After a long wait, the new Formula Drift 2025 season opened in Long Beach. After the seeding bracket, the Top 32 in California saw two cars powered by Samsonas Motorsport, both Toyotas. Ken Gushi returned to the U.S. with his Toyota Gazoo Racing GReddy Performance GR86, while Ireland’s Conor Shanahan returned to the United States with his own program and an all-new car – the Toyota GT86. Last year, Connor raced a BMW E36 chassis here, and the switch to the Toyota GT86 chassis same as he races in Europe. Both Toyotas are running the Samsonas Motorsport RS90 sequential gearbox.
Conor Shanahan went up against local Derek Madison in the Nissan S14 and moved on to the next round. Ken Gushi also reached the Top16 and won his first duel with Nick Noback in the BMW E36. After that, luck was no longer on the side of the Samsonas-equipped cars. In the Top16, Ken Gushi met and lost to Frederic Aasbo, who later won the first round of Formula Drift in Long Beach. Connor managed to beat Dylan Hughes in the BMW E46 with his GT86 in the Top 16, but then James “The Machine” Deane was waiting in the Top 8 battle. After a tough battle between the Irish duo, James came out on top.
After the first round in sunny California, Connor Shanahan shares places 6-9, and Ken Gushi places 11-16 in the Formula Drift Pro standings. The next event will take place in Atlanta, Georgia, May 8-10