No Bumpers, No Race Suit, No Problem

Got to do some testing at Willow Springs on the new Nexen N6000′s and the super comfy m7/Bride seats. I love going out on a random weekend and just letting loose!

All About the New Look. . .

Photo by: Oliver Petalver

As you may have guessed, having new sponsors (including M7 Japan and Nexen Tire) leads to a new look for the 2012 season.

702 Graphics designed and wrapped the 2011 car and had no problem taking on the challenge to design the 2012 look. We don’t just want to show you the new graphic, but we also want to describe the process and what it means to “wrap the car”.

The Unwrap
The old wrap had to be peeled from the car by 702 Graphics.com. This left the car looking a little naked, sad, and ready for the streets. J/K – no streets for this beast!

The Design and Print
702 Graphics.com designed a great combo of the 2011 team look with the new color scheme and logos of Team M7. The same stripe imagery from the 2011 wrap runs diagonally across the car from the front driver’s side to the rear passenger’s side. Two dragons (signature pieces of Team M7 graphics) are on the rear driver’s side and front passenger’s side.

The wrap was printed in 7 pieces: two sides, hood, roof, deck lid, and two bumpers. This comes in handy when someone scrapes (or hits) a wall and one piece of the wrap needs to be fixed.

The wrap was printed with two Roland XC-540 (54”) Large Format Printers. Avery MPI 1005 Super Cast 2mil printable vinyl was paired with Lamex 2mil matte over laminate (the black and silver pieces).

The dragons were computer cut on Oracal 352 Series Chrome (yes, chrome) using a Roland GX-640 Cutter. All of the green is actual fluorescent vinyl (Oracal 6510 Series Fluorescent), not a printed color.

The Install
702 Graphics.com installed the wrap in 8 hours using 2 installers. This means that the entire car appearance changed in one day and was ready to go – no waiting for paint to dry or pulling tape off.
The black and silver wrap was laid on the car and then heated and stretched to perfectly fit over the body. All of the black and silver is the bottom layer of graphic (the actual wrap). The dragons were laid on the car after the black/silver vinyl, followed by the sponsor decals.

Final Product
As always after a day at 702 Graphics.com, the car looks great! And so does the van!

Photo by: Oliver Petalver

Photo by: Oliver Petalver

Partnering with Nexen Tires for 2012

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE – Aurimas Bakchis (“Odi”) confirmed that he has paired with Nexen Tire for the 2012 drift season. Bakchis, the 2011 Formula Drift USA “Rookie of the Year”, announced in December 2011 that he will run the 2012 season as a driver for Team M7. The 2012 program will include a new look, refined motor, and Nexen tires for Bakchis’ Nissan 240 SX S14.

Nexen Tire is heavily involved in the Formula Drift USA series and Bakchis is pleased to join this well established program. Bakchis mentioned that he is excited to run Nexen’s new N6000 tires in the rear and N9000 tires in the front of the car. The specific tire size will be determined based on the car’s weight following completion of the car build in order to meet tire requirements established by Formula Drift.

Written by: Amy Bakchis

Press Release: Aurimas Bakchis to Drive for M7 Japan in 2012

For immediate release – Aurimas Bakchis (“Odi”) announced that he has joined M7 Japan (Team M7) for the 2012 drifting season. Entering his second professional drifting season in 2012, Bakchis will be the first Team M7 driver to compete in the Formula Drift USA pro championship series.

As a driver for M7 Japan, Bakchis will be joining a team that offers high performance automotive products and that is extensively involved in motorsports including drifting, formula racing, touring cars, endurance racing, and drag racing. Team M7 held the 2010 D1 Grand Prix Japan championship through driver Y. Imamura. Additional D1 Drift Japan drivers on the team have included M. Suenaga and M. Orido.

Bakchis, the 2011 Formula Drift “Rookie of the Year,” is “honored to represent M7 Japan and excited to be on a team that has drivers of such high caliber.” He will be driving the LS1-powered Nissan 240SX S14 that debuted during the 2011 season with a new look and new tune for 2012. With Bakchis behind the wheel, 2012 promises to be exciting for Team M7’s debut in the USA professional drifting scene.

Written by Amy Bakchis

Reverse and 360

MotorMavens Coverage

Thanks to Oliver for putting together this sweet piece. Enjoy!

http://www.motormavens.com/2011/11/center-stageformula-drift-rookie-of-the-year/

SEMA Week

The day after Just Drift’s Holoween Bash at Willow Springs, I loaded up my S14 and headed to SEMA. I got there early afternoon and was surprised at how easy it was driving my car into the convention center.

The rest of the day was spent helping Forged Racing set up their booth and hanging out in the convention hall while other booths were popping up.

After setting up at SEMA, I visited Brennan from 702 Graphics at his new sky rise pad. The view from every room was mesmerizing.

Woke up in my hotel room next morning to this view.

Hanging out at the Forged Racing booth signing posters.

Joel providing live mixed music for all at the Forged booth. (Thank you Joel for letting me turn random knobs and spin a record for a second.)

I got to walk every hall of the show and meet with a few companies regarding my 2012 drifting season. While stroling a section of the North Hall, I found this amazing product.

While I was out and about Ashley was putting in some work posing for visitors at the Forged Racing booth.

When SEMA came to a close, all of the exibitors were in a hurry to get their cars on a trailer and leave. The loading areas outside the hall got congested really quick. Instead of pulling up my trailer to the busy loading area, I decided to drive my FD car a few blocks away to where my trailer was parked. Dodging loading traffic and driving past police in a caged, v8, straight piped drift car felt great!

SEMA was over, but the fun in Vegas did not end yet. On schedule for next day was drifring with Vegas Drift! Stay tuned for the next blog entry.

2011 Formula Drift Rookie of the Year!

I did it! I wanted to earn Rookie of the Year, and the hard work paid off. My first season in Formula Drift was the biggest learning experience in my driving career as well as a learning experience in race team management.

Thank you to everyone for supporting me and believing in me.

Now it is time to continue preparing for the 2012 season. Just like this past season, I look forward to your support and encouragement. I will keep you posted on all of the changes in my program for next season once they are finalized.

Testing at Willow Springs

I went down to test some different suspension settings at Willow Springs and my little brother brought his camera. Enjoy!

Judging at Vegas Pro Am round 3

This weekend Amy and I took a trip to Las Vegas to hang out at the Vegas Pro Am round 3. This event brought back some cool memories of competing in the Vegas Pro Am series last season. It was also really refreshing to watch other drivers hussle in the pits and lay down runs on the track.

Going off of this event I noticed that pro am drifters are building more competitive cars these days. I also noticed more CA drivers making it out to compete with Vegas locals as well as dudes from other neighboring states.

Like always, the event was well organized and super professional (Nick Dizon has the formula down). I got to judge speed which really easy and scientific. Overall it was an awsome learning experience hanging out with veteran judges and observing every driver and every run.