October 22-23, 2021

Event: Round Eight/ Finals, Formula DRIFT PRO 2021 Championship

Location: The House of Drift / Irwindale Speedway, Irwindale CA

 Photos: Courtesy of FD/Larry Chen, 9NINE2/ John Cirone

Formula DRIFT PRO slid into The House of Drift at Irwindale Speedway this past weekend to settle the Championship title with the final event of the 2021 season. When the smoke cleared the final event win would go to Vortech Driver Aurimas “Odi” Bakchis (Lithuania) driving the Falken Tire / Feal Suspension Nissan S15 running a YSi-B Vortech Supercharger.

The 2021 FD PRO Championship and overall points leader would go to Fredric Aasbo (Norway) in the Rockstar Energy Drink / Nitto Tire GR Supra who was the leader in points leading into Irwindale. Second place was secured by Vortech Driver Matt Field in his Falken Tire/ Drift Cave Chevrolet Corvette also with a YSi-B Vortech Supercharger and Third place overall for the Championship was the Irwindale event winner and Vortech Driver “Odi” Bakchis, who was able to bump up from 4^th coming into the finals. Vortech Superchargers congratulates Matt Field and Aurimas “Odi” Bakchis for their awesome 2021 FD PRO season finishing 2^nd & 3^rd place respectfully!

Before taking to the podium, Odi and Field had to battle each other in close proximity in the semi's before the winner would face off against Aasbo in the final round.

Returning to Irwindale Speedway affectionately known as The House of Drift for the Formula DRIFT Final Round is a tradition that has stood since the series began in 2004. Even through the pandemic, Irwindale is the only track that remained on the FD PRO schedule and made for some great runs for the Vortech Drivers showing what the V-7 YSi-B Supercharger is capable of.

Along with the celebrations on Saturday night, the Final round of the 2021 season also brought an end to an era. Three cornerstones of Drifting were leaving the series: 2011 FD PRO Champion Dai Yoshihara (Japan) is retiring; 2010 and 2020 FD PRO Champion Vaughn Gittin Jr is leaving to spend time on other projects; and Formula DRIFT president and co-founder, Jim Liaw, is moving to PRI but will maintain a role in the series. All three have been with the series since it began in 2004 and will be dearly missed by staff, teams, and the ever-growing fan base.