5 Minutes with John Russakoff

One of my Favorite AE86 drivers over the years has been the San Diego born John Russakoff. Even though his 86 has changed it's look a few times over the years, two things have always been the same. His dedication to the AE86 chassis, and his incredible driving style.



I dropped John an e-mail to see if he would be able to have a quick chat with The Corolla Brotherhood and he very kindly took 5 minutes out of his busy Formula D schedule to give the Brotherhood a run down of the spec of his famous AE86 and a run down of his drifting career. I hope you enjoy...

Bio:
John Russakoff
Age 28
Born in  San Diego, USA
Owner of JSP Fab
Been tuning/driving corollas since 2003. Competed in amatuer drift comps on 04 and attempted to get my D1 license but failed. Took 2005 off to drag race a shop car and build a new corolla for Competition. 2006 competed in top drift and got my FD and D1 licences. Have been competing in Formula D since '07 doing 1-2 races a year. This year I am getting help from Megan racing and Nexen tires and will be competing the whole season.


The 2011 AE86 Setup:

1984 SR5 base model
2006 f22 stock besides ARP headstuds
ACT clutch
Haltech E8 ecu
gt3067 turbo set @ 16psi
420hp/300tq
HTS shocks

All front suspension components are from his main sponsor, Megan Racing
TRD 4.5k rear springs
Techno Toy Tuning 5 link set-up
TRD rear sway bar
Toyota Supra 7.5 rear axle narrowed by 1.5"

Kaaz 2way Diff
3.5 final drive

Here are a list of the previous engine setups used:
Stock Silvertop 20v 4AGE
Stock Blacktop 20v 4AGE
Toda 304 blacktop
Stock f22
f22 w/gt28rs 330hp


Photo Credits - http://www.motormavens.com/ & http://www.motoiq.com/

Massive thanks again to John for giving us this great spec list and a run down of his drifting career. I enjoyed reading it and finding out a bit more about his great AE86.
http://www.jspfab.com/

James.

Update:
I have received a message from John as a little update for you all as he will be developing a new RS Coilover system with Megan Racing for the AE86 so I look forward to seeing that soon! He's also told me that he has just landed in Atlanta ready for Formula D round 2 so I imagine your all behind me when I wish John, Taka and the remaining Megan Racing team all the best for round 2! Go learn some Nissan's bro!