Formula Drift: Texas Motor Speedway 2016
Formula Drift in Texas speedway marked Round 7 of Formula D Pro series and Round 3 of PRO 2 series. Following tradition here is breakdown of how the Toyota 86 (Scion FRS) and Subaru BRZ teams performed.



As always Formula D is nothing without incidents, even for the few drivers we follow here. During practice Castro driving his Toyota 86 smashed into Yoshihara's BRZ door and both cars were damaged. Luckily damage could be fixed and both drivers could proceed to the main event. For Greddy Racing team the challenge was more interesting as Ken Gushi's Toyota 86 2JZ engine was breaking down. During qualifying the car was running on 5 of its 6 cylinders, the team pulled a spark plug to have the car running and with the awkward noise the engine made, Ken Gushi still could make a great pass. After qualifying Greddy/Scion Racing team pulled the engine and put a new one in.


2016 PRO series "rookie" with Toyota 86 Jhonnattan Castro qualified 24th and in Top32 competition faced the big angle master of Get Nuts Lab - Forrest Wang. The judges favored Wang, Castro didn't make it to Top 16.
Senior drivers Ryan Tuerck, Dai Yoshihara and Ken Gushi all made it to Top16. Both Ken Gushi and Ryan Tuerck scored the maximum 96 points at qualifying runs and their second runs (91 for Tuerck, 85 for Gushi) determined their qualifying position after Vaughn Gittin Jr. who scored 96 and 93 taking the 1st position.

Dai Yoshihara qualified in 8th position and did better than Juha Rintanen in Top32 run but lost against Forrest Wang in Top16 battle.


Ken Gushi and his team did a fantastic job and qualified in 4th position. Gushi faced Andrew Gray in Top32 and took the Greddy Racing x Scion Racing Toyota 86 to the main event.


In TOP16 Gushi fought a tough battle with "Badass Latvian" Kristaps Bluss of HGK Motorsport team driving the BMW e46 800hp v8 NA monster. After first battle judges decided to OMT. In second battle Kristaps' run was better and he advanced further, later Bluss ended up in 4th place.

Ryan Tuerck scored 2nd best qualifying score. In top32 Tuerck went against Kyle Mohan and won. In Top16 Ryan Tuerck faced the reckless Alec Hohnadell. Judges gave the win to Hohnadell, who eventually ended up in 3rd place and hit his first FD podium.


Event podium as follows:
1. Matt Field
2. Chris Forsberg
3. Alec Hohnadell
It is second time we attend #FDTX. Last year the weather was harsh, dropping from 90 degrees to 55F. This time weather was hot and nice. Always great to hang out with the teams and see what they have accomplished in this top tier motorsport.
Scion Racing "SR BY TOYOTA" with help of Fredric Aasbo driving the Scion TC have taken a strong lead in Formula Drift manufacturers "Auto Cup" with 828 points, Nissan following in 2nd place with 677 points.
After round 7 in Texas the championship standings for FRS/BRZ drivers:
6. Ken Gushi
7. Daijiro Yoshihara
12. Ryan Tuerck
20. Jhonnattan Castro
See you in final round at Irwindale Speedway "House of Drift" in October 7-8!
More photos:
Article, photography: Valters Bože