The British Drift Championship Round 4

Drifting. I find it hard to see how some petrolheads dislike this sport, it is after all very highly tuned vehicles destroying tyres in the name of entertainment, and what’s not to like about that? I wouldn’t call my self an avid follower of the scene; the last time I went to a drift event was JDM allstars in 2009. However leaving round 4 of the BDC I found myself thinking much the same thing as I did back in 2009, I really should follow this sport more.

A M3 GTR lookalike with a Toyota Supra 2JZGTE against a Silvia S15 equipped with a Nissan V8 and twin turbos – you’re unlikely to find cars like this elsewhere…

I arrived to Lydden Hill on Sunday, missing qualifying and practise on Saturday, which is probably a shame as I missed more of the many varied machines that take part in this event. One of the best parts is the sheer openness, to compete you will need a car that complies with regulations and race gear, then to be deemed good enough to compete at the BDC licence day at the start of the season. There are three classes of competition, Semi-Professional, Professional and Super Professional. Your performance at a licensing day will put you in either of the lower two classes while a prior track record either in the BDC or other competitions could see you in the bigger budget Super-Pro class. Each event has the qualifying and practise day where the larger group in each class is knocked down to 16 by the judges, who will go on to compete against each other, one verses one on race day. It’s all rather easy to understand, and the system makes for lots of highly competitive drivers.

Open rules means lots of drivers and variation in the cars, this Cosworth YB powered Startlet for example

Not only is it easy to understand it’s also great for spectating. To see a rally or race live is to see one section of track and watch the cars go tanking it past, there’s plenty of appeal in that, but the beauty of drifting is that you see all the action. That said Lydden Hill looks like a great track for any event, you would be able to spectate on the entire goings on the track from one place due to it’s lay out in a valley.

Soon after arrival the valley turned into a big tyre smoke trap. First up was the Semi-Pro’s, with the V8 powered Nissan S bodies of Owen Taylor and Lewis Cracknell grabbing my attention. Nothing like a V8 to wake you up, it certainly did a lot more for me than the red bull on the way over. There was also the likes of the V8 powered E30 mixing it up with the JDM turbos. Despite being the lowest class the standards were still high, cars had clearly had much money and love lavished on them (before being ragged on the limiter around the circuit) and the competition was full on. It was Jay White in his Nissan S14a that took victory in the class, with Cracknell as his V8 RS13 coming second, after several close battles, which I caught on video (see below).

On to the professional class and things suddenly got quicker, Gert Hoekhan’s V8 FD RX-7 immediately caught my eye (what can I say, who doesn’t love a V8?) but thanks to getting rather untidy on the second run (it’s in the video but rather obscured by the smokescreen) against Sam Holt’s S14 we weren’t to see much of that car. James fuller showed talent in his S14, and would eventually come third, while the retro loveliness of Ben Morley’s Mk2 Escort looked good in the paddock and even better sideways round Lydden Hill. Jay White, who is competing in both semi-professional and professional class, was about to find out all about Ken Corsius, a man with an M3 from Belgium. Round 4 is his first appearance in the BDC, but he didn’t let that phase him, showing some of the biggest style seen all day. You can see all his runs in this video, as well as some in my less well-shot video below. Jay white kept the pressure on and the crowd saw some great action as a result.

Corsius proved a formidable force, but Jay White didn’t yield an inch.

With Corsius becoming an instant favourite it was inevitable that he would then go up against my other favourite, the Mk2 Escort driven by Ben Morley.  Morley did a decent job sticking with the M3 on the first run, while he really showed what the YB Turbo powered Escort could do, pulling a good gap on the second. It was the Belgian who the judges saw as the winner however, leaving Corsius to go through to the top 4. Corsius against Fuller offered a fantastic battle, but again the judges deemed Corsius the winner, leaving him to fight Paul Cheshire in his Falken sponsored G35. The spec on the Nissan is pretty mad, with both the front and rear bodywork having been cut away and replaced by fibreglass clamshells, giving the 700bhp Toyota 2JZ GTE less weight to deal with. Corsius’ first run against the G35 was a joy to behold, with a nice scrape of the temporary wall and lots of smoke. The highly-strung 6 cylinder BMW M3 engine provided an interesting comparison to the whooshey and torquey sounding 6-cylinder Toyota unit beneath the G35’s bonnet. The second run would see Corsius attempt to follow the G35 with its mass of power, a task which he undertook with the same class he had all day, a fact which eventually gave the Belgian the win with Cheshire coming a close second.

The Bright Yellow M3 of Kevin Corsius laid low in comparison to the immaculate Falken G35 – check out the exhaust!

That concluded the professional class, and one had to wonder how much better could it get, then again, the golden SATS Supra held much promise, with it’s headline 1000bhp. Things started off with two Nissan S-body cars running each other real close, the S15 of Shane O’sullivan and the S14a of Barry Leonard. More S-body action came with Ashley Stevens’ RS13 taking on Shane Lynch’s S15, the S15 stood out from the crowd with it’s twin turbo V8, but that didn’t stop Stevens from offering up another close battle. Anyone who thinks BMW’s new M5 soundtrack is okay should listen to the V8 S15 in the video below, if you’re going to have a huge power turbo V8, it’s got to sound good.

Twin turbo Nissan V8’s are all very well but one of the most bizarre and interesting battles of the day was between Patrick Ritzman and David Waterworth. Ritzmann is a German, who like Corsius turned up for the first time in the BDC with his BMW. His E46 looks like a M3 GTR but it started life as a 328i owned by a policeman, the fibreglass panels were fitted to it along with a Toyota 2JZ engine, and all this was done in just three months. David Waterworth took an even more bizarre path, his S15 doesn’t run any of the usual suspects, it’s sporting a Dodge Viper V10. Most people would think it impossible, indeed it looks like it barely fits, but it works, and the battles between it and the E46 were a joy to behold. Then there was even more 2JZ action from Mark Luney’s A80 Supra, a car which is generally considered too heavy for drifting. Luney’s overcome this with 1000bhp, which should make it pretty nippy as well as able to destroy a set of tyres in seconds. Luney and his Supra have performed well this season, but it wasn’t to be at Lydden Hill with the Supra going out to Paul Smiths Japspeed S15.

This was probably the furthest the Startlet got from the bumper of the S15 on the Super-Pro parade lap

Steve ‘Stiggy’ Even’s gave the crowd a few laughs by doing some pro tailgating of Michael Marshall’s S15 during the parade lap. When it came to the battles, a near spin at T1 gave the advantage to Marshall, and while Even’s redeemed himself somewhat by introducing the Startlet to the wall it wasn’t enough to see him go through. More retro action came from Marc Huxley and his Toyota Corolla, which came up against 2011 champion Matt Carter and his Falken S14.5, again Lydden would see the older cars loose out. The S15 and S14.5 that had put ‘team retro’ out would take each other on in the top 4, with reigning champ Carter in the S14.5 loosing out to Marshall in his S15. This year Paul Smith sits atop the table, and it was he who would see Marshall out, leaving only the characterful V8 S15 of Shane Lynch to stop him from scoring more points. Both Japspeed cars, the battle was tense, but Lynch who hasn’t been having the best of seasons seemed to have it in the bag, until loosing it on the final run, leaving Smith the clear victor. While there wasn’t a V8 win, we did at least get see a huge V8 burnout, and it’s a fitting end to the video below, and the conclusion to a great days competition.

MMMMmm V8...

If you haven’t been to a drift event I recommend you at least try it out, entry is cheap, £15 at Lydden, the atmosphere is good, and the cars and competition are amazing. It’s still a sport in its infancy in this country, but long may it’s rise continue!