After sitting at the top of the podium in Round One of Formula Drift, team driver Odi Bakchis took 4th in round two to maintain the overall points lead for the season. Currently sitting at 180 total points for the season puts Bakchis ahead of 2nd place, friend and frenemy Matt Field, by 22 total points.
After more than a year away from Orlando Speed World it was clear that drivers were itching to get back on the high-speed banks and catch air off the bump in the middle of the course. Friday evening brought Qualifying and because Bakchis had taken first in Atlanta he was the first to go. With the Same aggression as in Atlanta, Bakchis left the line and put down an impressive 94pt run. Four other drivers also scored a 94 on their qualifying run leaving Bakchis in a five-way tie for first position.
Entering into the Top 32 Bakchis had been matched against 29th overall qualifier Masuyama. As the fourth battle of the side, it was S14 vs S15 at the line. Bakchis took the lead position first and put down a clean line around the course with Masuyama having a hard time maintaining proximity to Bakchis door. Bakchis took advantage of a small mistake made by Masuyama pulling a four-car length gap between the two by the finish line. In the chase Bakchis kept close proximity and mimicked Masuyama’s angle early on. Despite a small correction in the power ally, Bakchis was able to regain and close the gap to pull out the unanimous win.
In Top 16 Bakchis was matched with Alec Robbins, after Robbins took out Michael Essa during the top 32. Alec Robbins and his V8 powered Z chassis pulled to the line ready for a battle. Out of the starting chicane Bakchis took lead in the first half and immediately took and held a good distance from Robbins 350z. During the transition in the power ally, Robbins attempted to close the gap by surging forward and center punching the inner clip. However, Bakchis stayed full on the throttle and maintained his line for a clean run. In the Chase Bakchis was glued to Robbins’s door for the entire run ensuring another unanimous victory to move into the Great 8.
The Great 8 looked like a redo of the final battle of Round One with Bakchis being paired up against his frenemy Matt Field again. These two may be friends off the course, but it was all business when they hit the track. Qualifying position put Bakchis in the lead position in run one. Field held proximity all the way until the second inner clip where he made a slight correction and had to back off. In the Chase Bakchis repeated his style from the top 16, staying glued to the door of Field’s Corvette, and grabbing his third unanimous win of the night pushing on into the Final 4.
The Final 4 opened with Chelsea Denofa and his 1200 Horsepower RTR Mustang taking on Bakchis and the 900 horsepower S15. Orlando Speed world is one of the tracks Chelsea Denofa has the most time on. With Denofa leading both drivers initiated high on the bank and stayed there all the way through turn 1. Dropping into the power ally Bakchis transitioned slightly shallow and had to slow up to maintain his line. This allowed Denofa to open a small gap right before the finish line. In his lead run Bakchis got a little too deep into outside one. This allowed Denofa to close the gap on transition and continue to push closer to through outside zone two. Unfortunately, for Bakchis Denfoa’s home field advantage was enough to knock him out at 4th place. Thankfully, this was still high enough to maintain the highest points total.
Alongside Bakchis, was Team Pedal Commanders newest Driver Evan Bogovich making his Prospec Debut. Bogovich is Piloting Bakchis's S14, that Bakchis used in the Pro Series before moving to the S15. The S14 Required some slight modification to pass tech for Prosec, Including swapping the sequential gearbox for a four-speed dogbox and a smaller tire size.
Bogovich Put down a strong qualifying run to earn the 9th position overall. In top 32 Bogovich saw his first ever Formula Drift Battle against Michael Diaz. Evan was able to pull the lead out in his first battle. However, due to a slight correction in his Top 16 battle Bogovich was taken out by Austin Matta.