Top 10 Things We Learned from 2025 Formula DRIFT Long Beach

Fredric Aasbø didn't seem to miss a beat by switching tire manufacturers this off season. According to Aasbø, Kenda Tires new Vezda UHP Max+ tires allow him to have more front grip. Whatever the case is, they seemed to perform flawlessly for Aasbo and his Rockstar Energy Toyota GR Supra helping him earn the top spot on the podium to kick off the 2025 season. This weekend's victory marks the third time Aasbø has clinched first place at Long Beach (2015, 2018, 2025).

James Deane and his AutoZone Mustang RTR Spec 5-FD looked ready to win this event after throwing down a heater of a run during media day on Tuesday. Had it not been for a wall tap in his lead run in Outer Zone 3 during the finals with Fredric Aasbø, he would have probably won the event. Long Beach continues to be one of Deane's best performing venues. Deane has won here twice (2017 and 2024), finished 2nd once (2025), 4th once (2018), and 6th twice (2019, 2023) in his last six appearances*.

Note: Deane did not compete from 2020-2022.

Adam LZ looks determined to make a serious run for the championship this season and doing it while having fun at the same time in his Drift HQ E36 BMW. Last year was meant to be a partial season for LZ, but he eventually decided to compete in all 8 events. After finishing 26th at Long Beach last year, totaling a chassis in St. Louis, and building a new one in 2 weeks, LZ still managed to finish the 2024 season in a respectable 5th place. If last weekend's 3rd place finish is any indication of what's to come this season, we have a feeling he will a top contender for the championship.

Branden Sorensen continues to improve and this year's 4th place finish marks the highest he's finished in Long Beach. Sorensen previously finished 24th in 2023 and 14th in 2024, improving his overall finish by 10 positions each year. He can only go up 3 positions at Long Beach next year, so it'll be interesting to see if he's able to improve again. In the mean time, we're certain we will see him on the podium this season if he continues performances like last weekend. 

Chris Forsberg's performance this weekend in Long Beach is what we've been missing and it reminded us of his 2014 season. For starters, Forsberg switched to Kumho Tires a week before the event which left him with no time to test them. Therefore his first laps on these tires were done at Long Beach. Although he didn't get the result he wanted, he was driving like his former self and landing in the top 8 on an untested new tire was a respectable feat. 

Second, Forsberg's on air interview with Laurette and calling out GT Radial drivers on the livestream was great. What made it even better was after his battle with fellow Neft Vodka teammate Adam LZ, when LZ replied back during his interview after his win against Forsberg letting fans know where they could buy GT Radial tires. Hopefully if we're all lucky, this kind of harmless banter will continue throughout the season and encompass more drivers for some friendly rivalries and trash-talking sessions between battles. 

Daigo Saito's epic return to Formula DRIFT after a decade hiatus came up short for fans expecting him to shake up the series like he did in 2012. Unfortunately Saito first experienced engine issues with his VR38DETT-powered Toyota GR86 during testing at Apple Valley on Thursday resulting in an engine swap. Then during his Top 32 battle with Aurimas 'Odi' Bakchis, Saito had more issues with the new engine and withdrew from the competition after just one run, Daigo never seemed to be comfortable on track this weekend and we hope they're able to figure out the problem before Road Atlanta in just a few short weeks. 

Ben Hobson came out swinging in Long Beach like he did in 2023 during his championship season in PROSPEC. After watching his performances during media day, the seeding bracket, and the main bracket; it's definitely the return of the old Hobson we all came to love. During an interview with Laurette Nichols, Hobson explained he got rid of the negativity in his life and is focusing on the positives. We're just glad he's back and can't wait to watch him drive like this the rest of the season.

Rookie Tommy Lemaire doesn't really need an E36, but he did put on quite the performance driving one at Long Beach. The 2024 Formula DRIFT PROSPEC Champion spent the offseason building his new XPN / Kumho Tires C7 Corvette and was able to test it out at the LZ World Tour, but after engine issues during Friday practice, Lemaire had to borrow Rome Charpentier's BMW E36 just before the seeding bracket that evening. Lemaire won his first battle on Friday against fellow rookie Connor O'Sullivan and then lost to Dmitry Brutskiy in the Top 8. On Saturday during the main bracket, Lemaire was paired up against Adam LZ where he was eliminated. Overall not bad considering he had never driven the car and basically went straight into competition with it. We hope he can get his C7 issues resolved and show us what it's capable of in Atlanta. 

Rookie Jack Shanahan is a two-time British Drift Championship (2016, 2017) and Russian Drift Series (2021) champion, so calling him a rookie is only because he's new to Formula DRIFT. Shanahan is competing in the Kumho Tires BMW 1 Series this season and while he ran into some bad luck with a brake caliper issue during Friday's seeding bracket, he didn't let it get him down in main bracket where he ended running OMT twice with veteran Ryan Tuerck in the Top 32. Although Shanahan didn't advance, he demonstrated how he's going to be a top contender this season and we're ready for it.

During the halftime show, Formula DRIFT President and Co-Founder Ryan Sage announced that Round 8 dubbed the Shoreline Showdown would be held on a new section of the public streets in Long Beach (due to the demolition of Irwindale Speedway). At the moment all we have is a rendering, but we're hoping more details are shared shortly so we can get a better visualization of what the exact layout will look like.