Bakchis Finishes Fifth at 2024 Formula DRIFT Seattle
Following a solid third place finish in St Louis by Fredric Aasbo, Team ENEOS headed back to the West Coast for Round 6 of the 2024 Formula DRIFT PRO Championship at Evergreen Speedway. With three rounds left, this would be a pivotal moment to collect valuable Championship points, not only for Aasbo (who was sitting third in the standings coming into this round) but also for Odi Bakchis, who’s been in solid command of second. However, the event delivered several shocking twists and turns.
The first shock occurred in the Top 32 to Simen Olsen, who made a rare mistake in his Feal Suspension Nissan S14.9 against Jeff Jones. This premature exit only contributes to his downfall, especially since he had been a strong contender during the opening rounds. He drops from fifth to seventh in the standings, with a very faint chance of claiming the 2024 title as he sits 174 points behind the leader.
Aasbo became the next casualty of war during the Top 16: Eager to repeat the performance with the Rockstar Energy Toyota Racing GR Supra that got him on the podium in Round 5, he, too, suffered an early demise against Trenton Beechum. Exiting the competition in tenth place, Aasbo drops to fourth in the standings, but is still within reach of attaining his fourth FD PRO crown.
“I missed out by not completing some of the core fundamentals of drifting: filling all the zones!” said Aasbo. “I still had a great weekend hanging out in the packed stands, and look forward to getting things back on track in Utah.”
It would be Bakchis left standing to carry the torch for Team ENEOS following the early departures of Olsen and Aasbo. Like Olsen, he started the season strong, maintaining his Championship aspirations despite a catastrophic car fire and engine replacements early in the season for his Feal Suspension / GT Radial Nissan S15. Fighting hard as ever, he won an intense One More Time (OMT) battle with Branden Sorensen before succumbing to a double OMT contest in the Great 8 against Ryan Tuerck, the eventual winner of this round.
“I wanted to push hard, but struggled to find my groove,” Bakchis said. “It feels good to be sitting second in the Championship even though I finished fifth this round. Now we’ll reset and get dialed in for the remaining two events.”
NEXT ROUND
Team ENEOS heads to Utah Motorsport Campus from August 29-31 for Round 7 of the FD PRO Championship; Faruk Kugay returns for Round 4, final event of the FD PROSPEC Championship.