Does anybody remember this car? It might look a bit gloomy where it sits now, but this is team Driftspeed and Ueo’s Ex-Formula D RedBull Drifting World Championship car, held back in 2008 in California. It has also run in D1 in Japan and Formula D Stateside. It is now owned by Thomas ‘Thompa’ Pettersson, who is currently rebuilding it for the coming season. It will be a part of some big moves on the Swedish drifting scene, with the JDM-importer and media outlet Superior Imports, getting involved big time.

This is the heart of the beast. Making 500bhp with 600nm cranked out at 1.7bar through the 2.0Liter SR20 Black Top powerplant.

Interior-wise it is strictly business. Toora Bucket’s to go with the Toora Safe6 6-point harnesses, Formula D-spec Rollcage fabricated by Techno Square. And if you have a keen eye, you’ll see a  4 speed Gforce GSR dogbox in there.

Paint wise it’s due for some changes. Although the body will stay mostly the same, with the Wise Square / Behrman bodykit – which is off to a bodyshop to get patched together and prepped for paint.
This is probably the last chance we’re gonna get to see the car as it stands today, with the paintwork it has had since it left America. Off to new and exciting things!

The wheels is it sitting on are Gram Lights 57SPro Polished with Titanium Lip, with a staggered 18×10 and 17×9 setup. Rear and front respectively.

It’s always good to have someone to help you out during an impromptu-shoot. Thanks Micke and Thompa!

History:
The car was originally built for D1 Grand Prix USA Series by Wise Square and exhibited 2007 Tokyo Auto Salon, Japan. Building completed early 2007 and debut D1 USA Las Vegas.

2007 D1 Grand Prix Japan, Fuji Speedway – Displayed
2007 D1 Grand Prix USA, Las Vegas – Debut
2007 D1 Grand Prix USA Season Finale / World All Star, Irwindale
2008 Formula Drift Red Bull Drifting World Championship, Long Beach
2009 Formula Drift, Long Beach
2009 Formula Drift, Las Vegas
2009 Formula Drift, Sonoma
2009 Formula Drift, Irwindale

Spec list
1999 Nissan Silva S15

Engine
2.0 LSR20DET Black Top
ARC Oil Pan
Over sized JE Piston
HKS Head Gasket
HKS Cams
HKS Solid Lifters
Greddy Rocker Arm Stopper
Yashio Factory Pulley
Greddy Intake Plenum
N15 Throttle Body
Nismo Twin Plate Copper Mix
Sard FPR Changed by Thomas to aeromotive
Z32 MAF

Drive train
G-Force GSR 4 Speed Transmission
Nismo Twin Plate Copper Mix change by Thomas to Sachs twin disk
Drive Shaft Shop Axle Shaft
Nismo GT Pro 2.0 LSD

Fuel
VP 109 changed by Thomas to E85
GTR Fuel Pump in tank
850 Sard Injectors changed by Thomas to deatsworks 1300cc topfeed
Greddy topfeed rail new by Thomas
Custom surgetank new by Thomas
2x bosch new by Thomas
AN8 fuel lines new by Thomas

Cooling
Yashio Factory Radiator with Electric Fan
Blitz Intercooler
Blitz Oil Cooler
Blitz Oil Filer Relocation Kit
Apexi Air Filter

Electronics
Apexi Power FC L Jetro
Blitz SBCi Boost Controller
Blitz Water Temp Gauge
Blitz Oil Temp Gauge
Blitz Oil Pressure Gauge
Kill Switch

Interior
Bride Bucket Seat Driver and Passenger changed by Thomas to TOORA Project
Takata 6 point Harness changed by Thomas to TOORA 6 point
Fire Suppression System removed by Thomas
Formula D ready Roll Cage (done by Techno Square)
Nardi Steering Wheel changed by Thomas to TOORA TRACK
Battery Relocation into Rear Trunk

Suspension
S15 DG-5
Tein Tension Rod
Ikeya Formula Inner Tie Rod
Peak Performance Rear Upper Control Arm
Peak Performance Traction Rod
Peak Performance Toe Control

Exterior
Behrman Techno Carbon Hood
Behrman D1 Spec Pro Front Bumper with Techno Carbon Canards
Behrman D1 Spec Pro Side Skirts with Techno Carbon Canards
Behrman D1 Spec Pro Rear Bumper with Techno Carbon Diffuser
Behrman FBG Doors
Sard Carbon Fiber Rear Wing change by Thomas to APR GT500
Seibon Carbon Fiber trunk hatch new by Thomas

Wheels
Gram Lights 57SPro Polished with Titanium Lip 17×9 1 set
Gram Ligths 57SPro Polished with Titanium Lip 18×10 3set (one set new by Thomas)

Power: 420WHP (on dynopack) @ 1.5 KG ,new 500bhp 600nm @ 1,7bar dynoed at Maxxtuning

::Dan

The exciting Drift Allstars series has announced it’s calendar for 2012. Drifted will be on hand to provide full season coverage. Check out the line up below!

Drift Allstars Round 1-Birmingham Speedway England May 18-19th
Drift Allstars kicks off the season at Birmingham Speedway. Past season’s have seen many exciting events at the venue and with this years a turning the event into a two day night time show will be the perfect show to kick off the season.
With the finals under light and the local Driftworks team ready to pounce who can take this one?

Drift Allstars Round 2-London O2 Arena ,UK June 23-24th
After 4 years at Wembley a change was needed. We could only go bigger! This was the year to change to a new, better and more iconic venue showcasing the best drivers at the most famous stop of the calendar. Within sight of Canary Wharf there is no better venue to increase the awareness of Drift Allstars’ London events.

Drift Allstars Round 3- Punchestown, Ireland, July 28-29th
Drift Allstars has always had a strong European following, but with such a high percentage of Irish drivers it seemed fitting to launch our first stop of the 2012 international tour in the Emerald Isle. With competitive events not taking place at the venue since 2006, could this be the biggest drift event ever to hit Ireland?

Drift Allstars Round 4-Constantsa Stadium,Romania August 17-19th
Following on from the success of the 2011 exhibition event in Bucharest, Constanta seaside resort on the Black Sea, home to the rich and famous of Eastern Europe will play host to Round 4. With a custom venue being built inside the national stadium this is sure to be one of the biggest events of the year.

Drift Allstars Round 5-Maripocs ,Hungary August 25-26th
Hungary, one of the super powers of European drifting will play host to Round 5 of the tour. With one of the longest standing series in Europe and a revised Maripocs circuit for this event, this is set to be one of the biggest drift festivals in Europe this summer. Collaborating with the Eastern European Drift Championship and the Balkan Drift series.

Drift Allstars Round 6 (The Finals) Valleta,Malta September 21-23rd
Drift Allstars returns to Malta once again in 2012. After the successful first international stop in the 2011 series Malta this year will host the series finals. A huge national event in Malta, the 2012 finals will debut an exciting new venue in this unique Mediterranean island where drifting is growing even bigger every year. This will offer a unique setup in the sunny Island of Malta where drivers, crew and visitors alike enjoy the beauty of the fabulous island.

Nations Cup-Drift Grand Prix Romania October 5-7th-Nations Cup
After the huge success of the 2011 Exhibition event at the Bucharest GP Circuit 2012 Bucharest will play host to the season ending nation’s cup where the very best drivers from Western Europe will be facing off against the best drivers from Eastern Europe. The 2011 event went down in the record books as the most spectated event ever in Europe with 12 different nations competing and this year it is set to be even bigger.

Niall Gunn, Managing Director of Drift Allstars Europe, commented “After our launch into Europe in 2011 it’s a natural progression to branch out even further. We found there was a huge demand to bring the show to Europe and having established a foundation in 5 countries across Europe and further exhibition events planned in Holland, UK, and Greece 2012 it is set to be another big year for international drifting”.

For further information visit http://www.drift-allstars.com/

Before the D1GP 2012 season gets into full gear in a few months, fans could catch a preview of the kind of action they can expect to see this year at the annual kickoff event during the Tokyo Autosalon. Held on a tight makeshift course in the convention center parking lot, it was a great chance to see the top drivers showcase their skills and go head-to-head in some friendly tsuiso battles. The crowds of people that made it out to Saturday’s exhibition were greeted with mild weather and a healthy dose of fresh tire smoke.

Prior to the exhibition’s main event, Team Orange was on-hand, providing some entertainment to warm up the crowds.

They brought out three S-chassis demo cars to for a unique and exciting performance.

Members of the event staff and organizers were also quite busy keeping all the entertainment on schedule.

Team Orange’s demo really got the crowds into it, featuring precision driving, electronic music, and….

…NINJAS?!

It was actually quite entertaining, as all three Team Orange demo cars “battled” a clan of ninjas. If you follow the action up at Ebisu circuit, you may have seen these guys practicing and perfecting the show on Ebisu’s driftland live webcam in the weeks leading up to the Autosalon.

Even Kumakubo was dressed for the performance. The samurai sword is a nice touch.

The crowd was really into the story, and excitement levels were high as the actors jumped over and “fought” the cars as they sped between them.

Here, Kumakubo and Suenaga prepare to join the action. Careful timing was needed for the show, so they used microphones to communicate during the performance.

Although the area was pretty compact, there was still plenty of sideways speed on display.

Since the Autosalon was a three day event, if you missed part of the show you could be sure to catch it from another angle the following day.

Hmm… What could be hiding under here?

After the energy level was upped by Team Orange, it was almost time for the main event. First the drivers each had a quick run around the course. Tezuka hammers out of the staging area in his new Bee-R R34.

Always a crowd-favorite, Daigo Saito didn’t fail to impress, making the most of the course’s cramped quarters and getting plenty of angle right off the bat in his JZX90 Cresta.

Of course, the main draw for a lot of fans was to catch the debut of Hibino’s FT86.

The bright blue and green Falken livery seems barely recognizable beneath the yellow swirl and numerous sponsor logos, but overall the look is pretty good.

The response from the fans was positive after a few quick laps around the course.

The drivers all lined up for quick introductions and a bit about the upcoming season.

Then it was time to warm up the tires and get into action.

Saturday’s bracket was set up like this; from left to right: Kawabata (RPS13), Suenaga (FD3S RX-7), Saito (JZX90 Cresta), Takahashi (GRX130 Mark X), Tezuka (BNR34 GT-R), Nomura (ER34 Skyline), Kumakubo (C33 Laurel), and Hibino (AE86 Trueno).

Other D1GP drivers made an appearance in the exhibition as well, including Masayoshi Tokita in his GRS184 Zero Crown.

Hibino stuck with his trusty AE86 for the exhibition. Here it is getting a few final adjustments before the battles began.

While the new machine sat in wait on the sidelines.

Kawabata didn’t have much space to show off those infamous high-speed rear entries, but got plenty of slide in on his warm up.

Tezuka getting into the groove.

Nomuken’s ER34 lookin’ good.

^^ Page one in the handbook of ‘How to Roll’.

Kumakubo pushing the Laurel around the course.

I couldn’t stop shooting Tezuka’s new Bee-R R34. Just looks so clean!

Takahashi’s Mark X muscles around the final corner.

Hibino putting in work.

They also brought out the beast for a quick show n’ slide. The lines on the LFA Roadster are just amazing.

Given the choice (as if…), I’d take the current LFA over the new roadster version, but there’s nothing to complain about. Except perhaps the somewhat cheap-looking chrome wheels.

Yet another nice angle.

The tsuiso battles get into full swing in Part II. Stay tuned!

::Park Baker

On top of the bad weather Day 1 dealt the drivers a series of mechanical issues across the field. This didn’t seem to matter too much though because the competition was strong throughout the day with several battles being too close to call.

The reverse layout of the Taupo track hosted one of the longest judged sections in the season, so tire changes were more frequent.

Even in the wet the drivers seemed to be enjoying the elevation changes and cambered hills of the track. Driver Mad Mike Whiddett powers through the rear section of the track above.

Top qualifiers included Daynom Templeman, Andrew Redward, Gaz Whiter, Mad Mike Whiddett, Bruce Tannock and Fanga Dan. The rain made an unfortunate return half way through qualifying sending many drivers spinning.

The top 32 battles saw some very close driving with a few hair raising moments. Hugo Maclean in the Grabatool AE86 got a bit too close to Sky Zhao’s D-Spec S15 resulting in a broken radiator for Hugo.

Onto the top 16 we went, seeing even more rain and battles that were decided by only 1 or 2 points. Jock Bennett beats Cole Armstrong in the V R34. Consistent driving from Daynom Templeman in the NAC RX7 put him through to the Top 8 after beating Carlos Walters. Another OMT round saw Gaz Whiter go through after winning against Mark Burling in his S15 Silvia.

Reaching the top 8 battles was Mac Kwok in the Milwaukee S13 coming up against Jock Bennett in his AE85 Levin. Regardless of who won, this would be the best result for either driver so far and they were both showing great talent. Bennett moved through after the pair collided due to Kwok’s car suffering gear issues.

Gaz Whiter ascends to the top 4 after beating familiar and friendly rival Fanga Dan Woolhouse. Round 2 winner Curt Whittaker falls victim to Daynom Templeman.

The other top 8 battle was Mad Mike Whiddett versus Jason Sellers in Redline Performance Laurel. This was perhaps one of the best battles of the day with a ridiculously close chase run from Mad Mike. Some skilled driving from Jason Sellers put him through to the top 4.

By now everyone had well and truly had enough of the rain and I had a newfound appreciation for the weather sealing on my DSLR. The weather was no problem for Daynom Templeman though, winning out over Jason Sellers.

Gaz Whiter battles Jock Bennett going OMT until the win is given to Gaz in his Tectaloy S14. Bennett was then competing for 3rd/4th place with Jason Sellers who spun giving Bennett the win.

After a long day the final battle began with Gaz Whiter and Daynom Templeman both getting great speed and angle through the clipping points. The chase run was even closer and Templeman was right on Whiter’s door.

After the judges deliberation the round win went to Daynom Templeman in his NAC Mazda RX7. 2nd place was Gaz Whiter and in 3rd place was Jock Bennett.

Templeman drove like a machine all day and didn’t seem to mind the wet weather. His team grabs their first D1NZ round win and the $5000 prize. After an unpredictable round here’s what the current season table looks like:

Cole Armstrong 235
Mike Whiddett 234
Gaz Whiter 229
Curt Whittaker 226
Daniel Woolhouse 218
Darren Benjamin 210
Daynom Templeman 199.5
Andrew Redward 183
Mark Burling 166
Sky Zhao 165.5
Steve Sole 152
Brad Lauder 151.5
Mac Kwok 149
Bruce Tannock 141
Jason Sellers 127.5
Nico Reid 121
Dimitri Amos 109.5
Jock Bennett 107
Matt Jackson 104.5
Dave Steedman 104.5
Robee Nelson 104.5
Chris Trundle 94.5
Carlos Walters 79.5
Randal Luipihi 79
Drew Donovan 48.5
Will Cook 48.5
Shane Rutland 24.5
Gary Tenana 24.5
Brandon Rogerson 12

Stay tuned for another behind the scenes look coming up soon!

Words: David Atkinson
Photos: David Atkinson & David Sanson

This time last year the camera bag was dusted off when I visited an old friend to actually snap some shots of the awsome four wheel drive vehicle you see above, I think we’ll let this one slide as the eagle eyed viewers among you will surely have noted that Cruise Power S15 Silvia neatly parked to the right.

We captured two completely unique S15′s for you in 2011 owned by brothers, this was the first of the Kane family double, and we were lucky enough to find this redundant sawmill to capture this amazing example, even some time after it’s import to Ireland from Brian Moore of MadCap Imports .

Winter had gone, drift season was among us and my own newly acquired motor was fresh out of the paint shop, my RPS13 which has since moved on to a new home, how I do miss the constant pothole dodging, bumper scraping and general clunking of a two-way in the morning, yeah right ! Wow I’m seriously getting old.

Just before the drift season kicked off, we had a chance to catch up with Keith Weldon in this really slick 180sx. Keith applied all of the 79 billion layers* of fresh paint by himself, good work Keith! (*approximate)

Prodrift Series Rd 1 came around and Christy Carpenter set the standard early on home soil in Ennis Co.Clare in his newly Yokohama sponsored 1JZ powered S15 Nissan Silvia.

It was great to see some sun greeting us for the opening event of the year, we’ll take what we can get here on the Emerald Isle, it’s even all the better with some old faces to enjoy it with.

Fan favourite Georgie Tracey was back to show the Prodrift girls exactly how its done, less is more is what we always say

We also got our first glimpse of James Deane driving the Low Brain Drifters S13 Nissan Silvia.

We just about managed to find some time before Prodrift Rd 2 in Fermoy to catch some shots of Rick Weldon’s sleek RX7, Rick is the more obsessive brother of Keith Weldon who’s 180sx is pictured above.

We roll on to the site of Fermoy Co.Cork  for the second round of Prodrift’s 2011 championship only to be greeted by this super clean AE86 Trueno.

Michael Swan had ditched he glossy painted bodykit and flash rims and was back sporting an OEM looking S13 which he was obviously more comfortable in as we saw him show signs of the form which had recently catapulted the Co.Kildare based driver to the Pro Class division.

As odd as it may sound, as a photographer you can actually feel like your missing alot of the drifting at these events, your constantly beaming down the lens waiting for the car to come into your frame, well in my case then I immediately try ditch the out the blurry shots (of which are a lot) to avoid a massive build up at the end of the day. Usually when I peak my head back up the battle is finished, on this occasion I took up a position further outfield than my colleagues to view a couple of battles, but I couldn’t  help picking up the camera for a shot of Chris Brady battling Christy Carpenter behind a blur of other photographers on this occasion.

The rounds are now coming at us thick and fast, it took us until Round 3 of Prodrift to see a virtually unknown Aloe Farrell enter at some awesome angles, certainly an individual we’ll be keeping a close eye on in 2012.

Team WKD boss Wesley Keating was confident his car was reliable, with this confidence Wesley performed consistently to go on and win the Non Seeded Pro Championship in 2011, a huge result for the team who have now picked up the same accolade with separate drivers for two years running, can Team WKD make it three in a row for 2012 ?

If the Punchestown venue in Co.Kildare has thought us anything, it has thought us that clipping cones will be committed to 110% !!!

Having missed Prodrift’s Round 4 in Mondello Park in Mid-July, we had an opportunity to shoot the second of our unique S15′s owned by Mark and Paul Kane. This Kazama built special an ex-Import of WKD Imports.

When I heard a Adrian Walsh was building an AE86 Booted Levin for the track , I knew I was in for a treat, having previously done a photoshoot on a charged red Corolla for Adrian in previous times, the same one that flourished the banner of this site for several months. Adrian certainly did not disappoint, in fact this shoot gave me one of my favourite shots of 2011.

It was our final round of the Irish Prodrift Series, September 11th, Mondello Park held premise to one of the most memorable drifting competition or days ever held in Ireland with International stars all turning out to compete against the best of home grown talent.

Duane McKeever was keen to show Formula D driver Dai Yoshihara the Ireland’s youngster have the talent to compete anywhere in the world.

Freddy Aasbo thrilled the crowd all day with some mega angle and surreal smoke trails.

We managed to see Mike Fitz gain what can only be valuable seat time in his newly built FC3S, we hope to see alot more of Mike in 2012 !

Alan Sinnott unveiled his new look Hachiroku just in time to bring home the coveted Pro Championship trophy.

Shane O’Sullivan completed his first season under Team Japspeed, we will be hoping to see a presence for  Team Japspeed on Irish soil for 2012 for sure.

Phil Morrison of Driftworks doing what he does best, why making smoke of course

With 2011 in the bag, a new season of exciting competition and cars await us for 2o12. Thank you all for your support and following through 2011, we hope to bring you even bigger and better for the year ahead.

::Damien

Big Daddy Kane once said: “Pimpin’ ain’t easy.” He wasn’t lying. After what was easily the most hard-fought season in it’s career as a professional drift car, Pat Cyr’s Toyota Corolla AE86 finally arrived home battered and bruised, but definitely not broken. Running in two top-tier professional drifting series in two different countries is no joke, and Pat walked away from it all with a pretty big smile on his face. I don’t think many people realize it, but until now there wasn’t a single Canadian driver who ran both the Formula Drift and Drift Mania series’ pretty much in their entirety, as well as any Pro-am events he could get to inbetween. I’m sure he won’t be the last person to do it but I think there’s something to be said for being a trailblazer, especially when it’s on a shoestring budget. With the biggest drifting season ever finally over for Drift Posse it was time to hunker down and make more attempts at gaining some sponsors to help ease the pain for next year, and this was my effort thus far. I hope you enjoy watching it as much as we enjoyed putting it all together! Keep your eyes peeled for my final installment in the 2011 series which is going to cover everything I’ve missed thus far…which is a lot. So watch out!

::Dan Cyr

Picking up where I left off in Part I; 2011 offered up so many great opportunities that I couldn’t squeeze them all into one post so here’s is Part II of my 2011 in pictures.

After the chilled out festival of awesome that was Awesomefest 2011 it was time to make the longest drive of the British Drift Championship calendar (for me anyway) and visit Scotland, more specifically Knockhill Racing Circuit in Fife.

Set against the backdrop of hills and forests Knockhill is amazingly picturesque.

There’s nothing quite like a collection of the finest screaming full throttle drift cars to upset the tranquility.

Knockhill saw some superb driving on a very challenging track. Steve Moore has really got the hang of backwards initiations and I think will be a credible threat in 2012.

Quite a few of the media guys found Knockhill a bit of a slog to shoot. It may have been the long journey there and the impending return journey in the back of our minds. It could have been the exposure to the Scottish weather and lack of sustenance at the bottom of the circuit away from the hospitality and burger vans.

But I think it was actually down the the collection of fascinating gun-to-the-temple-inducing facts that the Knockhill commentator had up his sleeve. Did you know that Knockhill is actually three degrees north of Moscow? Knockhill took us all to some pretty dark places and back mentally!

But we were treated to some amazing drifting against a fantastic backdrop, so a bit of torture in the intervals was acceptable.

A nail-biting final between the two top championship contenders saw a surprise upset with Mark Luney in the SATS Cosworth Supra spinning out against Falken’s Matt Carter in both final runs, handing Carter a solid lead in the Super Pro class.

Sunday September 4th brought about an important date in the UK drift calendar, that being the flagship Super Pro-only round of the BDC at the home of British motorsport, Silverstone.

The event played host to the ‘Invasion’ of drift superstars Fredric Aasbø and Darren McNamara from the Speedhunters/Need For Speed stables.

I have to add that Fredric is one of the genuinely nicest and most down to earth guys at his level in pro drifting. I got a personal Facebook message from him after the event thanking me for the shots I’d taken and wishing me all the best. I think several up and coming drivers could take a leaf from his book in how to keep grounded and levelled!

Despite the heavens opening and creating a very tricky qualifying session it dried out in time for the main event and the BDC’s best put up a good fight against the invaders.

Team Need For Speed came head to head in the Semi Finals, I have honestly never seen the Speedhunters photographers enter ‘work mode’ so efficiently and quickly before. Two NFS-backed cars going head to head? Money-shot time!

Although these guys are team mates, neither wanted to concede the victory, it was a great battle to witness.

The BDC regulars put on a great show for the Silverstone crowd and kept the grandstands packed until the end of the day.

The weather played ball, Aasbø took the win and everyone left feeling pretty good I’d say! A definite highlight of the year for me.

Just two weeks later and mid-September found me at my first Drift Allstars event of the season. Allstars regular Ian Gratton does a great job of covering the series but I couldn’t resist returning for the flagship Wembley event on the streets of London.

We were graced with the presence of yet another Formula Drift star in the form of Daijiro Yoshihara, who would be driving the Driftworks 2JZ S15 for the event, however it was, as is often the case, the Irish who dominated the event with their super-aggressive driving style.

Fresh off the back of being crowned 2011 Prodrift champion Alan Sinnott brought his gorgeous AE86 to London to lay down some lines. This is such a photogenic hachiroku!

As with many Allstars events the round attracted lots of drivers from several countries across Europe, such as the Nitrous-powered S13 of Bulgaria’s Todor Dunev above.

I spotted Spain’s Lluis Lopez as a contender early on in the day. We had last seen Lluis at Lousada, Portugal in 2010 and his driving has come on leaps and bounds since then.

It was pretty cool getting to shoot drifting with the city of London as your backdrop. It makes for an interesting contrast.

As the light faded over the event and ‘golden hour’ came and went us media bods dawned upon the fast approaching reality.

We would be shooting the Top 16 in near pitch-black darkness, the spotlights above the carpark-turned-racetrack providing nothing more than ambience, suitable for drivers returning to their cars late at night and struggling to find their keys, but not enough illumination to help our cameras play ball.

And then we got rained on. Dark moment of 2011 number two. Above Speedhunter Paddy McGrath and Low Brain TV’s Dan Buck Joyce smile through the pain, meanwhile Speedhunter Ross Ianson isn’t so good at hiding his feelings.

As predicted, the conditions were very tricky. Ramping the ISO up on the 5DMkII helped with things but by the time the Finals came many of us had adopted the ‘spray and prey’ technique.

Still, it’s all a learning curve and the day I can master shooting motorsport in the dark will be a happy day.

The penultimate event of the year for me was the British Drift Championship Final at the Nissan Manufacturing Plant in Washington, Sunderland.

The culmination of a hard year’s competition for drivers across all three classes.

On board shooting is something I’ve wanted to try for a long time after seeing the inspirational work of Driftfotos’ Larry Chen and his use of remote cameras.

I don’t have the bottle to strap £2k+ worth of camera gear to a drift car just yet so we used a chase car driven by Stephen Brooks (off of Facebook). Thanks Brooksie!

I was moderately pleased with the results and it’s something I would definitely like to experiment with further in 2012.

I find shooting at events in large open spaces quite tricky at times. There is no real definition to the track in terms of apexes and where the track ends and the run-off begins.

I find shooting nice a low helps overcome this, you just have to be mindful of what your shooting against at your backdrop.

Or you can pull the shutter speed right down and smear the background into oblivion. The above shot of Steve Moore was shot at 1/5 and did a good enough job of disguising an ugly backdrop.

As the sun set on the 2011 championship tensions were still pretty high.

Final positions were still up for grabs with not a huge amount seperating some drivers.

We were once again treated to some amazing battles.

And a fitting end to a fantastic season.

I got the opportunity to shoot the Falken 2JZ V35 for Banzai magazine here in the UK.

A photoshoot which spilled over into the annual KDRace event in Lousada, Portugal. This was my first feature shoot for a car magazine and considering the impromptu nature of the shoots I was pleased they liked the shots.

Speaking of Lousada it was again a fitting end to an amazing year.

This sleepy little Portuguese town never fails to deliver the goods. I still feel like it’s a well-kept secret in the drift world.

The levels of insanity peaked higher than ever before.

Carnage ensued, and hasty repairs are made.

So drivers waste as little time as possible and get back out on track. Season’s end looming tends to mean that everyone pushes super hard.

Which can be hazardous for trackside media folks.

The crowd at Lousada never disappoints either, not just in numbers but in enthusiasm too. They love to see drifting arrive at their humble circuit!

Lluis Lopez delivered a stunning drive all weekend and won both competitions. Congrats Lluis!

With 2011 a fading memory I’m looking forward to seeing what 2012 has in store for Drifted.

One thing’s for sure is that we’ll continue to strive to bring you the widest coverage of drifting culture available online. Here’s to the future and all it holds!

::Jordan

I hope you enjoy this littler Old Skooler as much as we do.

::Damien

Short film of the Norwegian Pro driver Kenneth Groth and his 415bhp SR20DET S13.

Spec list

Engine
SR20DET – 2-litre Nissan 16v turbo
Mahle forged pistons
Eagle forged conrods with ARP studs
All rotating parts weight adjusted and balanced
ARP head studs
ARP mains studs
Tomei metal head gasket
Greddy valve springs
Greddy rockerarm stoppers
Greddy big oil sump with baffles
PeakBoost manifold
Garrett GT3076R ballbearing turbo
Tial 38mm wastegate
Custom oil system with remote filter

Engine managment / dash
Autronic SM4 ECU
PCS D200 Dashlogger

Horsepower / torque
415bhp / 585nm

Cooling
Koyo Radiator with 14” and 12” fans
Oversized waterpump pulley
Custom cooling system to prevent air in water
Greddy oil cooler

Powertrain
Gearbox – BMW M3 ZF, 5-speed
Clutch – Xtreme DSBHD pressuredisc – Sachs sinterdisc for BMW M5
Custom prop shaft
Kaaz 2-way differential

Suspension / steering
Tanabe Sustec Pro-DD coilovers
Energy suspension polyurethane bushings
Aluminium bushings in rear main frame and steering
Custom hubs / Powered by Max
Tein upgraded tie rods and rod ends
Custom widened front control arms

Styling / wheels
GPS bodykit
Rota Torque 17×9” rims

Interior / safety
Full roll-cage, FIA approved
Driftworks Suzuka seats, FIA approved
Driftworks 4-point harness, FIA approved
Fire extinguisher, foam, FIA approved
Battery cut off switch, FIA approved

::Dan

I was lucky enough to snag a ride down with my buddy to Oregon to attend a drifting event at PARC (Pats Acres Racing Complex) a few weeks back.

On the way down we spotted this sweet Datsun on the highway with its brilliant orange showing through the dull rainy weather that was around us. I gave the guy a thumbs up and snapped away for a while before he was out of site.

The track itself is similar to PGP (Pacific grand prix motorsports park) in washington, which I have shot plenty. The tight technical curves that are home to go karts and supermoto provide a very fun track to go around, and while being slightly smaller than PGP, has a few more elevation changes, banked turns, and slight downhill sections.

The atmosphere of the track itself is very relaxed and has a great home feel to it.

From what I could tell every event seems to have a great turnout of both drivers and fans.

While there were the usual bunch of 240′s and Corolla’s, there were plenty of cars that I paid more attention to, like the above that lacks a front, which I think looks sick.

I threw on my wide angle for a bit and grabbed the above panning shot, the track itself is one of the more better looking tracks that I’ve shot at, and even with the rain and bland weather, the color of the landscape still shows through.

The organisers opened up the other half of the track, which was closed whilst the weather cleared up a bit.

After all the leaves were swept off the area, drivers had a bunch more track to play on.

The track is located within the woods, next to a river, and at one turn, and major miscalculation on speed and angle could send you through the hay barriers and into the water.

I haven’t heard of anyone ever doing that before, so I had no problem standing right on the edge of the ravine to get some great photos.

This beat up old Corolla was one of my favorite cars there, driver really showing some skill behind the wheel and not afraid to get dirty as he cuts in a bit close and dropped his tires in the mud. Those hail bails are the same from the above 2 shots, which has the river behind them so its no wonder some drivers take the inside a bit sometimes.

Halfway through the event some more drivers started to show up the above driver being one I’ve seen in Washington once or twice at my local track.

As thee day progressed driver’s confidence levels upped.

Getting really sideways on the curve of doom as I started calling it.

Another driver I’ve seen in Washington a few times before. This driver was in WA the day before at one of our events at Evergreen Speedway, that I also attended. It was a dual drift weekend for sure.

I had a blast, got soaked, and had a fun time shooting all day, what an amazing backdrop for a track! It’s the northwest, rain is just something that you gotta deal with.

You can see a full gallery from the event by visiting my website:

www.GwagDesigns.com/parc103011

::David