VIDEO: John Russakoff at Ken Block’s Gymkhana Grid
John Russakoff is our hero. In our opinion he is the best unattached driver in Formula D. Period. It is always exciting to watch John take the battle to the sports best in his entirely self funded Turbo F20 powered AE86. In last years Formula D season opener at Long Beach, John was shredding but was unfortunate to draw Dai Yoshihara as his first opponent in the Top 32 elimination. It was exciting to see John battle the Factory Works Team Falken S13 to a draw, then go one more time only to lose to one of the sport’s best, backed by the sport’s strongest team by the slightest margin sorta like David vs Goliath. If one of you corporate marketing types are reading this, sponsor the man! Your dollars will be well spent!
Fast forward to a couple of weeks ago. At Ken Block’s Gymkhana Grid, the first Gymkhana Grid event in America, Dai and John faced off again. At this exciting racing venue, John and the team fought hard to climb up the ranks to prove the skilled privateer can compete among the big leagues and accomplish victory at the podium. After a tough climb up the ladder, in the final elimination round to decide the winner, John once again lined up against Dai and the Team Falken S13 which had been set up carefully for this event.
The Falken team had been hard at work and Dai and the S13 had been dominating the RWD class all weekend and had been getting faster and faster with every round. John gave it his all but he was no match against the superbly driven and sharply set up Falken car. John Russakoff took 2nd place RWD to Dai Yoshihara with Matt Powers in third filling out the podium. The Formula D drifters had bested a field full of Rally, Road Racing and Time Attack drivers.
