Held on March 3th, at the GReddy Performance Products HQ in Irvine CA.
Showing posts with label FormulaD. Show all posts
Showing posts with label FormulaD. Show all posts
Tuesday, May 6, 2025
Tuesday, April 16, 2024
Top 4 Finish for Ken Gushi at Formula Drift Long Beach
April 13th - Ken Gushi and his GReddy-powered GP73 2JZ scores a Top 4 Finish at the 2024 Formula Drift season opener on the Streets of Long Beach
Thursday, April 4, 2024
Ken Gushi's 2024 Formula Drift Pro Championship Livery
2024 LIVERY REVEAL
Ken Gushi and Greddy team up again for 2024 Formula Drift season (UPDATE)Find Ken and our GReddy Team at the season opener April 12-13 on the Streets of Long Beach for Round 1 of the Formula Drift Pro Championships...
Wednesday, February 21, 2024
Ken Gushi and Greddy team up again for 2024 Formula Drift season.
Ken Gushi and Greddy Performance will be teaming up again for the
2024 Formula Drift season. Ken will be debuting Greddy Performance's new 2jz engine program along with their new turbocharger and accompanying engine accessories.
"I am excited to be back with Greddy for the 2024 season. Working with them for 10 years prior to this, their know-how and expertise in the automotive performance industry is going to make a big difference for me. Although the 1GR engine platform had potential, the new Greddy 2jz has all the elements to perform at this level of competition and beyond. "
Ken Gushi
"We are excited to once again team up with Ken. It's been a few years since we have been away from FD, and we are looking forward to being able to showcase the capability of our products with Ken's program."
Kenji Sumino/President
Greddy Performance Products
Tuesday, September 8, 2020
2020 Formula Drift Double-header Season Opener
#FDSTL - World Wide Technology Raceway, St. Louis, Missouri Sept 5-6
Ken Gushi Motorsport's competition debut for the GReddy Performance Achilles Tire Toyota Gazoo Racing GR Supra at #FDSTL - 12th overall after Saturday's, Rd.1 and Sunday's Rd.2 events.
IG: "Had hell of a first round here at @formulad . Firstly, I injured my back last week (slipped a disc) and have been pretty much immobile throughout the weekend. Had my awesome team work on everything while I sat around. And I couldn’t deliver for them on my top32 battle against @alecrobbinsracing ! Great drive from Alec as he’s been on fire all weekend. Round 2 tomorrow, so we’ll give the new @toyotaracing#GRsupra a wilder drive! Can’t thank my team enough for covering all bases while I sit out like a grandpa. "
IG: "And that’s a wrap for our first double header @formuladweekend! We’re currently sitting 12th with our brand new @toyotaracing#GRsupra. The car is so beat up but we learned quite a few different things and will be applying those changes for the next rounds. Special thanks to the entire Formula Drift staff for going beyond to keep us safe while we do what we love. And thanks to my team for literally having my back while I threw out my back! And to everyone who checked in on me! The car is coming back to @greddyperformance on the @achilles_radial rig. Video of how this monster was created will be up on my YouTube this week!"
Ken Gushi Motorsport's competition debut for the GReddy Performance Achilles Tire Toyota Gazoo Racing GR Supra at #FDSTL - 12th overall after Saturday's, Rd.1 and Sunday's Rd.2 events.
* Also scroll down to the bottom of this post for the behind the build video...
Formula Drift FDSTL - Rd.1&2 Recap Video
Video: FDSTL Rd.1&2 by Larry Chen
Rd.1 #FDSTL kengushi
IG: "Had hell of a first round here at @formulad . Firstly, I injured my back last week (slipped a disc) and have been pretty much immobile throughout the weekend. Had my awesome team work on everything while I sat around. And I couldn’t deliver for them on my top32 battle against @alecrobbinsracing ! Great drive from Alec as he’s been on fire all weekend. Round 2 tomorrow, so we’ll give the new @toyotaracing#GRsupra a wilder drive! Can’t thank my team enough for covering all bases while I sit out like a grandpa. "
Behind the Drift B58-powered A90 GR Supra
Wednesday, May 13, 2020
Ken Gushi's 2020 GR Supra Formula D Challenger
UPDATE 5/27 - 2020 Livery revealed...
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| Ken Gushi Motorsports GReddy Toyota Gazoo Racing GR Supra |
Championship. The team took home a memorable win at the 2019 Finals in front of a sold-out home-
town crowd. While the 86 proved to be a winning contender, the team will now shift their focus and swing the momentum into the all new GR Supra platform.
“I am beyond excited to introduce to everyone our new Toyota Gazoo Racing GR Supra that we will be campaigning for the 2020 Formula Drift season. The Supra is an iconic name in the import car scene and I couldn’t be any happier to be given the opportunity to pilot such a legendary brand. I will miss driving the 86 as that car will always have a special place in my heart. With the help of our new and existing partners, I believe we have built the ultimate drifting machine. “The build took place at Greddy Performance HQ in Irvine CA. The team took delivery of the GR Supra late December of 2019 and wasted no time in stripping down the car for chassis and roll cage prep. Our goal as a team was to take everything we learned with the 86 platform, and apply it to the GR Supra.
Starting with the B58 engine program, we worked closely with Bluemoon Performance out of Costa
Mesa to build a powerful, yet reliable engine using parts and components from our partners over at
RunBC, Supertech Performance, JE Pistons, and Motul USA. These brands have been a key
component with the success we had through our 86 campaign. Powered by a BorgWarner EFR 9280,
the B58 straight-6 will propel the GR Supra running on Achilles Radial 123S tires, which brought the
team huge success and performance in 2019.
“I am confident this GR Supra will be a great successor to our faithful 86 that brought us a win at
Irwindale last season. I already know this car has huge potential and I can’t wait to show you guys
what it’s all about” says Ken.
Formula Drift Pro Championship
Entering its 17th season, Formula DRIFT is recognized as North America's professional drifting
championship series. As the first official series in North America, Formula DRIFT has taken competitive motorsports to the extreme, attracting fans and car enthusiasts from all walks of life and establishes itself as the worldwide leader for the Sport. This high-skilled, high-powered motor sport where drivers intentionally maneuver their cars into well executed, controlled sideways slides at high speeds through a marked course, has professional drivers & teams competing in eight championship competitions in 2020.
Round One of the 2020 season will now take place at Michelin Raceway Road Atlanta on July 3-4,
which is reminiscent of the first season of Formula DRIFT in 2004, which kicked off of at the same
track.
Tuesday, October 22, 2019
Ken Gushi Wins the 2019 Formula Drift Finale at the House of Drift, Irwindale Speedway
If there is one event on the Formula Drift calendar that all Pro Drift drivers, teams and sponsors want to win, it has to be on the high banks of the “House of Drift,” Irwindale Speedway. This weekend with a near perfect result, Ken Gushi and his GReddy Performance - Achilles Tire - Toyota Racing 86 achieved this feat with a 2nd place qualifying and the FD event WIN!
Ken’s experience in the series and home track paid off with smooth, high-level qualifying runs and unshakeable precision lead laps all weekend long.
But it was with the support from his FDIRW track team, crew chief - Takeshi Aizawa, spotter Ben Swartz, Billy Bazalar, Meng Tea, Sean Adriano, Kevin Sanchez and Kenji Sumino; Ken was able to adapt throughout the tandem rounds and balance the massive grip and Irwindale tire wear of the Achilles to successful get pass the competition. Like rookie of the year, Travis Reeder in 16, the aggressive Wothhouse team of Pior Wiecek in great-8 and 3x and current champion James “The Machine” Deane in an epic semi-final battle.
Special thanks goes our to 2019 team partners: Toyota Racing, TRD, Achilles Tire, Motul, Soft 99, Razo, Borg Warner, Radium Engineering, Bluemoon Performance, KW Suspension, Wisefab, Sparco, Rays, Supertech Perofmance, OS Giken, Winmax, OCD Works, Ignite and Boost Brigade.
Action shots by Larry Chen and Team shots by TK Akiyama
Miss the action? See the Livestream Video links
WORDS FROM THE WINNER
With two Achilles Radial-equipped drivers on the podium, and the announcer building the excitement, Ken Gushi wept with joy when he was announced the winner. Despite finishing second in the Championship in 2015 and recording three podiums as recently as 2016, Gushi – who has competed in the series since its inception – hasn’t won a Formula DRIFT round since Texas in 2005, so his emotion was overpowering. “This is the first year I took over the entire motorsports operations for GReddy Racing, which brought a lot of challenges figuring out logistics, scheduling, prioritizing car development and more. There’s so many factors that can prevent me from being 100% focused on driving, so to be here at the last round of 2019, after overcoming all those challenges, and to be able to celebrate the win with my fans, friends, family and the entire team, is a huge bonus. It was an incredibly challenging year but hopefully we’re going into 2020 with some momentum. I’m very excited today – it’s a day I’ll never forget.”
Excerpt from Official Formula Drift Press Release
GUSHI TRIUMPHS IN IRWINDALE
Deane’s festivities would carry him through the Great 8, where he overcame a strong challenge from Ryan Tuerck, but he would falter in the Final 4 against Ken Gushi. Qualifying second, Gushi was on a mission at FD Irwindale and while he set a very strong lead lap, there were doubts he could match the pace of the newly crowned 2019 Champion in the chase position. However, Gushi defied the odds and doggedly stuck to both his task and Deane’s door, sending the Irishman back to the paddock early. Deane would still claim a third place podium position and the aforementioned 2019 Formula DRIFT Black Magic PRO Championship, so he wasn’t totally despondent.
Gushi’s path to the Final started with a bye round in the Top 32 courtesy of his second place qualifying position, followed by a match-up with Travis Reeder (USA) in the Sweet 16. Back at the wheel of Old Red – Reeder’s faithful Napoleon Motorsports / Turn Key / Nitto Tire / Nissan 240SX S13, which was substituting while development continues on his revolutionary electric-powered Camaro EL1 – the newly crowned Rookie of the Year put up a valiant fight but couldn’t match Gushi’s pace or precision.
In the Great 8, Gushi met Wiecek in the second Worthouse / Falken Tire Nissan Silvia S15. Wiecek was fresh from beating Aasbo in a very tight Sweet 16 heat, which was ridiculously close but the Polish driver was given the nod by virtue of better proximity in the chase position.
As Gushi and Wiecek went to battle, both impressed the judges on their lead runs but made small mistakes in the chase position. Much to the delight of the crowd, the judges requested OMT.
On their repeat runs, Gushi drifted high on the banking in Outside Zone 1 as Wiecek accelerated hard to gain proximity. Making slight contact with Gushi’s door, Wiecek was then fighting the car as he transitioned off the banking and found himself too deep through Inside Clip 1. Throwing the car sideways, Wiecek was lucky to escape with nothing more than decapitated tail lights and returned to the starting line for run two after a brief check. However, Gushi decided to take his only Competition Time Out at this point in order to refill his nitrous injection bottle. Some onlookers questioned the wisdom of using his only Time Out when Wiecek’s previous run was ruled incomplete and all Gushi had to do was finish his chase run. However, Wiecek wasn’t about to make it easy and again set a blistering pace. Gushi did enough to finish the run and was awarded the win.
After beating Deane in the Final 4, Gushi faced 2013 FD Champion Michael Essa (USA) in the Final. Driving the Essa Autosport / Achilles Tire BMW M3, he had a punishing route through the heats. It began against Rookie Sebastien Gauthier (Canada) in the Top 32. Driving his SSG Motorsport Nissan S14, Gauthier needed to make up ground in the first turn and found himself stumbling over Essa at Inside Clip 1. With Essa spinning out, Gauthier was adjudged to have been the culprit, granting Essa more time to make repairs.
Once they returned to the line, Essa struggled to keep pace with Gauthier in the chase position and appeared to be experiencing car problems. Unsure whether his “inactive chase” was the result of the collision or simply a conservative approach to ensure progress to the next stage, the judges called for OMT.
When the runs were repeated, Essa seems to find the right gear, knocking out a strong lead run and better chase run, grabbing the win.
Next up was Justin “JTP” Pawlak (USA) in the Roush Performance / Falken Tire Ford Mustang. Always fast and aggressive, Pawlak went hard off the line, leaving Essa in his wake trying to find speed and the correct line. With a clear advantage over his opponent for run two, JTP called a Competition Time Out on the starting line to address an overheating problem. With coolant leaks and a very hot engine, the team was unable to make repairs in time and was eliminated.
Things didn’t get any easier for Essa in the Great 8 where he was matched against 2010 FD Champion Vaughn Gittin Jr (USA) in the Monster Energy / Nitto Tire Ford Mustang RTR Spec 5-D. Never wanting to take prisoners, Gittin Jr was all over Essa in the chase position. The pair made light contact in Outside Zone 2 but Essa was able to hold his line and finish a good run. With Gittin Jr in the lead, Essa simply can’t match his pace. Possibly sensing victory, the Mustang driver didn’t drift deep enough through the course. Facing a dilemma, the judges ruled in favor of Essa who had a better lead run.
In the Final 4, Essa would start the first run in the chase position against Aurimas “Odi” Bakchis (Lithuania) – the only driver to win two rounds during the 2019 season. Driving his distinctive Falken Tire / Feal Suspension Nissan S14, Bakchis left Essa in his tire smoke as he built a significant gap through the course. Seemingly down on power, Essa’s lead run was clean but resulted in Bakchis drifting wide through Inside Clip 1 and colliding with the safety wall. While there was some speculation that Essa’s car problems may have mitigated the situation, he’d done enough to advance to the Final.
With Gushi’s incredible form throughout qualifying and the heats, and Essa’s apparently sick BMW, it seemed as if the result was inevitable, but the 2013 FD Champion wasn’t finished. Essa found an adrenal burst of acceleration for the first run and managed to maintain good proximity to Gushi’s leading Toyota, despite having to make several adjustments to avoid contact. Once Essa adopted the lead position, Gushi found himself tripping over the slower M3, making light contact on the banking and then having to back off through Inside Clip 1 to avoid further contact. As the cars drifted deep through Outside Zone 2, Essa’s BMW span without receiving any outside assistance. And while Gushi had to take avoiding action, Essa’s run was judged incomplete
Friday, June 21, 2019
At the 2019 Formula Drift Half Way Point - FD Profile: Life of Ken Gushi Video
Ken Gushi and the Toyota Racing - Achilles Tire - GReddy Performance 86 Team fight back in a strong FDNJ round 4 performance to the Top 8 quarter finals. 1 month before the second half of the season resumes at July 19-20 at FDSEA at Evergreen Speedway, WA.
Round 3 FDATL - May 10th-llth Road Atlanta, GA
Round 4 FDSEA - July 19th-20th Evergreen Speedway, WA - coming soon...
In this Life Of episode, we hang for the whole weekend at Road Atlanta with Ken Gushi. Gushi gives us some insights into his team, his responsibilities as a pro driver and we also get to go along with Ken in competition.
Round 1 FDLB - April 5th-6th Streets of Long Beach, CA
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| TEAM GREDDY RACING GEAR - SHOPGREDDY.COM |
Round 2 FDFL - April 26th-27th Orlando Speed World, FL
Round 3 FDATL - May 10th-llth Road Atlanta, GA
Round 4 FDNJ - June 7th-8th Wall Speedway, NJ
Photos: Larry Chen Photos
Round 4 FDSEA - July 19th-20th Evergreen Speedway, WA - coming soon...
Ken Gushi Motorsports
Toyota Racing
GReddy Performance Products
Thursday, April 4, 2019
The 2019 Formula Drift Pro Championships start on the Streets of Long Beach
April 3-4, 2019
KEN GUSHI #21 - GREDDY PERFORMANCE X ACHILLES TIRE X TOYOTA RACING 86
- LIVE STREAM -
Friday Qualifying: 4/3/2019 1:15pm PST
Saturday Tandem Competition: 4/4/2019
Top 32 - 11:00am PST
Half-Time Break - 1:00 - 2:30pm PST
Top 16 - 3:00pm PST
Find us at the GReddy / Boost Brigade Vendor booth in the Formula Drift Vendor padock, all day Saturday. (not at the Team GReddy Racing x Ken Gushi trailer this year)
New Team, GReddy, Boost Brigade, and Pandem items for sale...
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