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Team Falken Takes First And Third Place At Formula Drift’s Title Fight Finale In Irwindale
IRWINDALE, CA – Falken Tires finished the modified 2020 Formula Drift season strong with veteran Team Falken Driver Aurimas “Odi” Bakchis taking top honors in the series finale at Irwindale Speedway, the House of DRIFT. Falken Teammate Justin Pawlak took home third place.
With 27 entries for Round 8, the qualifying seeding process put Team Falken mid-pack, with Daijiro “Dai” Yoshihara in 11th; Matt Field, 14th; Bakchis, 18th; and Pawlak, 19th. On the strength of their experience, Bakchis and Pawlak pushed through to the Top 4. Bakchis had to defeat his teammate in order to move into the Finals, where he eventually took down Chelsea Denofa, while Pawlak beat Jeff Jones to earn third.
“This was a brutally competitive and very quick season,” declared Steve Wong, Falken’s Supervisor, Passenger Car Motorsports & Events. “With multiple doubleheaders and challenges at every track, Team Falken ran hard and we took home a win at the series finale alongside four podium finishes. It made us stronger as a team and our drivers consistently ran well on our AZENIS RT615K+ tires throughout the season. I’m really proud of their accomplishments.”
Despite not staging the events in front of many live fans in 2020, each round was livestreamed for folks to watch from the comfort of their homes. Passionate fans continued to tune in from all over the world, a testament to the enduring power and popularity of Formula Drift.
As Bakchis climbed to the stage to take his first-place trophy, he gave much of the credit for his win to his spotter. “Honestly, this is a huge achievement for my spotter. We set up the car based on her feedback. We gripped up our car against Chelsea [Denofa]. It was an awesome run and I went as hard as I could for our last round here at Irwindale. I’m stoked to be on the box. Thank you to my crew, you guys are killin’ it, and a big shout out to Falken.”
Bakchis added that while his Nissan S15 “was brand new this year, we learned a lot that we’ll apply for next year. Obviously, it was a rollercoaster of a season, but as always, I’m looking forward to next season.”
Justin Pawlak seconded Bakchis’ statement. His Roush-upgraded Ford Mustang was also new for 2020, and he successfully applied many upgrades to remain potent not only at Irwindale but throughout the season. “It was a lot of fun, but we all competed with heavy hearts this year, knowing the world we live in today.”
Wong added one final note. “Thank you to Formula Drift for putting together a season to allow our Falken Drivers and their teams to represent the Falken brand. We look forward to continuing our support in 2021.”
At the close of the 2020 season, final Falken rankings within the Formula D Championship listed Bakchis 6th, Pawlak 7th, Yoshihara 13th and Field 14th.