proud to say I think we left our mark!

Team Japan Auto qualified in the upper half of the 43 participating teams, and took on a fight with young and aspiring competitor Pat Mordaunt to advance to Top 16. Top 8 saw Fredric and his Toyota Supra meet Vaughn Gittin Jr. in the Monster Energy Drink Falken Tire Ford Mustang, who currently sits as #1 in Formula Drift points standings. Jr. has been the driver and car combination to beat all season, being further testamented by his #1 qualifying spot at Round 4.

- We are both running Falken Tires, and the new Azenis RT615-K tires made sure it was an even but in every aspect insanely smokey and fast battle! First runs had judges call a one more time. Reruns were even closer, and when Jr. spun in front of me a crash was unavoidable. Judges declared us as the winner – our privateer team had taken out the top contender in the Formula Drift circuit!! I am so proud of our team, Tom Ole Svendsen and Steffen Moy!

Fredric and Team Japan Auto went on to finish in 7th place after two close battles with Tanner Foust in The Rockstar Energy Drink Scion tC, who later moved on to win the event. Team Japan Auto FSR and Fredric Aasbo currently sits second in Rookie of the Year points standings, having only taken part in two of a total of four rounds. The team is currently looking to establish a program to get the funding needed to take part at the remaining three Formula Drift rounds.

- Literally he has impressed myself, the judges and the fans! Aasbo has created a Norwegian wave through Formula Drift!, said Jarod DeAnda, official host and voice of Formula Drift.

- We are still a rookie in Formula Drift, but we are quickly gaining knowledge as we move on. I know we have strong potential for further consistency, but we need certain upgrades for the car and more seat time in the series. One thing remains assured – we will be giving it a 110% to be able to leave it all at the walls of Las Vegas Motor Speedway!

After the race, Norwegian media outlet Autobloggen created a tribute video showing Norwegian friends and family gathered together cheering on Team Japan Auto 04:00 in the morning.

- I don’t know what to say. I don’t think there’s a word that explains how it feels to have so passionate people putting it all in and backing you in what you love doing. Thanks for a great video that I will NEVER forget!!

Fredric Aasbo is a two time Nordic Drifting Series Champion representing Japan Auto, FSR Motorsport Creations, PBC Auto, KRB Trading, Comp Turbo, Turbosmart Performance Products, Biltema, CRC, Panvulk, BS Bildeler, Kimmit Sport Racing, Agip, EBC Brakes, Brakes Norge, Nuke Performance, Auto-Sign, BlackBox Media and SWR in Formula DRIFT – the World’s premier drifting series.

For further information and inquiries, please visit http://www.fredricaasbo.com/
For high resolution pictures, please visit http://www.flickr.com/fredricaasbo
Pictures courtesy of Larry Chen (http://www.driftfotos.com)

Unfortunately a few mismatched spark plugs had us retire early, but we hada great time meeting new and old friends at a fantastic event (http://www.sommertreff.no). The new Comp Turbo/Turbosmart/SPA/KSR/KRB and PBC Auto single setup sounds awesome. The Supra pulls like a train – please see press release (in Norwegian) and video below!

Here’s a short donut video of the Japan Auto Supra in action at Arctic Circle Raceway:

Check out the video edit from our cruise ship stunt with Norwegian Comedian Alex Rosén!

Next stop for us is Formula DRIFT Round 4: Seattle, July 8th-10th. We can’t wait to get back out to the Formula DRIFT community, take on the competition and learn from the best!

GATEBIL Vålerbanen was set to be the debut of the rebuilt Japan Auto Supra. I had been looking forward to the event throughout the off-season, and despite us being a bit low on power and not getting the single turbo setup ready in time, I couldn’t have been more eager to go out there.

After several problems on Saturday ruining most of the runs, I got plenty more track time on Sunday. We have made a few changes to the steering setup of the car and the car felt even more nimble than before. It was so much fun driving the Euro Supra again, and in the end we were awarded a second place at the Vålersladden drifting competition!! The event proved valuable in many ways besides all the fun – we tested several tire models for DEKK4.no and the SWR rebuilt bottom end proved strong as always.

Thank you all for coming out to the event and supporting us! It was a blast seeing you all again, and I can’t wait to see you all again!

Coming up next is a track day with Aas VGS High School, who helped us out with the rebuild of the Japan Auto Euro Supra. Then, both cars are being equipped with custom single turbo setups, courtesy of KRB Trading, PBC Auto and FSR Motorsport Creations.

Please see below for a couple of pictures of the car sporting its new livery. Many thanks to all our sponsors who made it possible for us to fly the flag at GATEBIL last weekend!

They wanted me to drift all over the terminal as well as jump inside the ship and drift all the way through the car deck. The Japan Auto Supra and I were all up for it, and the shoot went down last week. Thanks for all the fun! Video coming soon!

We’ll be repping the Turbosmart high quality products throughout the season. I can’t wait to test the new setup!!

Thanks Marty! Please check out http://www.turbosmartonline.com for the full rundown of Turbosmart Performance Products.