Diffuser Monday I hear you ask? If you don’t frequent our Facebook page then you won’t even know about Diffuser Monday! All day our friends and affiliates have been sharing their favourite crazy rear diffusers on the Drifted Facebook page. Log in, press Like and share your fave carbon fibre rear-end creations with us before the day is out and lets make the worst day of the week just that bit better!

Here’s some of our favourites from the day….

::Jordan

The previous two year’s events have been dominated by Team Falken’s Matt Carter. There was debate as to whether Matt would return to defend his title but the lure of Lousada proved too much of a tempation.

Louis Lopez was a strong contender. Fresh off a victory in the Spain vs Portugal event the night before and throwing down some huge angle thanks to the rather trick Driftworks GeoMaster hubs, Louis was at the top of his game.

Sadly Paul Howard of JDM Garage’s ‘Angry Pirate’ RB25 180sx was out of action for the Sunday following an engine failure the day before.

Team mate Mark Needs was out on track and lapping nicely getting to grips with his Supercharged Titan engined G35.

Sadly a steering failure during the twin battles left him nowhere to go except into the armco. And no-where for the chase car to go except into the back of him, making a mess of the Nissan. Hopefully it’s fixable and we’ll see Mark and this amazing car back next season.

Before the track was opened for competition the three international judges took the time to explain (in several different languages) exactly what they wanted to see from the drivers.

Nothing was lost in translation and concentration on driver’s faces was apparent! Several were here for the win.

As the drivers readied themselves for the track I stole a last minute to capture some of the details.

The light here in Lousada is pretty damn amazing.

I think it’s often easy, as a photographer, to get distracted by the noise and smoke at a drift event, you miss out on the little things that really help set the atmosphere.

And atmosphere is often difficult to capture in stills. Hopefully these shots help build the picture for you somewhat.

As the judges raised themselves high above the track we were ready for action.

As were the drivers. Thumbs up for go!

Irish driver Danni Murphy has attended Lousada a few times in the past couple of years and is popular with the local fans, however she took an unexpectedly early exit from the competition.

Portuguese youngster Andre Silva was piloting his Kouki S14 in the competition.

Luckily a fuel leak from Andre’s filler cap was spotted early on in the day, otherwise his competition runs could have ended early!

Alongside UK ex-Japspeed driver Danny Eyles piloting Andre’s R33 which he used last year in Lousada.

Danny was in Lousada to prove a point and mark his comeback to drifting.

We first saw Firmino Peixoto’s Audi Quattro-powered AE86 last year in Lousada. Yes, you ready that right….Audi Quattro turbo power within. The chassis and engine combination may be unexpected but it works well!

João Gonçalves’ BMW was running bonnet-less throughout the event. Probably due to the huge turbo obstructing the bonnet from being anywhere near correctly fitting!

David Moreno’s Miata wears the legendary Renown colours first seen on the Mazda 787B. This is pretty much the loudest car I’ve ever heard, despite the small capacity engine David runs a straight pipe on the little Mazda with no silencing. It really is quite loud!

Gary Hughes made his debut at Lousada in a car which two weeks earlier he had actually sold! After having seller’s remorse he quickly bought it back and parked it on a boat to Portugal!

On the flip side fellow Englishman Matt House is no stranger to Lousada’s armco in his LS-powered FD. Last year Matt had a few run-ins with the banks and walls and left his Mazda looking a bit on the sorry side!

This year was no different and Matt’s competition ended earlier after meeting the first clip side-on.

Carlos Veiga, above, in his turbo’d E36…..

….and team mate Vitor Mota were both on form, Lousada being their ‘home’ venue as such, they had track-advantage.

Johny Light’s sweet Kouki 180sx is one of the most photogenic cars I’ve shot. It kinda looks like a still from Forza or Gran Turismo above.

Speaking of photogenic. You don’t often get a chance to shoot one of these in my line of work – Nelson Rocha’s Opel Kadett was pushed hard on the day, sadly a mechanical failure cut his day short. Pity as I really wanted to see him and a certain Irish Mk2 Escort driving lunatic go head to head in the ultimate retro drift battle!

Speaking of which, the tight technical track really suited Declan’s driving style and the nimble Mk2.

As the drivers paired off for their twin battles the stands packed out with both local and travelling fans/teams.

The Amateur Class was settled first with Ricky Emery taking third in his first competition event.

Following some amazing driving Mark Lappage took second after sadly meeting the wall in the final.

First place was secured by Eduardo Jorge. Celebratory burnout’s are a must of course!

Into the Pro Class Declan’s Mk2 Escort had a nimble advantage over the 5 series of Coutinho.

Andre Silva ran away from fellow Portuguese driver Jose Lopes.

Reigning champion Matt Carter in the Falken S14.5 was sent packing early by fellow Englishman Danny Eyles in the R33 following a light tap on the tight hairpin.

Matt’s car is instantly recognisable to the Lousada locals so to see it parked out of action so early in the day must have been quite unusual!

If you ever wanted to see a mismatch you’re in for a treat. Frédéric Ferreira’s Supercharged M5 went up against the Opel Kadett of Nelson Rocha. Sadly a mechanical fault ended the little Opel’s day.

Team Falken’s Paul Cheshire found form in his G35 at the final event of the season, first sending packing and on-form Vitor Mota.

….and then the blue and green S14.5 of team mate Alan Green….

….before losing out to Danny Eyles in the Semi Finals.

Friend of the site Hugo Fernandes was on form in his Soarer, making it as far as third-place play off.

Where some super-close battles with Paul Cheshire saw Hugo secure third by the narrowest of margins.

Paul’s efforts have to be commended though and we can’t wait to see how he does in 2o12 with his new found confidence in the G35.

But as per the previous day the man of the moment was Louis Lopez and his crazy-angle throwing S13.

Louis made progression past Andre Silva in the Top 8.

And took Hugo Fernandes to One More Time.

And several more OMTs!

Louis had made it into the Finals against Danny Eyles.

Danny running a very wide line into the first corner, with Louis tucking up on the inside slightly. The judges had decided on a winner.

Louis Lopez takes the win with Danny Eyles second and Hugo Fernandes third!

As the Portuguese media take a moment to interview their local drivers the stands empty and Lousada is in the bag for another year.

The wounded and damaged are loaded back up ready for the long journey home.

Lousada has been outstanding again. I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again, if you can, get here next year. I can guarantee you won’t be disappointed.

It’s pretty difficult to be different these days, even when it comes down to choosing a suitable chariot to turn into a competitive drift machine.

The choice of affordable and tuneable RWD chassis is seemingly endless. Heck, even if the car as a package isn’t suitable engine and draintrain swaps are more commonplace on your average drift grid than they ever have been before.

Yet people, by nature are creatures of habit. We find safety in numbers. If drifting a Nissan ‘S’ or ‘R’ chassis car with a Toyota 1JZ or 2JZ engine is the done thing then that is what I shall do!

This is where Jareck ‘Jeek’ Frederico and his BMW E39 V8 comes in.

Never one to follow the masses and with a strong history in tuned Bavarian metal it made sense to stay true to his roots and ignore the herd.

Originally purchasing the car with the intention of some light modifications to make it suitable as a drift car, well placed plans soon went straight out of the window and after gaining himself a Pro license for the British Drift Championship the quest was set upon to make bring the car up to a competitive level.

One of the key things added was a Chizfab multi point roll cage to comply with safety regulations.

The cage is a work of art, but long gone are the luxuries that this car was released from the factory with.

A D-Tune dished steering wheel and Motordrive bucket seat make up the majority of the interior as it stands now, the custom vertical hydraulic handbrake sits within reach of Jeek when he is strapped in place.

On the outside it’s fair to say that Jeek has a bit of a carbon fetish.

A full carbon bonnet keeps the V8 under wraps and a pair of carbon corner splitters adorn the sport front bumper.

At the back an OEM sport bumper and CSL-style rear spoiler completes the look.

The car sits slammed with BC Coilovers over a set of 17×10 front and 18×10 rear Rondell 058′s.

Just the right balance between OEM looks and a purposeful stance is the result.

Under the bonnet sits a BMW 4.4l V8 which has been lightly breathed on with the addition of a Pipercross induction kit and Spal electric fan.

The result is 295bhp and 332 lb/ft of instant torque.

With spare tyres sat there and trapped in a ‘strictly no smoking area’ there was only one thing to do.

Break it outside for a smoke.

Jeek finished the 2011 BDC season in a respectable 10th place, mid table.

Such a refreshing change to see this car being used in competition. Low, mean and gangster lean!

The V8 rumble coming from the Chizfab exhaust on this thing is immense!

With his first competitive season in the British Drift Championship under his belt we look forward to seeing what winter brings for Jeek and his E39 ready for 2012!

Thanks to Jeek for letting us feature the car and Ade Brannan of www.abcarpix.com for the photos!

Lousada is a town and municipality of the Porto district, in northern Portugal. A search of Google and Wikipedia will reveal little more information about the sleepy traditional Portuguese town than the above. To be honest, there is little I can write about Lousada that will grab your attention and make you jump on the next Ryanair flight out there. Life moves at a comfortable pace, the weather warm, certainly compared to England, and the people friendly. Tourists seldom visit the area so prices for food, drink and amenities are more than reasonable.

But like every town, Lousada holds a secret. That secret is the small and technical armco-lined race track situated within the town itself -Eurocircuito da Costilha. Mainly used for Rallycross, Autocross and occasionally Supermoto, the circuit has previously played host to the FIA European Rallycross Championship in years gone by.

But 3 years ago the people of Lousada got to experience something new when competitive drifting was brought to their doorsteps. And so the Annual KD European DNYRacing Lousada event was concieved.

An invitational event comprising of 50 drivers from 5 nations, the crazy weekend in Lousada is one of our favourites here at Drifted, so we were stoked to be invited back this year to cover the event.

If you asked me to point out Lousada on a map, I couldn’t. I don’t know where it is to be honest. All I know is I fly in to Porto, get bundled into a minibus under the cover of darkness and get driven by a mad Portuguese man at what I’m sure is unnecessary speed to one of the most awesome drift circuits in Europe, witness the craziest weekend of drifting I’ll see all year and then get bundled back onto a plane to the UK before I even know what’s hit me, camera full of evidence of what I think I saw unfold in front of me.

The reason I don’t know where Lousada lies on a map is I’d quite like to keep that air of mystery about it, for myself at least. It’s like a drift nirvana, a place which can only be reached once annually when summoned.

The track and surrounding area lends itself to ‘interesting’ photography from so many angles.

From the rusty gantries that are lofted above the track….

The the solid concrete tunnels and bridges at the back of the circuit….

Back into the tree-lined multi-elevation pits opposite the track.

The environment is like no other that we get to shoot at through out the year.

A photographer’s first trip to Lousada is akin to chucking a 5 year old into a sweet shop, locking the door and telling them to ‘go crazy, it’s all free’.

The event is not only a huge crowd puller, with 10,000+ fans through the gates during the main event.

But is also a huge driver puller from all over Europe.

With just under €4000 prize fund up for grabs over the two classes, drivers are not only here to experience the event for themselves, they are here for the win.

Paul Howard and Mark Needs of JDM Garage made the trip over from the south of the UK for the event, bringing with them the JDM Garage ‘Angry Pirate’ 180sx…..

…..and a newcomer to the UK drift scene, this Stillen-supercharged, Titan motor bearing LHD G35.

Some of the more eagle eyed amoungst you may recognise the car from Formula D of seasons past.

It was formerly driven by Drift Emporium’s Jodin LeJeune in the NOPI drift series and later in Formula D in 2009/2010.

As far as I’m aware it is the first Formula Drift car to be imported into the UK, a refreshing change from the JDM imports we are used to seeing!

One of the interesting things about an event like this is the ecclectic mix of both characters and different styles and levels of cars it brings together.

Where else would you see championship winning 450bhp fully sponsored machines….

….going up against back yard built budget drifters….

….being chased down by 700bhp+ worth of supercharged Bavarian M5 madness…..

…closely followed by immaculate retro classics screaming at full throttle.

Lousada welcomes all.

I find myself strangely attracted to some of the home-brew tuning solutions that seem to work really well here. They range from turbos bolted one, two at a time onto BMW 6 pots.

To the pretty insane supercharger set up on Frédéric Ferreira’s M5.

The other thing worth noting about this event and this circuit is that it takes no prisoners.

The drivers have four clipping points to navigate.

All of them rear clips, all of them directly sitting on armco. Run off? None. Second chances? They don’t exist.

The wall bites here, and it doesn’t just bite once.

The armco here pulls people in, rear tap first followed by front impact. There is very little margin for error. This above photo would illustrate this amazingly if that guy hadn’t stood on the actual track to shoot. Thanks buddy.

Speaking of photographers minding where they stand, those clipping points detach when clipped hard enough, heads up.

I think the no-prisoners nature of this circuit is partly why this event works so well at the end of the drift calendar. Drivers have less to lose? A winter to rebuild? Everyone certainly pushes like they don’t care much for the threat of the steel walls.

Falken’s Alan Green went into the event knowing that it would be his last with his trusty S14. This freedom allowed him to push hard from the offset, trading paint with the barriers at every chance.

I’d like to think the circuit let him have his moment.

And then said enough was enough.

The Portuguese drivers came straight out of the gate in practice with some great runs, track experience counts for a lot here.

As practice progressed and confidence levels increased everyone including the away visitors started running really clean lines through the track.

You tend to find that in mainland Europe, and particularily Spain and Portugal, cars that are commonly used in drifting here in the UK aren’t as popular.

Popular is the wrong word come to think of it. The Portuguese would love to all run the easily tunable S13/S14 chassis we are used to. The issue comes down to one thing – price. In Portugal a clean S14 fetches two or three times what it would in the UK.

Which is why the majority of Portuguese owned and driven Japanese cars in the event were originally built and purchased in the UK before being sold to Europe.

Ana Rodrigues is a frequent visitor to the UK and purchased her RB25 powered S13 here too.

Hugo Fernandes is another regular visitor to our shores and friend of the site. His Soarer is one of the cleanest prepped cars in the Portuguese drift scene and he pushes it hard. I swear this car comes out once a year for Lousada and then spends all year being repaired and rebuilt from wall checks.

After competing at Teesside in the BDC this year Hugo and his brother Bruno purchased this tidy S13 for Bruno to learn to drift in.

Lousada is a baptism of fire for your first drift event but Bruno did well, keeping his car out of the armco and improving over the weekend despite not making the grade for qualification.

As the light fades the crowd begins to spill out onto the streets.

Drivers squeeze in their last few runs of the day and follow suit, but not for a break from drifting or anything as daft as that, far from it!

The drifting takes to the streets under the cover of darkness. A police led procession through the town lets everyone know that the main competition is about to begin.

It doesn’t take long before temptation becomes too much. Hooning is not a crime, especially in Lousada.

Spurred on by the growing crowd and the police themselves carnage is unleashed.

The madness of legal-ish drifting on the streets at night is pretty difficult to sum up in pictures and words.

I would opt for a cliche term such as organised chaos if I thought it true. The truth is, I’m not sure how much of it was organised and how much was chaos.

It certainly seemed like a free-for-all. But it worked. I doubt there was a single local who wasn’t aware that drifting had landed in Lousada.

Many retired back to the pits to get their cars ready for Sunday’s main event. Some pretty serious repairs were needed in some cases.

The pits resonated with the sounded of spannering and cutting and the cackle of welding.

Some were unsalvageable unfortunately, Paul Howard’s RB motor suffering major problems and ending his weekend.

Others dealt with more simple tasks like seating new tyres.

Or catching up with other drivers over the BBQ to discuss the day.

The track was still live, late into the night, the judges separating two nations in the annual Spain vs Portugal drift-off.

Spanish Driver Lluís López, who regular readers will remember from the Drift Allstars event at Wembley, London, a few weeks ago faced off against 2010 Portuguese champion José Lopes in the final.

On point driving and some insane angle from Lluís saw him take the win for Spain.

Portugal’s André Silva, just 17, took 3rd place and the obligatory champagne shower was unleashed between the three top drivers.

A long day behind us and some of the most insane drifting witnessed this year it was only just beginning, the main event was to follow on the Sunday infront of a capacity crowd with the €4000 pot open to all. Stay tuned for Part II soon.

I say it every year, but if there was only one drift event I could make it to each year, it would be the KD European DNYRace in Lousada, Portugal. For one weekend this sleepy Portuguese town is transformed into a drift nirvana and nothing prepares you for it.

It’s an attack on your senses from the word go. It barrages your eyes, ears, nose and throat with a mix of roaring horsepower, tyre smoke, outstanding cars and pure driving passion. The Lousada event does not take it easy on anyone, spectator, media, driver or car.

Our coverage is coming soon from this year’s festival, hopefully I can convey at least an idea of what it was like to be there, enough to convince you to make the trip out next year. It really is that good.

::Jordan

With the Semi Pro and Pro Classes settled in the 2011 Maxxis Tyres British Drift Championship it’s time to settle the all important Super Pro class. As the sun started to drop over the Nissan Factory in Sunderland it was time for business, down to the nitty gritty, game-face time. All bets were off and everyone was going hard for the win.

The giant wind farm that surrounds the Nissan Factory was too good an opportunity to miss doing another cinemagraph! Both Paul Cheshire and Danni Murphy above suffered uncharacteristically early exits in the Pro Class. Would there be any more upsets in the Super Pros?

One man with everything to play for was Mark Luney in the SATS Cosworth Supra.

Mark sat in 2nd position behind Team Falken UK’s Matt Carter going into the event. The maths was stacked against him with the points difference, but a win at the event could see him with a chance, pending on Matt’s performance.

The SATS Cosworth team had squeezed over 1000bhp out of the 2JZ engine for the Finals. More than enough to induce some low level Maxxis cloud cover over the North of England!

Team Japspeed’s Paul Smith had a lot to play for too, sitting within the Top 8 of the table going into the final. The 1JZ engine in his S15 does a great job of reducing the MA-Z1 drift tyres to smithereens.

Steve Moore chases down David Waterworth above. Steve uncharacteristically didn’t qualify for Sunday’s Top 16 event.

Following two strong performances at Teesside and Knockhill it just goes to show that anything can happen at this level of competition!

Wayne Keeber is in 3rd position going into the Final round.

Although the title was out of his grasp he had an important 3rd place to defend by the end of the day.

The man with everything to lose was Matt Carter. Everyone was trying to figure out exactly how far Matt had to progress to secure the championship.

With a slipping clutch and having qualified 3rd going into the Top 16 the general consensus was a Top 8 finish would secure the title for him.

Matt was drawn against Jody Fletcher in the Top 16, but a mechanical fault with the Slide Motorsport S14.5 meant retirement was his only option. Matt Carter was awarded a bye into the Top 8, but was it enough?

It’s hard to believe it but Julie Robinson’s 4 door R32 is still her daily driver! Can you imagine popping down to the shops in this, full cage, tuned RB engine purring and diff clunking and skipping away?!

Simon Perry’s R33 was rumoured to be running 800bhp at the Nissan track following a retune.

The smoke trails certainly gave us no reason to dispute this, the ‘Pink Lady’ was looking well.

Another driver who looks like he has found his form again is Stephen Biagioni in the 1JZ Japspeed Subaru.

Two long years and tweaking and bags of seat time are paying their dues and the black and white Impreza is throwing some serious angles and lines.

It’s been a year of ups and downs with the car, remember the theft/M25 incident? Possibly one of the most bizarre experiences to go through for many fans and followers, and for the Japspeed team themselves!

Alan Green’s S14 has had a tough year. A full competition calendar in the BDC and a European tour isn’t easy on a 12+ year old Nissan!

Alan runs a 450bhp Sr20 motor in the car and rumours have it that a new shell is on the card for 2012. Can’t wait to see it!

The purple S13 of Ashley Stevens is always very camera-friendly. It’s strange how some cars seem to come out better than others in photos. Ashley’s car always ‘pops’ nicely.

Daniel O’Brien made the grade and qualified for the Top 16, above his car squats down at the back under power and almost lifts the front inside wheel.

Top 3 Qualifiers

1st. Shane Lynch Japspeed V8 S15

2nd. Paul Smith Japspeed 1JZ S15

3rd. Matt Carter Falken 1JZ S14.5

Top 16

The first battle of the Top 16 was Simon Perry against Competition Clutch driver Gav Cummings.

Simon in the bright pink R33 seizes upon an opportunity given when Gav makes a mistake in the first run, Simon takes the victory and moves on.

A battle that we usually expect to see nearing the finals is up as championship 2nd place Mark Luney in the SATS Cosworth Supra pairs off against 3rd place Wayne Keeber in the Mint Tyres Soarer.

Luney comes out of the all Toyota battle victorious! An early exit for Wayne, where would this put him in the points?

Mechanical issues had plagued Alan Green’s Team Falken S14.5 and last minute manifold repairs in the pits saw him just get out on time to face Ashley Stevens.

Alan’s car still isn’t right so a 5 minute rule is called. Ashley goes on to take the win and progression into the Great 8.

Paul ‘Smokey’ Smith in the Japspeed 1JZ S15 is up against the other Competition Clutch car of Dan O’Brien next. Paul takes the advantage on the first run by maintaining a gap.

But uncharacteristically sends his car into a 360 in the second run, giving Dan O’Brien progression to the next stage.

A close fought battle between Stephen ‘Baggsy’ Biagioni and David Waterworth next. Waterworth is fresh off a podium at Silverstone and is driving on form so takes the first run.

A run off-line in the second run sees David hand the advantage back to Baggsy and by a narrow margin the Japspeed Subaru makes it into the Great 8.

One of the funniest sights of the 2011 season greeted us when Julie Robinson went up against Ian Phillips’ white LS3 R33 next. Julie completely wipes out the clipping point on the first corner, sending plastic barriers and Maxxis banners everywhere! Needless to say, Phillips goes on to the next round.

Great 8

An epic battle to kick off the Great 8 between Mark Luney and Simon Perry. Approximately 1800bhp tries it’s hardest to spin the earth backwards as they launch towards the first corner.

Two very close battles ensue but Mark Luney is judges to have the advantage.

Perry can’t do enough to pull it back, Mark Luney is in the Semi Finals!

Ashley Stevens and Dan O’Brien step up, Ashley takes the lead run by storm but a mistake towards the end of the course gives Dan O’Brien a strong advantage.

Ashley chases down Dan in the second run and sticks to his door throughout the course but he can’t do enough to overcome the error in the lead run, Ashley is out and Dan O’Brien makes his first Semi Final of 2011!

With a slipping clutch Matt Carter of Team Falken limps his car to the start line to face off against an on-form Baggsy. It’s an uphill battle at best for the Falken driver!

Matt can’t match Baggsy’s runs and for only the second time this season Matt Carter doesn’t progress to the final stages. If the maths was right though he had done enough to secure the championship.

Not much could have been done to prepare Sunderland for the barrage of noise and thunder that they were about to receive as the twin-turbo Vh45DE of Shane Lynch’s Japspeed S15 and the LS3 Corvette V8 in Ian Phillips’ R33 faced off.

Ian plays a safe chase run against Shane, but throws a huge amount of angle into the corners.

Shane makes mistakes chasing down the Pro class driver Phillips and is marked down. Ian Phillips is in his first Super Pro Semi Final.

Semi Final

Mark Luney and Dan O’Brien kick off the Semi Finals. A David vs Goliath battle of epic proportions!

Dan does his best but Luney can’t be beat and goes through, leaving Dan to fight it out for the 3rd place.

With one half of the Final decided it was time to decide the other. Ian Phillips, promoted from the Pro Class vs Baggsy in the Japspeed Impreza.

The tension was too much for some people as the drivers navigated the course on their first run. Things were close!

However no amount of angle could save him and the second run saw a mistake by Phillips and Baggsy into the Finals!

Much to the delight of the onlooking Maxxis girls.

3rd Place Playoff

Before the Finals run we had to decide on 3rd place. Phillips vs O’Brien.

A huge advantage to Phillips in the first run means O’Brien can’t do enough to claw it back. Ian Phillips takes 3rd place in the Super Pro Class!

Finals

The stage was set. Luney vs Baggsy. Mark Luney no stranger to Finals this year with a number of podiums under his belt and Stephen Biagioni chasing down an elusive podium after two difficult years of adjusting to the Japspeed 1JZ Subaru.

Luney leads. Masses of Maxxis MA-Z1 tyre smoke covers the crowd. Baggsy is chasing, but Luney has a gap and more angle. Advantage Luney.

Baggsy leads and Luney is right on him. Baggsy’s line is super clean and navigates the course well, Mark not far behind. The judges have a decision.

The trophies await. As a title sponsor for 2011 Cosworth have provided trophies made from part of an actual F1 engine for the winners. How cool is that?

The crowd have had a long day watching us go from 84 driver across 3 classes down to just 6 podium places. The top 3 Super Pro drivers are about to be announced.

Mark Luney takes the win! Driving through an arm injury no less, amazing driving from him and support from the SATS Cosworth team. Baggsy takes second and Ian Phillips a great result with 3rd.

Stephen Biagioni is elated with his first podium in a long time! Looks like the Japspeed driver and car will be a formidable force in 2012.

BDC Front man Mark ‘Sweeps’ Buckle puts in a heck of a lot of work in the UK and Europe to make drift events and drifting itself successful and popular. After much head scratching, checking and double checking, the championship results are in. The 2011 Maxxis Tyres British Drift Champion is…..

Team Falken UK’s Matt Carter by a narrow 3 point margin! Mark Luney managing to take it right to the wire by winning the finals!

2011 has been an amazing season in the BDC, we’ve seen the level of driving increase from all drivers at every single round and we have to say it has been an absolute pleasure to take photos and write about the championship. The final Super Pro points standings and full gallery of all 3 classes can be found below. See you in 2012!

Constructors Championship

1st.      Team Japspeed 226 points
2nd.    Team Falken UK 224 points
3rd.     Mint Tyres Motorsport 193 points

The North of England. Home to heavy industry and mineral extraction in years gone by. The prominent giant steel structure of the Angel of the North towers down over any visitor from the South, a reminder of where you are and the industrial history that surrounds you. In recent times heavy industry has given way to the manufacture of different commodities. The Nissan Manufacturing Plant was opened in Sunderland in 1986 and it’s huge premises produces many of the popular grocery-getters occupying our roads today such as the Nissan Note, the Qashqai and the questionably styled Nissan Juke.

For one weekend only, the British Drift Championship was in town. Maxxis brought along their own angels to Sunderland, which do you prefer? Giant steel man with wings, Maxxis girls, giant steel man with wings, Maxxis girls. Hmmmmm.

We have to be thankful for two things. Firstly, that Nissan’s taste in the 80′s, 90′s and early 00′s was much better than it is today. And secondly we have to be thankful for the huge expanse of tarmac that makes up one of the many car parks surrounding the plant.

Because large expanses of tarmac make for excellent inner city racetracks and allow organisers imaginations to run wild when it comes to track design.

As seems to be common occurrence at drift events nowadays we had the odd celebrity or two on hand. Some singer bloke from Ireland?

And 2011 X-Games RallyX Champion Lian Doran would be doing his best to keep the Japspeed ‘loaner’ car pointing shiny-side-up.

Going into the Final round of the 2011 British Drift Championship all three classes were open for grabs with no one drivers across the board having enough points to be considered ‘safe’.

The Semi Pro Class was up for grabs with Matt Campling in the running in the now ACT Clutch sponsored S13. Matt had literally just finished dropping in a 1JZ engine before this round. A strange change to make for the final crucial round, only the event would tell if it was a wise choice.

Marc Huxley was his opponent for the title. Each driver’s progression through the event would decide who took the title.

In the Pro Class it was between Michael Marshall above, fresh from his podium at Drift Allstars Wembley.

And Grant Laker, who had also competed at Wembley in the purple GDA S13.5.

And in the Super Pro Class it was down to Team Falken’s Matt Carter who lead by 16 points.

Over Mark Luney in the Maxxis Tyres Cosworth SATS 1000bhp Supra behemoth!

At the end of the weekend champions would be crowned.

With all day Saturday set aside for qualifying there was seat time a plenty to be had. Plenty of time to test the opposition and get a feel for battle drifting where you can’t always pick the line you want.

A combination of a long season’s use and abuse on the cars and the harsh surface at Nissan was playing havoc with reliability across the field however. Danni Murphy’s green monster has had a busy year across europe. At the JDM Allstars event only a few weeks ago the car had suffered an exhaust manifold fracture and this weekend appeared to be suffering from boost related issues at lower rpm – once above 5000rpm it was its usual potent self having to drive around problems is far from ideal.

Several of the drivers were experiencing issues during practice. Team Falken’s Alan Green (above) had a manifold split and team mate Matt Carter had a small engine fire to contend with.

In between running repairs the drivers were getting the hang of the course and running some awesome lines and angles throughout. Looking at practice, the event was anyones for the taking.

As far as my 200 mile trek north may have seemed at the time, some drivers really made a journey to attend this round. Dutch drifters Sharon De Ridder and Dennis came all the way from the Netherlands with their white E36.

They share the car as they compete in two different classes. I first met them earlier this year during the Falken Nurburgring trip. Great people and they make some great BBQ food too!

BDC front man Mark ‘Sweeps’ Buckle is somewhat of a priest at the alter of drift . With his biblical start line presence he summons the drift Gods and brings thee drift upon thou tarmac-eth. Go forth and smoke ‘em. Holding a car on the line when a driver is buzzing to be on their way is a big responsibility and the adrenaline is only unleashed when the all clear is given over the radio by the course marshals.

Three and four car drift trains started setting off, a clear sign that driver’s confidence was growing.

Some epic twin battles were unfolding already, and this was just practice!

As qualifying gets closer the driver’s main opponent to overcome is often nerves. It’s amazing to see how a completely confident and aggressive driver in practice can be reduced to making mistakes and running a safe line by the presence of a scoresheet and the watchful eyes of BDC judges Mitch Clark, Rich Newton and Julian Smith.

What is also amazing to see is the skill level of drivers increase as the season goes on. I can see quite a lot of driver promotions on the cards for the 2012 season!

The top 3 qualifiers for the Semi Pro Class are as follows -

1. Marc Huxley

2. Mark Lappage

3. Andy Stroud (who was borrowing team mate Jordan Patton’s R32 above)

Semi Pro Top 16

Christian Lewis and Owen Taylor start off proceedings, Christian piles on the pressure in the green R33 and sails through to the Great 8.

Stuart Egdell is next in the black S13, up against Gareth Taylor in the brown/beige/orange/unsure S14a. Stuart is super clean and consistent and takes the victory.

Ashley Willis and Belinda Challis line up. A very close battle between the two but mistakes by Willis puts Belinda through to the next round in the Castrol R32.

Friends Mark Lappage and Andy Arnott are paired off. A big mistake by Mark Lappage on the first corner gives Andy a big advantage and send him into the next round.

Next on the circuit Matt Campling in his newly 1JZ’d S13 versus 2011 X-Games Rallycross Champion Liam Doran driving the borrowed Japspeed S14. Two close and pretty epic battles ensued, and after a One More Time is run Matt Campling goes through.

Kirsty Widdrington puts up a valiant fight against 3rd qualifier Andy Stroud but cannot match his aggression. Andy is into the Great 8.

Championship contender Marc Huxley in the KE70 is also on top form and makes it into the next round.

Sam Holt chases down Lewis Cracknell above, an on-form Sam pressurises Lewis into mistakes and fills the final spot in the Great 8.

Great 8

Christian Lewis and Stuart Egdell are first up, there is very little to divide them.

However the judges rule that Stuart has the better drive over the two battles, Christian’s event is over.

Belinda Challis and Andy Arnott are next, Belinda is driving well and pulls a nice gap when leading. The judges however can’t decide and it goes to OMT.

Followed by another OMT at which point a straighten by Arnott sees Belinda into the Semi Finals!

A very close battle between Andy Stroud and Matt Campling follows. Campling is throwing some insane angle into the first corner and is judged to be more deserving. Campling moves into the Semis.

Sam Holt and Marc Huxley line up. in the first run Sam makes a huge mistake, handing Marc a 10-0 advantage. However in the second run after Marc starts out cautiously he throws it all away tapping into Sam! 10-0 is ruled the other way and they go One More Time! Marc goes on to secure the final spot in the Semis.

Semi Finals

In the Semis the first battle is between Belinda Challis and Stuart Egdell. Stuart maintains a gap between Belinda in the first battle, however Belinda forces a mistake and books her place in the Final!

Two drivers at the top of the table and fighting for the championship are paired off next, Matt Campling in the orange S13 and Marc Huxley in the KE70. With mistakes from both on their first runs the judges decide to run them one more time. Could the pressure be forcing cracks?

Unfortunately Huxley’s tyres give up in the second run putting Matt Campling through to the Final!

3rd Place Playoff

With some new rubber fitted Huxley manages to push past an on form Egdell in the 3rd place playoff and takes the bottom step on the podium.

Semi Pro Final

Two drivers fighting for different reasons in the Finals. Matt Campling fighting for the championship win and Belinda fighting for much needed points progression before the end of season! As the drivers navigate the course the fight is close, but Campling has the edge.

The judges confirm it, Matt Campling takes the Semi Pro win at the Nissan Factory and with that takes the Semi Pro championship!

With the Semi Pro Class settled there is no respite, the Pro Class step up.

Pro Qualifying

Top 3 qualifiers -

1. Ian Phillips

2. Martin Richards

3. Micheal Marshall

Top 16

Justin Clarke goes through to the Top 8, chasing down Adam Day in the GT ART R33.

Grant Laker goes through to the Top 8 against Dutch visitor Dennis in the E36, despite putting up a good fight.

Next up is Jordan Patton and Justin Griffiths. Justin’s white Rocketbunny S13 has a bumper-less white R32 absolutely glued to it’s door for the duration of the track. Jordan progresses through.

With Martin Richards battling for the top spot in the Pro Class progression into the later stages of the competition were a must. However Semi-Pro driver Sam Holt had earned promotion into the Pro Class and provided a major upset, sending Richards into a spin and putting him out of the competition, and ending his championship hopes!

Jarek ‘Jeek’ Federico in the V8 5 series was up next against Chris Hawkins. Jeek puts the big BMW into a spin entering the final transition, putting Chris Hawkins through to the next round.

Fresh off a podium at JDM Allstars Wembley Mike Marshall was up against Pete Green.

The two have met several times throughout the year and the battles never disappoint. Mike Marshall does enough and is also through to the Great 8.

A rather poorly sounding SR in Danni Murphy’s green S14a lines up against the RB of Nathan Chivers’ white S14a. Danni’s car is not well at all and can’t keep up, Nathan is through.

In the battle of the R33s top qualifier Ian Phillips goes against Adam Blackwell. Ian’s LS3 intake sucks his front bumper up and spits it out of the exhaust. Om and indeed Nom.

The second run is close but Ian has a slight advantage from the first run and goes through.

Great 8

Grant Laker (above) is on form and makes light work of Justin Clarke in the first Top 8 battle.

Sam Holt was out to majorly upset the Pro Class, after putting out a championship contender in the first round he goes on to second Jordan Patton packing home after Patton drives off track chasing Holt.

Team mates Chris Hawkins and Mike Marshall are next. Hawkins has less angle on initiation (above) but Marshall makes mistakes. Hawkins is through.

In the last Top 8 battle Nathan Chivers tries to chase down the mighty V8 R33 of Ian Phillips but can’t match him. Phillips is in the Semis.

Semi Finals

The first Semi Final battle is between Grant Laker and Sam Holt. Grant is driving on form and has a great lead run.

But Sam Holt is proving difficult to chase and Laker makes contact, handing Holt the win and a place in the Pro Finals!

The other Semi Final battles between Ian Phillips and Chris Hawkins are close but Phillips takes a slight advantage to put him through to the Final with Sam Holt.

3rd Place Playoff

Grant Laker and Chris Hawkins are battle for 3rd and 4th place. The first battle is close but Grant Laker wins, securing a podium.

Pro Finals

No-one would have called it, Semi Pro Sam Holt in the Pro Finals against Ian Phillips. How hard can Sam rock the boat?

Two close runs kick off between the two drivers. But by a narrow margin a winner is chosen.

Ian Phillips wins the Final round of the 2011 British Drift Championship Pro Class! He misses out on the ultimate championship win though….

….to Michael Marshall in the MnM S15, who takes the 2011 Championship by just 3 points! Congratulations!

Stay tuned for the Super Pro Final coverage and full image gallery for all three classes soon! Final standings below for Semi Pro and Pro Classes respectively.

Final Semi Pro 2011 Maxxis Tyres British Drift Championship Standings

Final Professional 2011 Maxxis Tyres British Drift Championship Standings

The annual Wembley event is the feather in the cap of the Drift Allstars season. Real professional drifting in the heart of the capital city, an ‘if the people won’t go to the racetrack, we’ll bring the racetrack to the people’ kind of affair.

For 2011 the track was moved back to it’s location from a few years back due to building work on the site from last year.

This means sadly no jump this year, but a more impressive backdrop close to the mighty arch of Wembley Stadium.

The location couldn’t be more ‘English’ if it tried. Big red London buses pass in front of a curry house in the background.

We all walk around in bowler hats and drink tea too you know. Except Motormavens’ Daniel Bridle, he’s not like the rest of us.

The other natural assumption that comes with Wembley is the famous wall.

Despite claiming a few victims during Friday’s practice the drivers were still keen as ever to get up close and familiar. James Deane does his best to go through it above.

We’re becoming a bit blasé about international superstar driver invasions recently. Oh look, there’s Dai Yoshihara, hey Dai.

Dai was due to be driving the 1JZ Driftworks R32 but a last minute failure saw him step into the 2JZ 700bhp Driftworks S15 instead!

It’ll do for a back up car I guess.

2011 Prodrift champion Alan Sinnott was present in his awesomely prepared AE86.

Matt Carter of Team Falken came along to play in London town too. Matt went on to qualify second.

Current points leader in 2011 Drift Allstars James Deane qualified in the top spot, something which is becoming a common occurance this season!

Nigel Colfer was backed by Maragoni tyres for the event and needed a victory over Deane in the early stages of the event to be in with a chance of taking the title.

Brad McQueen in the OUCH Tattoos S14 was running well all day.

I’ve been watching Brad drive for years and every time I see him he gets more and more accurate and consistent.

Christy Carpenter’s Yokohama/RHD Japan/ACT Clutch S15 is one of my favourite cars in the field.

So wide, low and aggressive!

Christy is set to join us in 2012 to write a driver blog. Stoked to have such an amazing driver on board!

Several international competitors made the journey to the UK for the flagship event.  Italy’s Fillippo Pirini in the extremely potent turbo-charged NB MX-5.

Malta’s Shawn Spitteri in the bright orange Mazda RX7 FD

Polands Krystof Terej in yet another FD – a popular car in todays round.

We last saw Spaniard Lluis Lopez back at Lousada, Portugal in 2010. A new year and a new paint scheme for his S13 and some awesome driving saw Louis qualify and progress into the Top 16.

Todor Dunev was over from Bulgaria in his yellow S13 running a big old bottle of blue in the boot.

I wonder if he wanders into his local tuning shop and declares ‘I need NOS! One of the big ones. Make that two, and Harry, I need it by tonight.’ Or rather ‘Имам нужда от NOS! Един от големите. Уверете се, че две, и Хари, имам нужда от тази вечер.’ (God bless you Google Translate).

Either way, it works.

Super smooth and smokey runs from the Bulgarian all day and night.

This Latvian BMW E30 was running the most lock I have ever seen on a drift car. Over 65 degrees apparently. The driver was pulling off some extreme backwards saves around the course.

Got wacky much? S14-ute conversion with a Celica front, Integra rear and an LS engine. The drugs are goooood.

As the sun fell the heavens opened and the prospect of a smokey Top 16 under the stars faded.

JDM Allstars commentator Bryn Musselwight had the tough job of keeping English people enthused in the rain and it worked. He made the sun return briefly before the battles began.

Nonetheless the media gabble do their best to keep upbeat. From left to right Dan Buck Joyce chats and Paddy McGrath and Ross Ianson of Speedhunters. Ross is a nice bloke usually, honestly.

Into the Top 16 and WKD Imports Wes Keating was up against James Deane in an all Irish battle.

James sticks to Wes’ door and progresses through to the Great 8.

Another Irish pairing up next Nigel Colfer in the Maragoni S13.5 vis Gavin Lenihen in the other S13. Colfer, still fighting for the championship with James Deane at this stage puts up a strong fight and takes Lenihen to one more time!

The first run is too close to call but Colfer pulls a lead on the second run and goes through to the Great 8 to join Deane!

Yet another Irish pairing puts recently crowned Prodrift champion Alan Sinnott against Dan Moorhead.

The little Corollas SR20 turbo engine makes it a potent lightweight beast – it can carry some serious speed through the course.

Sinnott’s red AE86 has too much pace and leaved Moorhead in his smoke. Sinnott is in the Top 8.

Finally a battle between nations as the UK’s Grant Laker faces off against Spanish champion Lluis Lopez.

Lopez taps the wall chasing down Laker resulting in a flailing rear bumper and is in top form.

Lopez puts in two unstoppable runs and sends Grant out of the competition, Lluis is into the Great 8.

Team Falken’s Matt Carter is up against fellow UK driver Michael Marshall. Marshall’s driving is on fire and a mechanical problem with Carter’s 1JZ powered S14.5 leads to a false start and a forced re-run.

On Carter’s chasing run he is absolutely glued to Marshall’s door, but following too close into the final transition sends the Falken car into a spin and costs him the battle! Marshall in the MnM S15 moves on.

Mike Deane and Paul Howard are up next. It’s cool to see such a minimal-styled drift car in these days over big lairy decals and sponsor graphics. I’m feeling the clean style of Paul Howard’s JDM Garage cars. Some of you may recognise this as the famous ‘Angry Pirate’ an RB-powered S13 with R32 rear lights that is pretty infamous in the UK/Euro drift scene.

Two white S-bodies shine out against the darkening tarmac. The sun has long left us and shooting conditions are tricky to say the least! Paul Howard has the edge over Deane and pulls a surprise victory!

The next Top 16 battle is somewhat of a legendary pair off. Walton Smith in the JPP Subaru vs Daijiro Yoshihara in the Driftworks S15.

Dai is gelling with the car flawlessly. Sadly part-way into the first run Walton’s Subaru snaps a driveshaft and he is forced to retire. Dai is in our Top 8.

The final Top 16 battle is Yokohama/ACT/RHD Japan driver Christy Carpenter against Bulgarian Todor Dunev.

Christy pushes hard but has mechanical issues and is forced to retire. Dunev will face Dai in the Top 8!

The first Great 8 battle will be the championship decided. James Deane vs Nigel Colfer! This should be a final or something?!

Amazing driving from both but Deane has the edge and takes the win. With this he seals the 2011 championship too!

The Corolla of Sinnott vs the S13 of Lopez is next. A clean first run is followed by an amazingly close spin against the wall caused by Lopez! A collision is narroly avoided and Lopez bows out of the competition, Sinnott is in the Semi Finals.

Paul Howard is up against Michael Marshall next. A couple of clean runs follow but Howard makes a mistake and Marshall finds himself in the Semis!

Dunev vs Yoshihara next. This has got to be the first Bulgaria vs Japan drift battle ever?

Dai pulls a large gap on the first run but when it comes to chasing Dai struggles and straightens twice. Todor Dunev beats Daijiro Yoshihara and is our last Semi Finalist!

Drift Allstars Champion James Deane and Prodrift Champion Alan Sinnott are first to battle for a place in the Finals. A fairly safe first run from both drivers means it all comes down to the second run.

Sinnott leads and Deane is in his door. Deane books his place in the Finals!

Todor Dunev and Marshall meet for the first time in the other Semi Final.

Two close runs follow but Marshall manages to pull ground on Dunev.

The BDC Pro driver is into the Final!

Before we decide the winner 3rd place has to be decided. Dunev vs Sinnott.

The Irish champion is on form and is judged to have pulled a sufficient gap. Sinnott takes third, a great result!

A Final that not many would have called awaits us! James Deane vs Michael Marshall.

Deane is fast, aggressive and accurate as ever. Marshall follows close.

But Deane follows closer.

It’s decided, Deane takes the win!

Drift Allstars Wembley Final Results

1st. James Deane

2nd. Michael Marshall

3rd. Alan Sinnott

Drift Allstars is in the bag for another season! The Final Championship standings….

1st. James Deane

2nd. Nigel Colfer

3rd. Walton Smith

Full image gallery below!

Semi Pro Class

1. Marc Huxley (above)
2. Mark Lappage
3. Andy Stroud

Pro Class

1. Ian Phillips (above)
2. Martin Richards
3. Micheal Marshall

Super Pro Class

1. Shane Lynch (above)
2. Paul Smith
3. Matt Carter

Tomorrow three champions will be crowned!

It’s Formula Drift superstar Matt Powers turn this week. What would Matt Powers do? Throw it in backwards at full attack, that’s what. Click your resolution below and either save the full size image or set it as your desktop from your browser.

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