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

With the Semi and Pro classes decided it was time for the Super Pro drivers to take to the track at Teesside Autodrome, Middlesbrough.

Spirits were high, the sun was uncharacteristically shining and warm and the Japspeed Subaru Impreza was back out on track doing its thing again, warm fuzzy feelings were a-plenty.

Things were tight at the top of the table heading towards the season half-way point, with SATS Cosworth driver Mark Luney leading the table by just 5 points over Team Falken’s Matt Carter.

Saturday’s qualifying saw some fresh faces at the top of the Top 16 going into Sunday’s battles.

Team Japspeed’s Paul ‘Smokey’ Smith lead the pack by taking P1 with a pair of impressive judges runs.

After frying an ECU during practice a hunt of the north-east’s finest scrap yards saw a replacement ECU in place with minutes to spare before qualifying, leaving Paul with no practice before going into his judges runs. Securing top spot was no mean feat!

A familiar face in the Super Pro class this season has been Wayne Keeber in the Mint Tyres Soarer. Stepping up to the mark saw Wayne nail his runs with plenty of smoke billowing from the rear wheels, giving him the P2 spot.

Steve Moore‘s immaculately turned out Kouki S14 could be found at P3, Steve’s consistent driving saw him follow the exact same lines run after run in practice. I’m not sure Steve has driven Teesside before, but if not it didn’t show!

The rather unusual machine that is Barry McCann’s Chaser JZX81 certainly can’t be missed on track, this thing sounds angry! Barry drove the technical circuit well and secured the final qualifying spot in P16.

Christy Carpenter‘s super aggressive driving style was apparent throughout morning practice in the Yokohama/RHD Japan S15. There was barely a run where Christy didn’t knock a bumper or side-skirt flying, or wasn’t trading paint whilst practicing twinning.

Qualifying saw Christy take 7th place, putting him up against Scotland’s David Waterworth in the first of the Top 16 battles.

David was absolutely on it all day meaning this would be an early exit for one of the strong contenders at this round at least!

As they paired off it was Waterworth who provided the upset, sending Christy packing. My money was on Christy and the Yokohama S15 before the event so be sure not to take betting advice from me!

There’s no such thing as an easy battle in the Super Pro class this season so another tough Top 16 draw was Simon Perry in the Fairways R33 Skyline up against…

….’The Behemoth‘ that is the SATS Cosworth Supra of Mark Luney, who after car troubles qualified in an uncharacteristic 9th place.

After a close first battle the clouds of smoke coming out from Perry’s custom rear fenders completely concealed the final turn as Mark took chase, the Supra washed out wide and clouted the tyre wall on the exit of the track, handing Perry the progression into the Top 8 and the SATS team a trip to the body shop.

Team Falken’s Matt Carter qualified in 5th spot and faced Grant Laker in the Purple S13.5. The first two battles were too close to call, both drivers giving as good as they got.

After a nail biting OMT Carter progressed through, taking him into the Top 8 and progressing him past Luney in the season’s point standings.

Another Prodrift driver making the journey over from Ireland was Team Japspeed’s Shane O’Sullivan.

After qualifying in P4 Shane was faced against crowd favourite Keith Hammond in the Skyline Owner’s R33 Skyline. Mistakes from Keith saw Shane into the Top 8 against Matt Carter.

Another Shane and another Japspeed S15, Shane Lynch and Ashley Stevens went head to head.

Ashley’s purple 1JZ S13 looks to be behaving itself at long last on the track.

But he couldn’t do enough to match the mighty ground-rumbling twin-turbo V8 of the Japspeed machine.

Lynch heads into the Top 8 and meets younger driver Steve Moore. Steve and Julie Robinson tussled in the Top 16, going OMT, but Steve taking the win after a spin from Julie….

He then went and puts enough gap between him and Shane to seal his place in the Final 4. The high-revving SR20 in the S14 a world apart from the low-rumble and grunt of the V8 S15 and seeming to suit the technical track at Teesside better.

Top qualifier Paul Smith found himself in the Top 8 against Simon Perry and the shock pink Skyline.

Paul had moved past Gav Cummings, above, who despite not qualifying was promoted into the Top 16 after Barry McCann’s Chaser developed terminal problems following qualifying.

Perry’s Skyline developed problems however and despite doing his best to drive through them he could not match the speed and spectacle of Paul’s runs, thick pillows of Maxxis MA-Z1 smoke heading into the northern sky.

Wayne Keeber and David Waterworth were up next. Soarer vs S13.5. Wayne’s driving is always super consistent and a place in the Final 4 is almost always certain.

Except for on this occasion, Waterworth peddling the S13.5 away from Wayne’s Soarer and booking his place in the Final 4.

It was Japspeed vs Falken next. Some friendly banter between the two teams over their Facebook pages keeps the competitive edge alive whenever the two teams meet.

Close battles saw Shane’s S15 collide with the back of the Falken S14.5 on the first sweeper, exploding chunks of multi-coloured fibreglass onto the outside of the turn, check out the video here.

After Matt’s mid-corner protest (see the video above), he wound his window back up and took the win in the run, placing him in the Final 4 against David Waterworth.

Matt was driving on form and having stood on the second level of the podium at every round so far this season had his eye on the top spot. He booked his place in the Final after beating Waterworth.

Steve Moore took on top qualifier Paul Smith in the Japspeed 1JZ S15 in the other Semi-Final, placing his S14′s passenger door right next to Paul’s driver door around the long first sweeper and taking the victory.

After a fierce 3rd-place battle Paul Smith occupied the bottom step of the podium, securing 3rd.

Into the final and with both drivers chasing their first 2011 victory we were in for some close drifting. Moore Vs Carter.

After two runs the judges could not separate them, both cars driving equally well and putting pressure on the other driver to make a mistake. Into One More Time….

One the second OMT run that mistake reared it’s head, Matt Carter placing two wheels on the dirt just meters before the finish line, handing Steve Moore the win!

Teesside Autodrome is one of the UK’s favourite drifting tracks, and after a long hiatus the British Drift Championship’s return to the circuit showcased how the level of driving has progressed in the three years since we were last here. And how the weather has improved (some of my clothes may still be damp after the ‘great rain of 2008′ at Teesside, where I was a driver rather than a photographer!).

Going into Round 4 the top of the Super Pro table is still anyone’s for the taking:

1. Matt Carter – Team Falken S14.5 – 74 Points

2. Mark Luney – SATS Cosworth Supra – 63 Points

3. Steve Moore – Steve Moore Racing S14a – 57 Points

4. Wayne Keeber – Mint Tyres Soarer – 47 Points

5. Paul Smith – Team Japspeed S15 – 46 Points

Round 5 of the 2011 Maxxis British Drift Championship sees a return to Knockhill Circuit, Scotland on August 20th & 21st!

Full Super Pro Gallery below -

Talk of the Super Pro Class was former Red Bull World Drift competitor Remmo Niezen in his Falken Tyre V8 E30 BMW. Remmo made the journey over from his native Holland to test himself against the best the UK has to offer.

The E30 fitting right in place next to the Team Falken UK paddock.

And looking superb on the track. More on this car to come in a future post.

Mark Luney and the Cosworth SATS team were busy in the paddock changing the setup of their 800bhp Supra to suit the tight and technical track.

They found during practice that the Supra’s legs were too long for the Arena so a quick diff change and de-tune put the car into a more competitive state. Which clearly worked as Mark placed himself as top qualifier!

Shane O’Sullivan made the journey over from Ireland and the Japspeed RB25 S15 was back on home soil temporarily before being shipped back to the emerald isle for Prodrift.

Stablemate Paul Smith is a Norfolk Arena local, making use of the regular practice days to hone his skills. You can just make out above the chip taken out of Paul’s front bumper from an earlier clipping point scrape during qualifying. His strong runs netted him 2nd qualifying spot.

Having made the monumental journey down from Scotland, David Waterworth’s S13.5 is looking at it’s best if I may say so. David’s super consistent driving put him in 3rd qualifying position.

Another driver who has been with the BDC for a good few years is Steve ‘Speed’ Moore and his immaculate Kouki S14. If you’re a regular reader you’ll have seen this car plenty before, it really is one of the most photogenic cars on the grid.

So one more won’t hurt right?

The Japspeed Subaru was sadly out of commission after practice after a rear hub/drivetrain failure.

Driver Steven Biagioni wasn’t phased, and jumped into a borrowed S14 and qualified 5th. Maybe time for a return to an S-chassis?!

A driver worth a special mention is Ashley Stevens. After a highly successful 2010 season Ashley pulled the motor from his S13 to install a 1JZ Toyota engine. After completing the conversion and spending out his off season budget completely, Ashley received the news that the engine he had installed had a terminal problem.

After driving Round 1 in a borrowed car Ashley dropped another motor in only to find this second one had a problem during a dyno tune! Almost at the point of giving up for the season he was helped out by his friends and family for support and managed to source a good engine.

He finally got out at the Arena in his completed car, and looked completely at home!

As the sun set over the battleground the Top 16 Super Pros entered the Arena for their crowd introductions. Remmo Niezen towers over his slammed E30 above.

Japspeed and Stobart driver Shane Lynch has a quick chat with Arena marshall and staff member Malx.

And BDC judges Julian Smith and Rich Newton ready themselves for action. Notice the beard-in-progress efforts in preparation to July’s Awesomefest Beard-off.

The Norfolk Arena event in the BDC calendar, or rather the timing of, is a photographer’s dream. As the sun sets over the horizon the low orange light pierces the smoke trails and provides great opportunities to shoot ‘contre-jour‘ (against the sun). Above, Dan O’Brien in the Competition Clutch S14 puts up a good fight against the chasing Falken E30 of Remmo. Remmo takes the win on this occasion.

The shock-pink of Simon Perry’s R33 looks great in the late-evening light. Your eyes are drawn to the custom rear arch (fender) setup. The two vents channel air across the rear tyres and draw more smoke out of the rear vents. A tactical modification as well as aesthetic I feel!

Matt Carter’s Falken 1JZ S14.5 was sporting some last minute ventilation modifications. Norfolk Arena is notorious for low-airflow from drift cars and as such any extra air and cooling you can grab helps!

It must have been a pretty awesome feeling to finally get his car out in the twin battles again but Ashley was outed in the Top 16 by Stephen Biagioni in a borrowed S14 but still left the Arena with a smile on his face. He was later awarded the Hard Charger award at the event for his efforts in staying strong when everything was against him!

Si Perry faced off against Steve Moore in the Top 8 and progressed to the Semi Finals.

If there was one car you are guaranteed to come home from a drift event with plenty of shots of it’s the SATS Cosworth Supra of Mark Luney!

Mark progressed to face Matt Carter in the Semi Final, in a replay of Round 1′s final battle.

With the Supra running poorly and Matt Carter on top form Matt took the win against Mark. The scorecards read 1-1 so far this season between these two.

Japspeed’s Shane O’Sullivan took out team mate Paul Smith in the Top 16, but suffered a mechanical problem after the run.

The sand in the Arena does it’s job again and soaks up a fallen warrior’s blood.

Visitor Remmo Niezen was up against Simon Perry in the other Semi Final. Some strong talk on the start line between the two drivers indicated a hell of a battle was about to happen.

After a strong leading run in which Remmo opened up a substantial gap over Perry, he plays chase and tucks in on the Skyline’s passenger door. Remmo heads into the final to face Falken team-mate Matt Carter.

Mark Luney took the win against Simon in a great 3rd/4th place battle, taking up his position on the bottom podium step,

As the Final drivers readied at the start line and thick plumes of Falken tyre smoke filled the Arena there was all to play for. The all important championship points on Matt Carter’s mind, and Remmo wanting to prove his place on his first visit to the British Drift Championship.

Two close battles ensued, both drivers tucking in close when the chance arose. Remmo appeared to have more angle on the first run….

And with that takes the Victory!

Super Pro Class Round 2 Results

1st – Remmo Niezen – Falken V8 E30

2nd – Matt Carter – Falken 1JZ S14.5

3rd – Mark Luney – SATS Cosworth 2JZ Supra

As the drivers hung up their race-suits from the event and the crowd dispersed it was time to get our BBQ on!

Round 3 of the MAXXIS 2011 British Drift Championship kicks off on the 2nd-3rd July and returns up to Teesside Autodrome for the first time since 2008! We can’t wait!

Arenas around the world have long been places where crowds could flock to see great battles take place. The word ‘arena’ is synonymous with ancient images of grandeur, those of gladiators doing battle and fighting to the death for honor and glory. There was certainly less ‘death’ involved at Round 2 of the British Drift Championship MMXI (see what I did there) but the honor and glory still rings true.

The word ‘arena’ is also Latin for ‘sand’ and was used as the covering of choice in years gone by for its excellent ability to soak up a fallen warrior’s blood. Or coolant, or engine oil. I know from personal experience a couple of years ago that Norfolk Arena in Kings Lynn can claim it’s fair share of mechanical victims. A day spent on your back in the dust changing a shattered gearbox is not a day spent having fun.

Norfolk Arena is primarily used as a shale stock car and speedway oval, hence the abundance of dust. When drifting is in town we move infield and use the tarmac centre of the oval to create a technical track that really levels the playing field. Horsepower counts for nothing here, this small track tests a driver’s ability above all else.

BDC front man Mark ‘Sweeps’ Buckle ponders for a moment before driver’s briefing. Track layout, clipping points and which lairy shorts to wear going through his mind no doubt.

From watching practice and qualifying it was clear to see that this event was anybody’s for the taking. The Arena has played host to the BDC for a number of years and always pulls in a crowd.

The grandstands and terraces surround the track 360 degrees and its only by taking a walk around the perimeter of the track that you can really appreciate how many people are here to see the action.

The Semi Pro Class were first out in Saturday morning’s qualifying session. The Semi Pros are the most unfamiliar with the BDC regulars like myself. Every year the championship brings more and more new blood into the ring, hoping to work their way up through the ranks.

Its great to see Jeek’s E39 540 in competition. The V8 engine sounds glorious resonating around the walls of the Arena.

Ian Waddington’s S13 was looking pretty angry as it tore around the track. The aggressive Works9 kit and DMAX bonnet adding to the look.

The tiny Supermade-style lamps pierced through the smoke of the lead car. Notice the new 2011 Drifted wing mirror decals!

Matt Stevenson’s fantastic BMW V8-powered Silvia (right) seemed to agree with the settings at Kings Lynn. Matt was adjusting to his new V8 powers but managed to progress to the Top 8 on the day.

Mark Lappage is a driver who we have seen improve over the seasons and is coming into his own, pushing his candy pink S13 hard he attained 3rd qualifying place in Semi Pro.

Super Pro driver Steve ‘Baggsy’ Biagioni acts as Mark’s ‘spotter’ and tensely awaits news of one of Mark’s results. He makes it as far as the Top 8 in Semi Pro before being sent packing by Lewis Cracknell in his grey S13.

Lewis narrowly missed out on a podium position to Team Green’s Christian Lewis who clinched 3rd place in the Semi Pro Class.

Boom! Touge Automotive’s Turbozilla helping Christian drop bombs on the competition, or something.

One of my favourite cars in the Semi Pro Class has to be Marc Huxley’s SR20 powered KE70 Corolla. Complete with South Carolina license plates, just for the heck of it. Marc managed to peddle the Corolla to top qualifier on the day but sadly didn’t progress past the Top 16.

Local driver Matt Campling is well versed with the layout at the Arena. His flame-licked orange and black S13 was certainly different! Several people were trying to work out the giant STICKER! over the weekend and it’s meaning.

Matt took 2nd qualifying spot and went on to take the top spot winning the Semi Pro Final against Owen Taylor in another (and rather bizarre in appearance) V8 Silvia.

Semi Pro driver Danni Murphy in her ‘Green Monster‘ had the opportunity to gain promotion at Round 2 which she dually did, qualifying in 2nd place in the Pro Class! She will play out the rest of the season with the Pros.

Danni reached the Top 16 of Pro Class at the sun set over the Arena before being smoked out by Michael Marshall’s SSR Professor equipped S15.

Michael also managed to chase down Team Falken’s Paul ‘Polo’ Cheshire in his 2JZ G35.

Sadly a post-defeat burnout saw the G35′s gearbox disintegrate. The Arena claims another victim.

Roger Cooling of Team Green’s R33 has undergone some cosmetic changed for 2011, including the team’s mandatory colourway. Roger is another Arena local.

Matt House peers across from the seat of his LS powered RX7. Moments later the ground shakes and the FD3S launches from the line.

Notice the Racelogic camera on the roof? The Team MPH Customs cars have some very trick kit on board providing them with GPS tracking and real time data logging, more to come on this soon.

And team mate Phil Maclachlan (who I am now referring to as PMAC as I am fed up of checking his surname spelling) looked to be getting to grips with his LS-powered V8 Silvia, ‘PMAC’ secured 16th qualifying spot.

Top Pro Qualifier was newcomer Chris Hawkins in a fairly understated S13. Chris was throwing down great aggressive runs all day!

Sadly during the Top 8 runs Chris met one of the solid clipping points and took some front end damage before limping back to the pits to fight another day.

Its takes a shunt to move the giant tractor-tyre-come-clipping point! Heavy machinery is employed to put it back into place.

Nathan Chivers chases down the V8 R33 of Ian Phillips and progresses as far as the Top 16.

Belinda Jayne-Challis and Gary Hughes went One More Time in a cross-generation Skyline battle.

Jamie Kenyon put up a strong fight in his SR20 MX5 but was ousted by Round 1 Pro winner Grant Laker in his purple S13.5.

Grant went on to take first place at the event again, his second consecutive victory, putting him head and shoulders above at the top of the table!

The super-aggressive driving style of Jody Fletcher served him well in the fight, after making his way through to the Semi-Finals.

Before bowing out to Adam Day in his black and orange R33.

Adam couldn’t match Grant in the Finals however and took second place.

Another black R33 and another Adam, Adam Blackwell drove consistently all day and reached the also reached the Semi-Final in his black R33.

Jody Fletcher took the final podium step, beating Blackwell in the 3rd place playoff.

As night fell and with the Semi Pro and Pro winners decided it was time for the main event under the floodlights of the Arena. Keep an eye out for Part II and the Super Pro Class shortly.

The sun was out, i had a free day off work, and Santa pod had drifting on. Perfect way to spend a bank holiday monday.

Having missed out on the first round of the British Drift Championship I had an urge to go and watch and photograph some drifting. It was just my luck that the nice people at Santa Pod Raceway were holding their first bank holiday DWYB.

While most people were enjoying having a day off work, I set off early in the morning for the 2-hour trip to Santa Pod in Northamptonshire. Pulling up in the pits I could see that it was going to be a busy day.

People were mingling and prepping their cars for the days drifting; all while Steve from mint tyres was already hard at work with a pile of rims and fresh rubber to match together. I spoke to Steve about the shear number of tyres that he was having to deal with, he said that he would do somewhere in the region of 100 tyre changes over the day.

The mint tyres motorsport R32 was also at Santa pod having some new stickers applied to it. I managed to grab this shot of the car as it was being done. The new kit and wheels look so much better than last years setup.

I also managed to grab a couple of passenger rides this time so I now know how bumpy the Santa pod track is. My first ride of the day was in Will’s Stillen supercharged 350Z. This car is so low that it was bottoming out on the bumps on every lap, but the noise of metal scraping is overcome by the awesome sounding whine coming from the top of the engine.

On my second passenger ride of the day I realised that either I need to lose a little weight, or drift cars are built and owned by skinny people. To climb into the passenger seat of the MPH Customs V8 RX7 you almost need to be a small child. Once squeezed in past the roll cage I then had to squeeze into the super tight bucket seat, Matt tried to comfort me by saying that the seat has had very little use.

I read online about how some people think that V8 power is killing drifting, but i think it just helps to make it easier for the driver. Once Matt had shifted the car into 3rd gear he had enough power and torque to complete a few laps of the track without shifting again.

Matt was very happy with the Syron tyres that the car was running, and i have to confirm they did make plenty of smoke in the mirrors.

It was much nicer to walk round the paddock this time; my visit in February was freezing. The sun makes everything look so much better. I mainly spent my afternoon walking around chatting to people about the cars they were using and taking random snaps.

The owner of this car seems more function over form and not worried about getting his car dirty or broken in search of his thrills.

If all taxi’s were like this I wouldn’t mind being ripped off by taxi drivers.

Clean Supermade fronted ps13.

Mean looking e36 BMW.

This is what happens if you run your tyres until they pop. I would not want to be cleaning that afterwards.

I think this would be a perfect daily/drifter. You have a car that can spend all day drifting, and you still have room for shopping, the dog and the camera equipment. As prices of secondhand cars come down I hope to one day see a BMW M5 touring being used in the same way.

If you haven’t been to santa pod to witness or to drive at a DWYB day you must put it on your todo list.

More photos from the day are going to be on my facebook page here, on my Flickr here, and on my website apertureimages.co.uk

And just a reminder that round 2 of the British Drift Championship will be at Norfolk arena between 20^th to 22^nd May. It was definatly my favourite round last year, a nice friendly atmosphere and some incredibly drifting. Be sure to check out the BDC website for more details.

We will be there to cover the action so if you miss it in person make sure you checkout the Drifted.com facebook page for updates from the event.

Saturday the 12th of February kicked off the 2011 season with a qualifying day for the British Drift Championship.  New names who wanted to get in on the action and drive amongst some of the finest drivers in Europe had their chance to impress the Judges.  Myself, Jord and Phil popped along to find out who would make the drivers list for what is set to be a very exciting year of competition.

Its been a little strange over the last few months – drifting seems to take an informal 2-3 month break through the worse of the winter  so there hasn’t been a great deal happening.  Drivers and teams lock themselves away in garages fettling their machines,  the Judges hibernate and we generally put our feet up and wait in anticipation for it all to start up again.  The first day of the season always tends to draw the community back together and its always nice to see old friends.

Many had traveled a fair way to make the day but maybe none of them quite as far as Hugo Fernandes and Andre Soares who had mad the trip all the way from Portugal! Jord and I had met these guys back in 2010 out in Lousada at the KD European Drift Championship and it was great to see them again.  Hugo drives a very potent Toyota Soarer but today he would be qualifying in a borrowed S13 200SX.

After an 80 mile journey along the M1 I found myself at Silverstone Circuit.  I queued at the barrier to make my way into the infield behind a steady stream of Porsche’s and various other track cars.  A track day would be taking place on the main circuit whilst the BDC event took place on one of the large paddock car parks behind the pits.  When I got to the car park there was already a busy pits with drivers making a final check over their machines before the qualifying started.  There was a very out of place Riviera Blue Porsche 993cs amongst the cars – surely not a competitor ? It seems the chap had got lost on his way to the track day and he soon moved on leaving behind the usual array of Nissan R and S bodies,  E36 and E46 Bodied BMWs, Ford Sierra, Toyota Supra, AE86, 300zx and a Honda s2000.

After media sign in and a walk up and down the pits Mark ‘Sweeps’ Buckle called everyone towards the control station – it was briefing time.  With a lot of the Pro and Semi pro drivers continuing on their licenses from the previous year the crowd was made up of a lot of unknown faces – I’m sure some will become a lot more familiar over the coming months.  Sweeps explained the format of the day along side chief safety man Darren Matthews and then moved on to explain the course itself.  Tracks laid out on car parks with cones often require a little bit of imagination – without the lines of a circuit to follow it can take a few runs through the course until you begin to feel your natural line.  It always helps as the rubber starts to build up and show the more common lines being taken by drivers.

So onto the course – from the start line the the drivers accelerate down a 100m straight and initiate into first 90 degrees left-hander with a front clipping point. After 30m or so the drivers have to scrub off some speed to make a transition right into a tight chicane followed by a quick flick left and another flick right into a 180 degree turn.  The drivers then exit the turn piling on speed for another 40m or so before crossing the finish line.  The usual media and safety briefings followed and Doristars Ross Ianson made it very very clear where media could and definitely should not be whilst the track was hot.  For most this is common sense – if you don’t feel safe you most likely aren’t. The drivers were divided into two groups and we were off!

Drivers had some time to come to come to terms with the circuit before they would undergo their 3 judged runs to see if they have what it takes to obtain a BDC license.  In the morning the course proved challenging with the first and fastest corner being damp making it very difficult for drivers to gauge grip levels, but it soon started to dry out.

Ramunas Cepulis pulls his yellow Honda S2000 Turbo out of hibernation for some pre-season fun.  Already a Pro license holder was here to make the most of any seat time on offer.

The turbo charger on this car makes it absolutely fly.  Definitely one to watch out for this year.

The yellow s2000 wasn’t the only car here running the Honda F20C engine.  This white AE86 Trueno owned by Martynas Zizas has also had a sizeable power upgrade and now runs the high revving F20C motor in normally aspirated configuration.  This car is said to be running approx 220bhp which is a little down on the factory standard figures from Honda.  One challenge that RHD AE86 owners have to overcome when running this engine is the standard Honda exhaust manifold can no longer be used due to different layout engine bay and the steering column.  These engines are extremely sensitive to exhaust runner diameters and lengths.

That aside the additional power on tap was immediately obvious when watching this car out on the circuit.  The car didn’t bog down as easily as a regular average tuned 4AGE-powered car making gears work a little easier.   Unfortunately this time Martynas didn’t make the grade but I’m sure he will be back to try again.  We’d really love to see some more AE86 bodied cars in the UK scene.

Adrian Brannan waited on the start line for one of his judged runs – his Ford Sierra Sapphire is a rare sight in competition use in mainland UK.  This particular example is powered by a 24v 2.9 quad-cam v6 Cosworth engine normally found in the Ford Granada Scorpio and goes pretty well.

Adrian came away with his Semi Pro licence.

The Nissan 300ZX is yet another rare sight in UK Competition.  Unfortunately this time Alex Law didn’t quite make the cut.  Contending against an open differential the car looked a handful once sideways. It will be nice to see a more varied range of cars out there so well done for not just going the usual route!

Danny Isbell in the Blue R32 Skyline came away with a Pro licence

White 33 Richard McCourt gained himself a Semi-Pro license.

This stock looking, yet competition spec white PS13 Silvia was shared by both Mark Annette and Marc Huxley.  Both came away with Semi-Pro licenses.

Luke Fisher was out having lots of fun in this slightly colour uncoordinated PS13 Silvia.  But unfortunately no license this time.

Adam Day came away with a Pro license in the Silver Nissan R33 Skyline.  This car looks much more purposeful for the rear widened arches.

Justin Griffiths made the upgrade from Semi Pro to Pro with his Rocket Bunny-kitted Nissan s13.

Marcin Mucha gained a Semi Pro license in his very clean White Supra. Something tell me that after a season’s competition the car won’t be looking quite so pristine.

Marcin discusses his runs with friends in the crowd following licensing.

Stuart Egdell’s Black S13 had a serious looking green cage. Shame he had removed the aero for the event. Note to drivers – photographers much prefer shooting cars that look complete! All the same, Stuart earned Semi Pro accreditation.

Matt Hitchcock’s silver E46 BMW was one of the best prepared cars on the day. We’ll be seeing more of this fantastic car this year as Matt gained a Semi Pro license.

The ‘Kermit’ PS13 was being piloted by two drivers on the day, James Bull on his second licensing attempt was awarded a Semi Pro license, and Faruk Kugay who sadly did not achieve licensing this time. Faruk’s style was a joy to watch though with fast aggressive initiations into the first bend and he explained to me that he was just there to have fun and not pushing too hard.

Here Faruk and James catch a moment to discuss things between runs.

James Fuller drove his stock-looking S14a to a Pro license. James was throwing down some pretty mad manjis at the start of the day as he found his groove.

Rallycross driver Liam Doran was at the event in the ‘spare’ Japspeed car. Following the retirement of Danny Eyles from the Japspeed team this year is this an indication as to his replacement?

Liam’s rallycross skills being put to good use with fast weight-shift entries into the first corner.

Andy Redmond’s well presented S14a rounds the first bend during the morning. Andy was present to attempt to upgrade his Semi Pro license to Pro. Sadly he missed out on the day. Nevertheless we look forward to seeing Andy compete this year as he seems to be getting to grips with the car nicely.

The full list of licences awarded on the day were as follows:

Semi Pros

Andy Arnott

Mark Annette

Marcin mucha

Stuart Egdell

Adrian Brannan

Matt Hitchcock

Hugo Fernades

James Bull

Marc Huxley

Richard Judd

Pros

Justin Griffiths – Upgrade from Semi Pro

Marcin Klawikowski – Upgrade from Semi Pro

Adam Day

Danny Isbell

James Fuller

The first round of the 2011 British Drift Championship takes place on 22-23rd of April at Donington Park.  Each year this championship goes from strength to strength and we have a fantastic year ahead of us.  If like us you love Drifting make sure you make the effort to get along to spectate and support the drivers and teams.

Santa Pod Raceway, in Bedfordshire, England, the home of Europeian drag racing, and the home of Drift What Ya Brung.

A couple of quick facts about Santa Pod. It was built on a disused World War II American air base, RAF Poddington, and has plenty of space to host events. From small events like DWYB right up to FIA Drag Racing.

Santa Pod is the venue in which the current world drag racing record is held. A time of 3.58 seconds at 386.26 mph (621.61 km/h), was set by Sammy Miller in his Vanishing Point Funny Car in July 1984.

Santa Pod holds regular DWYB (Drift What Ya Brung) days throughout the year. The idea behind these days are simple, you pay your money, turn up with you RWD car and have loads of fun. And the great thing about it is you don’t have to worry about being a drifting god or having a mega spec Nissan to drift at these events.

The first thing you will do in the morning after arriving is to go and sign with the racetrack, and wait for the drivers briefing. Lex the organizer of the DWYB days will give out the all important safety announcements and his famous and all important line “Don’t be a twat!”

After that it’s time to get out and have fun. Because of the space available at Santa pod they are able to provide layouts to cater for beginners right up to seasoned pros.

If it’s your first time drifting you will start off in the “playpens”. These are small areas designed for you to practice doing doughnuts and small figures of 8. Here you can learn the basics of car control at your own pace.

Next up is the kidney track. You have a lot more space in this area to practice some more advanced drifting moves. You might have heard the words “Manji” or “clutch kick” but never actually done them. You can practice everything in this area apart from high speed stuff. And there are always more experienced drifters around that don’t mind giving you help for the price of a passenger ride.

And then once you think you have the skills to play with the big boys you can move onto the big track. For the main track Santa pod use a layout that has been used in EDC competition rounds.

The track has a little bit of everything. A fast entry into a long left-hand sweeper, some left and right-hand corners, so you can practice your transitions, and then onto a hairpin to finish off the track. The track also has a few undulations for you to contend with as well.

The range of cars that I saw was quite impressive, from Ford Sierra’s,

to various spec Nissans,

to Westfields.

And it goes to show that you don’t need to spend loads of money on a good car to be able to have fun.

Drivers and spectators alike are well catered for at Santa Pod. Mint Tires were there on the day to assist with the changing and disposal of tires. Chunk from DB Automotive is usually hanging around somewhere, able to help out with car repairs as his unit is right next door to Santa Pod. And the best part is that Santa Pod has a great café, it gives welcome relief when it’s cold outside.

And when you want to leave with a memento of your day they have that covered too. Ian Blackett of Blackett photography stands around in all weather trying to get shots that you can take back and show your loved ones.

I’m hoping to try and back to some more DWYB days in the future to learn to start drifting myself. To find out for yourself when the next DWYB event is on click the link below.

Santa Pod DWYB

Blackett Photography

Over the winter months I am going to share photo highlights of the drift year. Usually when I am writing my reports you don’t always get to see my best photos from the day. I tend to write my report first while the information is fresh in my head, and then pick photos that split the writing up nicely. With over 16000 drift photos taken this year it becomes very difficult to only choose 10-20 pictures to use with each report. I also try to be very picky on the photos I use, for instance, if a driver has been on form in the morning practice, I would use a picture from morning practice even if I had a better picture of them from later in the day. I’m going to start with Round 4 of The British Drift Championship at Donington Park….

I had a great weekend and still look back on my photos from this event with a big smile on my face. I’ve managed to pick 55 ‘favourite’ photos when looking back through my 3665 from the event, but I am going to limit myself to just 10.

The opening photo is of Team Driftworks’ Ben ‘BonBon’ Broke-Smith just starting out another mad run. If it hadn’t of been for the traffic cone it would have been one of my favourite ever photos.

The shot above is very similar to one that I used on my report from the event. I love the lighting you can capture first thing in the morning. If it hadn’t of been for Semi-Pro driver Andy Redmond getting me up so early I would of missed getting these kind of shots in favor of a lie-in.

This is probably a moment that Ashley Stevens would like to forget. While everyone was having lunch and getting a bit of a sun tan, Ashley was desperately trying to change over his gearbox so he would be able to run again in the afternoon. You can see that there are 4 bodies under the car trying to get it sorted. The temperatures were in the high 20′s that day (which is hot for England!) so I hate to think how hot it was under the car. Luckily they did manage to get it fixed, and Ashley had one of his best drives of the year up against a formidable and on form Phil Morrison in the DWS15 below.

The thing I love about this shot is the amount of smoke billowing out. It’s so thick that you can’t see the back end of the car at all.

And onto another Phil. This time it’s Phil Randell in his RX7. Phil’s eyes are firmly poised on the next corner as he accelerates on lock.

I only posted a picture of this car a few day ago, but i just can’t help it when it looks this good. Paint any car in the Falken colours and I’m going to love it.

I like this photo for 2 reasons. First being, Team Driftworks will use whatever they can to make their cars work on the day. Instead of an air filter like most people, Bon has decided that a kitchen utensil works just as well. Secondly, just have a look at the huge pile of brand new Federal tyres in the background waiting to be transformed into long trails of white smoke.

I know I used this photo in my original report but I love how well it came out. I was the only photographer to have infield access in the afternoon so I had to make the most of it. Here is Danny Eyles taking the second hairpin with style in the Japspeed RB25 S15.

This is the man that made it possible for me to be at Donington for the event. Here is Andy Redmond out in morning practice with a passenger on board. But it’s not Andy’s drifting skills or his car that caught my eye, it was the passenger who looks like they are scratching their head. I can imagine them thinking that they are not meant to be traveling sideways in a car. It’s one of those photos that when you are at the track you check the camera screen and think that it looks OK, but its not until you get home on the computer that you notice what you have got.

And I’ll finish off with yet another picture of Bon in the DW 1JZ R32. He was by far the person with the most mental entries into the first corner. I have got quite a few pictures of other drivers at this point of the track, but none of them are even close to the angle that this man is getting.

I’m now going to delve into the rest of my photo collection to see what I can fish out for the other events i have covered for Drifted this year.

BDC Weekender Sunday – Team Triple drifting

Sunday was a super laid back affair. I was initially worried that i had woke up late and would miss practice, but no one was too fussed about getting out on track. People were either recovering from the night before or just chatting to each other in the paddock.

Eventually somebody thought it might be a good idea to get out on track and make some smoke. I wandered over trackside to have a look who was out practicing.

Sam Holt, Mark Lappage and Rob Finn had joined forces to make a team. They were starting to look better and better. Then just as they had passed where i was stood there was a bang. Mark had had to slow to avoid Sam, but the moment Mark slowed was the moment that Rob initiated for the corner, there was nothing he could do to avoid hitting Mark.

Both drivers were ok and luckily the damage to both cars was mainly cosmetic. I saw Mark’s car at Japfest 2 this past Sunday, and if it wasn’t for the zip-ties holding the rear bumper together you could never tell it had been hit up the back. I did feel sorry for Rob as he had to drive his car back to Ireland. But this man always seems to have a smile on his face.

This little incident would mean that the team would be named Crash bandicoots for the rest of the day.

Practice carried on trouble free, the teams were all trying to find a good line and combination for the 3 drivers, with a few teams choosing to put the slowest at the front

There was an impromptu driver meeting session for the public which seemed to go very well. Its something you don’t get with many other forms of motorsport. Hopefully it will encourage more people to participate in, or support drifting.

Qualification

We went into qualification with 8 teams ready to do some triple drifting. The team that everyone was looking forward to seeing, Team Green/Falken, suffered some bad luck.

The 3 drivers got so close that Matt Carter and Paul Cheshire touched. Matt had slowed to avoid hitting Alan Green, but the back of Matt’s car hit Paul’s front wheel. It spun Paul’s steering wheel in his hand so hard it broke his hand. I seen him at Japfest 2 walking around with a fetching green plaster cast on.

But even thought he was in a lot of pain he carried on, and the team grabbed the top Qualification spot.

Another team that had suffered bad luck was Team Launch. Only 1 of the 3 cars were competing, but they had been joined by Jordan Patton for the team event.

Team skyline owners only managed to qualify in 6th place after looking so good in practice.

1st – Team Green

2nd – Team Japspeed

3rd – Team Scream

4th – Team Mint

5th – MPH Customs

6th – Skyline Owners.com

7th – Team Launch

8th – Crash Bandicoots

Battles

We kicked off with Team Mint against MPH customs. MPH put on a good show but could not match the runs put down by Team Mint. And just to give a good show for the public, Danni Murphy and Daniel O’Brien decided to kill their tires  by doing some door to door doughnuts.

Baggsy’s Subaru had broken down again so it was twin battles for Team Japspeed and Team Launch. Team Japspeed had an easy run against Team Launch. Team Launch did a bit of showboating round the last corner but couldn’t score enough to put Team Japspeed out.

Team Scream were up against Skyline Owners. Skyline Owners must of been takeing it easy in the morning as they looked very good against Team Scream. They came out of the final corner really close with their arms out the windows.

But more bad luck was to befall Team Green/Falken, Alan Green’s turbo decided that it had had enough and killed itself. This left the wounded Paul and Matt to carry on. You couldn’t tell by watching the runs that Paul was driving with an injury, but it was good enough to beat the Crash Bandicoots and move onto the semi finals.

Semi Finals

The 2 man Japspeed team were facing the tire changing extraordinaries, Team Mint. Wayne Keeber’s Toyota Soarer seemed to struggle to keep up with the 2 R32 skylines in the twisty middle section but could close the gap up once the track opened up.

But the two cars of Team japspeed could not score higher than the 3 car Team Mint.

Skyline Owners were up against the 2 man Team Green/Falken. Try as they might, 2 cars could not beat 3, but from the first corner you couldn’t tell that Paul Cheshire was in pain

3rd place

It was extremely close drifting for Team japspeed in their battle against Team Green/Falken. Nathan Chivers and Anthony Cahill got so close that Anthony’s front tow hook sliced a clean line through the bottom of Nathan’s bumper. When they parked up both drivers jumped out to survey the damage but couldn’t believe how close they got without crashing.

Team Green/Falken continued their 2 man drifting show and out scoring the 2 Japspeed drivers on both runs. It was a shame Alan’s turbo died as i’m sure they would of won if they had all 3 cars running.

Final

3 R33’s, 2 R32’s and one Toyota were the cars that would make up the final.

The 2 Team Mint Skyline’s were very close during their runs with the Soarer lagging behind slightly on both runs.

But it would be Team skyline Owners.com that would be victorious. Keith Hammond was setting the pace for Simon Perry and Ian Phillips. On the first corner Keith was a little bit ahead of the other two, but they upped their pace to close the gap. Their runs looked great and they deservedly took the win.

Before we went to the podium we were treated to 6 car drifting with Team Mint and Skyline Owners. It was a fantastic sight to witness.

Hopefully we can get more drivers and spectators to next years BDC weekender, as i said in my previous report i witnessed some of the best UK drifting ever at this event.

And keep a look out for some posts from Will Epps and Ian Gratton as they hit up Mallory Park on August 24th for some full circuit drift action.