Aasbo Lands Fifth Consecutive Podium for Team ENEOS at 2025 Formula DRIFT St Louis
Shifting from the East Coast to the Midwest, Team ENEOS traveled to World Wide Technology Raceway for round five of the Formula DRIFT PRO Championship, a wild event that had its share of twists and turns aside from dynamic drifting. Odi Bakchis exited the game early in the Top 32 due to an unlucky error while Fredric Aasbo pushed hard to nearly the end, finishing P3 against fierce competition.
Qualifying sixth based on the previous event’s finish, Bakchis looked to be in strong contention for his side of the Top 32 bracket, with his potentially challenging battles being between either against James Deane or Aasbo. But during his battle against Andy Hateley in the Top 32, he dropped a rear tire of his Feal Suspension / GT Radial Nissan S14.9 into the dirt in OZ1, launching his car into the air, resulting in damage that prohibited Bakchis from returning to competition.
“It’s such a fine line – there were pieces of the track missing, and I went to ride the outside line, which is something that can’t happen with the condition the track was in,” Odi explained. “It grabbed the tire and pulled it right off the wheel, pulling me off track. Absolutely gutted since practice was going really well and I felt like I was in a position to go all the way.”
Aasbo had an equally difficult path to his third place finish, but he remained determined to fight to the bitter end with the Rockstar Energy Toyota GR Supra. He took down Ben Hobson in the Top 32, Conor Shanahan in Top 16, threw down one of the craziest battles against Matt Field in the Great 8 before lining up against Deane in the Final 4. In their ferocious encounter, Aasbo spun out of contention in Outside Zone 4 while in the chase position, giving him a P3 spot on the box while Deane went on to win the St Louis round.
“Fantastic St Louis event with the Supra lubricated by ENEOS oil,” Aasbo said. “I struggled with my chase runs all weekend, so we went for a Hail Mary chase and it didn’t quite work out but we’re guaranteed third place. We’re ready for the final push into the home stretch of the season.”
Following the St Louis round, Aasbo is tied for first with Deane in the overall Championship standings with 180 points, while Bakchis drops to sixth with 100 points.