So I finally found some time to write up my own form of events from the last round of the BDC which was held at the awesome Teesside Autodrome venue. With so many blogs getting in on the scene these days and the understandably high quantity of “official” reports from BDC events I doubt anyone who is clamouring for results and inside knowledge is going to come to ej9.co.uk for that information, so instead I’m just going to talk about how I had a lot of fun sitting in the sun watching my friends drifting.
TJ from Ireland had a good weekend in his S13, looking a lot more settled than he did at Pembrey.
Huxley was on form as always in his crazy BMW powered Volvo, eventually taking 2nd place in the Super-Pro class.
Jack Tonkin’s S13 is still one of my favourite cars in the series purely from a looks perspective – subtle, restrained yet still rocking an essence of street style. Oh, and Equips all round. Smashing.
Nathan Chivers’ meaty Sil80.
Brian Egan was on form last time I saw him at Teesside and this time round was no exception. Another driver who has not only built an exceptionally competitive car (with this little Hachiroku sporting F20C power under the bonnet) but one that also looks absolutely spot on. It’s not all about primary colours, bright wheels and big wings you know.
Tony Walker’s cool PS13.
Polo seemed to get it together after two disastrous rounds this year to storm through and take 2nd in the Pro class.
It makes me very happy to see and hear Lloyd Bagladi’s R32 back in one piece after his smash at round 1.
Gert Hoekman: exceptional driver, awesome car and, perhaps most importantly, the correct attitude. He was somewhat controversially knocked out in the Top 4 Pro battles at Pembrey by Alex Law who went on to take the win, but was he going to spend the following round sulking, whining and ignoring Alex and the rest of the Car Loan 4U guys like so many other drivers would have done? No – Jack Daniels was shared, drift trikes were ridden and loud words were shouted while listening to 1999 dance music on a tiny speaker. It was fun. His runs in the team triple event with James Fuller were nothing short of astounding either, with the pair managing to swap positions twice in just one lap, all while retaining sideways momentum.
Dan Firmager, another guy who the term “blad” could be applied to. Little Volvo, little 13″ wheels, big 1UZ V8, big ideas on track. Dan was the well deserved winner of the weekend’s hard charger award.
Alex’s weekend didn’t start too well: after first thinking that he was flipping me the finger (when instead it was another poor unsuspecting photographer)…
He then destroyed third gear in his gearbox. One hasty gearbox swap later and he was back in action.
Joe’s recent addition of 740cc injectors and Owen Developments turbo (helping him to raise his power to a much-needed 320bhp) certainly seemed to be paying off, with all three of his qualifying runs looking to have been taken with ease.
He was however knocked out in the Top 32 stages in what was to be one of many controversial judging decisions made over the weekend.
Alex again, this time pictured leading the way in his Super-Pro battle against Formula-D star Darren “D-Mac” Macnamara…
…a battle I’m willing to bet he only won because of the sticker we stuck on the back of his S14a the night before while he was asleep.
Gaz Taylor was another dude who claimed a very popular and well earned result, bringing home 4th in the Pro class for himself and the Rampstyle boys.
Mike Marshall made it two podiums in two successive events, this time taking 3rd place in the Super-Pro class in his 2JZ powered E36 touring.
Paul Smith seemed to have gotten over his Top 32 defeat at Pembrey and was putting down some sweet runs all weekend, although once again he was to find himself being knocked out in the first battle stage, this time against his former team mate Baggsy.
Shane Lynch placed exceptionally well in qualifying but would also see himself knocked out by former team mate Baggsy, although this time it was in the top 16.
Barry Leonard; a man who likes a lot of lock (just like plenty of his fellow Irishmen).
Fair play to him for holding this angle with his foot to the floor though.
Mark Lappage really came into his own at Teesside after two somewhat dissapointing events at Lydden Hill and Pembrey, taking home the win in the Super-Pro class and qualifying first in the team triple drift event with his team mates Baggsy and Martyn Lowe.
Steve Moore’s driving was spot on as usual.
After rolling his S13 at Lydden and borrowing Liam Doran’s PS13 for Pembrey, Baggsy was back in his own car for round 3. Sporting a pretty mental SR20 setup courtesy of Abbey Motorsport I think it would be fair to say he did a lot better than people were expecting. Having blown third gear on two RB25 ‘boxes prior to the battles he went up against both Paul Smith and Shane Lynch with only second gear to his name…and still managed to get on both of their doors, along with team mate Mark Lappage’s when the pair drew each other in the top 8 stage. Fair play.
Wes Keating doing big angles and big smokes as usual.
Phil Morrison was knocked out by Mark Lappage in the battle stages of the Super-Pro class but went on to win the team event with Rich Grindrod and Chris Smiffy.
Bon Bon had a bit of a mixed weekend, although my personal highlight of the weekend regarding his driving was being overtaken by him at high speed on the M1 on Friday morning as he rushed to make it to the driver’s briefing in time…!
The team triple drift event on Sunday was great fun to watch – so much fun in fact, that I decided it best to put my camera down and just enjoy the event with my friends. There are now so many photographers and sites involved in the series (the vast majority of them much more skilled and talented than I am) that the internet is flooded with pictures nigh on identical to the ones below, so why make the event less enjoyable for myself by trying to compete with them?
Josh is probably the only guy that keeps me sane when I’m stood in the middle of the track for hours on end getting sunburnt. Check out the awesome video he made for Japspeed from the event here.
Sorry for the somewhat brief report – as you’ve probably gathered by now event coverage for my own personal enjoyment doesn’t really excite me any more (that’s what happens when it becomes your job for other people I suppose!). But, so long as I enjoy watching top class drifting in the sun with some of the best friends you could ask for then you’ll still find me at the rest of this year’s BDC events. Just try not to talk to me about anything too serious!