WTAC are excited to announce veteran pro-drifter Ken Gushi to compete in the 2023 International Drifting Cup presented by Garrett Advancing Motion!
Gushi is a name that has been circulating international drift competitions for almost two decades, as he entered the sport as he became the youngest competitor in both the D1 Grand Prix of Japan and the US Formula Drift Championships when he was 16.
Believe it or not, even though he was kicking it with the best in the top leagues, he hadn’t even passed his road licence tests at the time! It’s a telltale indicator of how invested this man has been in the sport of drifting.
“I drift because that is pretty much all I know to do,” says Gushi, in his Formula Drift driver profile.
(L-R: Ryan Tuerck and Ken Gushi, Ryan will also be attending in the Formula Supra)
Even currently, he competes in both the US and Japanese iterations of the Formula Drift series – showing that he is not going anywhere from the sport any time soon!
At WTAC 2023, Ken will be piloting his 2022 Formula Drift Japan entry, Kazama Auto‘s wild Lexus “RC-VR”, a VR38DETT-based heart, transplanted in a Lexus RC coupe. The car is dressed in the iconic Moty’s livery, something instantly recognisable as a signature of the whole Kazama fleet.
Kazama-san has indicated that the base of this car is an Lexus RC350 F Sport, as it made no sense to invest into the top-tier RC-F only to remove them or replace them with pricier, higher-performance options.
Indeed no costs were spared for the new heart of this Lexus is an R35 GT-R motor. It has been stroked out to 4.3L and with a pair of mirrored Garrett G30 turbos and nitrous injection forcing gobs of boost down the dry-sumped V6’s throat, the RC now puts out over 1000HP!
The power is delivered to the Yokohama ADVAN Neova AD09 tyres through a Samsonas six-speed sequential backed up to a Sikky Winters quick change.
A bit of Aussie love in the car with a custom Plazmaman intercooler chilling things out for the twin turbos up front.
This car was built as the ultimate demo car to celebrate Kazama’s 30 years in the business and was built as the sister car to Andrew Gray’s 2JZ-powered Lexus RC competition car.
The Kazama Auto RC-VR (front) next to the 2JZ-powered sister car of Andrew Gray
Ken will be competing at the International Drifting Cup both evenings of the WTAC 2023 event, but you can catch him for driver signings and meet-and-greet sessions at the Yokohama ADVAN Stage area throughout the day.
Do not miss your chance to meet and watch this legend of the drift scene as he heads to Australia for the first time for competition!
Tickets ARE ON SALE NOW – WTAC 2023 Event dates are Friday 1 and Saturday 2 September 2023!
World Time Attack Challenge Sydney is proudly supported by the NSW Government through its tourism and major events agency, Destination NSW.
