Aasbo and Papadakis Racing Wins Formula Drift at Orlando Speedworld Leading Triple Podium for AEM

AEM-sponsored Frederic Aasbo headed into battle at Formula Drift round 3 in Orlando, Florida.

Fredric Aasbo entered the Formula Drift event at Orlando Speedworld, in Florida, without a lot of confidence. Aasbo, who recently signed to AEM Intakes, emerged as the champion and the leader in the Formula Drift Pro division standings.

Before the race Aasbo said he wasn't very confident in his car, but with good lines and holding off the competition, he emerged vistorious.

Aasbo had little reason to be worried about the event in Orlando. He was a podium finisher at the event in Long Beach earlier this year and was a contender for the lead in the Formula Drift Pro standings after the first two events. Still, he said his car was not as fast as some of his competitors and that made him a little nervous.

"How am I going to hang with these guys?" Aasbo said he after the event in Orlando on June 4. "What we decided to do is to focus on what we are good at. Good strong lines over and over again. It just played out. A lot of our competition ended up doing all these minor mistakes. The rest paid off."

Kristaps Bluss and Chris Forsberg both fought hard but weren't able to take over the lead from Aasbo.

Aasbo and his Rockstar Energy/Nexen Tire/SR by Toyota Scion tC team decided to play to its car's strength. What the car lacked in speed, it more than made up for in handling and traction. Aasbo decided to concentrate on making consistent, error-free runs rather than speed through the course recklessly.

In the final round in Orlando, Aasbo took on Bluss. Bluss almost edged him out but over rotated and almost came to a full stop on the track, thereby giving Aasbo the win

"The tracks that we race on are all kind of different. Some of them are power, grip tracks. Some of them are more technical tracks," Aasbo said. "This is a track where it is an outright grip race. Our car is very good in a lot of respects. It is very easy to place. It has drivability and it has a very consistent tire, it allows me to do the same thing over and over again. We don't always have the outright speed to match some of the faster cars."

Aasbo faced Kristaps Bluss in the final round in Orlando. Bluss, another AEM-sponsored driver, reached the final for the first time in his Formula Drift Pro career. He was in the lead but over rotated and almost came to a complete stop. Aasbo was able to pass Bluss even though the two cars collided during the pass. Aasbo won the final round and took over the lead in the Formula Drift Pro standings.

The top three; Aasbo, Bluss, and Forsberg are all sponsored by AEM Intakes.

"In that respect I am really proud of us sticking to what we could do," Aasbo said, "but we're definitely working on getting more speed for the next couple of rounds in the championship."

AEM's first triple podium in Formula Drift, brought to you by Frederic Aasbo, Kristaps Bluss, and Chris Forsberg.

Aasbo has a 12-point lead over Vaughn Gittin Jr. in the Formula Drift Pro standings after three events. Fellow AEM-sponsored racer Chris Forsberg, who was third at Orlando, is third in the Formula Drift Pro standings, 38 points behind Aasbo. Aasbo, Bluss and Forsberg are all AEM drivers. It is the first time three AEM drivers swept the podium at a Formula Drift Pro event.

The next Formula Drift event is at The Wall Speedway in New Jersey on June 17-18. Aasbo called the course a cheese grater.

"The walls on the outer bank will shred your car apart," Aasbo said. "It's a very unforgiving track. A lot of dreams have been crushed there over the years. But I like it. It's a lot of fun. It has everything. It's actually a really cool stadium. We have really high hopes going in there. We have a lot of respect as competitors for that event. The best we can do is bring our A game and do the best job we possibly can."