Lets end on a smokey note. I’ll keep the chat to a minimum, so you can just enjoy the photos!
By the way, I will be setting up a booth this coming weekend for Drift Matsuri, selling framed photo prints along with some stickers for you to rep!
Martin Wonnacott and his Chaser Tourer V set it off as one of the first out the gate in qualifying.
This photo was obviously not taken during qualifying, as Steve Biagioni is following Stefan Stefanov’s smoke trail. I was just eager to post this edit up early on, would make a good billboard eh?
Michael Bennett with a swift entry in his supercharged E36.
Didn’t get his name but this marshall was a cool guy. Danny Whyman’s S13 rear bumper safely kaptured and ready to collect before battles commence.
Almost right-angling with the lock!
Can’t tell if dropping a wheel, or just squatting as a result of the billion foot-pounds of torque on tap.
Another good-looking JZX100, this one driven by Karl Farrar.
Kouki…
or zenki???
This car looked pretty bare in comparison to its current full-livery state.
Ryan Hughes’ S14 gets top marks for aesthetic in my book.
When Tom Van Beek passes by, its commitment through and through.
Mad by name, mad by nature.
Meet and Greet time
D-MAX does it best
Would be cool to see a fully fledged A-Bo-Moon livery on Danny’s Nissan Silvia.
S15 dashboard because style is God
Not much wrong in this shot. That speaker could do with pissing off though.
Battles got underway once everybody had cleared the track.
Brad of Garage500 unfortunately got only one chase run in, as he was left tyreless minutes after this photo
The rear gonna disappear.
Team Japspeed driver Matt Denham being a top sport and giving Baggsy a hand after going off track due to a bit of contact between their cars.
The fight for the remaining spot on the podium
The final bouts of the day involved this pair giving it their absolute all for that numero uno title for Round 4.
I’ve no idea what the points were because I can’t remember, nor was I paying attention. However, I was aware enough to know that the 180SX wheeled by Matt Denham took the victory for the day.
And there you have it. Another competition drift event through my eyes and lens. It was a long day, pretty warm for the most part, too. I’m glad to have attended, seeing new cars make an appearance and “old” ones still laying down rubber.
Like I said at the start of this article, I’m going to be posted up at Anglesey for this weekend’s Drift Matsuri. Find me in one of the pit garages and I’ll hook you up with a high-res print, framed by yours truly!
Enter the second instalment of this three-part series covering the entire day of UKDC’s Round 4 at Teeside Autodrome.
Once I’d gotten an up-close look at most of – if not all – the cars in the inspection/staging zones, it was about time I’d go investigate all the smoke and squeal coming from the other end of Teeside Autodrome.
I chose not to jump from spot to spot whilst shooting the on-track action. I took my time and just fired away the shutter, not worrying about chasing that shot. Maybe I’m starting to understand how important it is to refrain from spraying off shots for the sake of it. IG doesn’t pay me. Facebook doesn’t put food on my table. So why should it matter whether or not I get every single shot of every single car from every possible vantage point? All I’m saying is, I’m starting to realise that I need to shoot for me, and make sure the photo transmutes from a still image to a sense of the experience from either my point of view, or the subject’s. That’s what makes “good” photography.
With competition drifting, the drivers are out to get the judges vote. I assume there is some objectivity with the scoring system, such as entry speed, angle, drifting line, proximity to lead car, etc etc. But, at what point is it the car that’s getting the points, and not the driver?
I’m fully aware that the human behind the wheel and on the pedals is what makes the car do what it does. But, when a car has so much torque to allow the factor of slide momentum (is that a term? Probably not, but you catch my drift) to not play as much of a role in the dance, its difficult not to think that may be the car is doing most of the work.
Then again, without higher torque/power, its not as easy to hold a long drift at higher speeds without clutch-kickin’, which can be an annoyance for some and also unnecessary wear on the drivetrain.
It’s a tricky debate and I think both “teams” have their rationale. Drifting isn’t just the brainless, self-indulging activity most normies might see it as. A honed technique is a requirement to be able to control the chaotic characteristics of a machine. And I think more so with low-powered cars, making those the ones I find most enjoyable to watch. I can’t help but root for the underdog, man.
Back in the pits, some driver’s caught themselves and their motors a break after practice.
Some were doing more maintenance than they’d have probably liked. That spare diff same in handy for this fella under his car.
The fans’ favourite rolling past his pit-spot. Maybe giving the S13 a cool-off.
Plenty of Nissans as always. I didn’t see that red S14 out on the field, hence the many photos seen above.
This blue one is probably, most definitely my fave S14 of the day.
Something with gold accents situated right at the back of the pit/camping area caught my eye.
I’d seen Aims Hill’s R34 online somewhere, and I’ve gotta say it looks just as sick IRL.
Whenever I see a car with a vented bonnet wearing racing stripes, I immediately think ‘Dodge Viper’. The slight misalignment of the lines when viewed from an angle makes for an aggressive demeanour.
The URAS D1 Spec 2 kit is hands-down the best way to make an R34 not-GTR look the dog’s bollocks.
Unfortunately, no tyres were slayed that day by Aims and her Skyline. Maybe next time…
ER34s do look bare without a wing on their bootlid though.
I’m sure after his technical glitch, Arek will get his own back on fate soon enough.
Matsuri is BACK for 2021! There’s space for another inspection sticker there, so I’m betting on this Soarer showing up next weekend.
I’m guessing the acoustic guitar is a bit of calm in contrast to the four-wheeled amusement.
Good to see a new challenger in a Roadster at a drift event.
Whilst some have been deserted.
Surprises come in all shapes and sizes. This lil Mazda probably gave Tom a not-so-happy surprise given that it was up in the air with its downpipe off in the pit.
From what I can recall, one of his injectors weren’t firing, which means spicy times for that combustion chamber. Luckily, the issue was rectified and the only thing being destroyed were the car’s tyres and a lot of egos.
Volkscraft – they fix VAG, but whip BMW.
Harry Archer and his turbo NA6C pre-qualifying.
Need to watch Talladega Nights now.
Okay, that’s enough of looking at cars parked up. You wanna see snaps of the drivers send it, yeah? . . .
Honestly, I don’t follow the sport of drifting at all. So when the head of media gave me shout via Messenger a couple months ago, asking if I’d be available to add myself to staff ensemble for UKDC (United Kingdom Drift Championship) as Covid-bullshit rules began to relax, I decided to check-in and see how the grassroots-level competition has progressed.
Elgrand or Tranny-van?
I’d not smelt burning rubber since Drift Matsuri in 2019, two years since time of writing which made me think: what have I missed? My curiosity kicked in, and seen as though I had nothing planned, I went over to Teeside Autodrome on the 5th of September for Round 4 of UKDC.
First off, I was a bit lost trying to find reason for DriftCup being no more. I don’t understand why the up-and-coming national grassroots, entry-level drifting series vanished into the proverbial cloud of smoke. But here we are, an all-“new” championship that stands independant of BDC and no longer acts as a ‘feeder series’ to the national pro-level championship.
The roster for both categories, Pro and Pro2, are huge! But then again, there is a bit of overlap between BDC and UKDC, allowing the big dogs to put their prospective rivals to the test.
Drifting as a sport is cool and all, but as somebody who’s not particularly keen on the competition itself, I was there to seek out the original essence of drifting, if it does still exist here in the England…
Don’t get me wrong, I can understand how something as visceral as ripping the tread off your rear tyres can enable competitors to be driven to exhaust every ounce of concentration all for the sake of proving their worth. It appears that drifting, is as much of a mind game as it is a physically-intense form of motorsport. But, even if drifting did start out as a “pissing contest” on the touge of Japan, all I care about to be honest is the raw passion that certain drivers have for the art of slide. And that can be seen in the charismatic driving style and precise car control some have the talent for.
Anyway, I’ll stop rambling from here on out.
Back to the event coverage at hand; I attended the media briefing that morning before making my way over to the pre-stage area or whatever it’s called. That bit of the track where drivers line their cars up prior to entering the “burnout-box” to get some temperature into their tyres.
First entrant that stood out to me from the jump was this PS13 piloted by Danny Whyman from Team Low Origin.
His front camber setting is probably the only negative point that I’d be able to make about this build…
The new paint looked spot on. I can appreciate those who refrain from tattering their car with a bunch of sponsor decals.
DMAX Drift Spec aero parts if I’m not mistaken, giving this Silvia plenty of fashion points.
Not a clue what these wheels are, but they kinda resemble the RE-Amemiya AW-7 multipiece. I reckon these chromies were just something to wrap tyres around for practice purposes.
I’m not a typical photographer, so asking people I don’t know to “thumbs-up” and all that was a bit awkward.
Some of these elite motorsport athletes (sarkasm) are used to cameras being stuck in their face/windscreens, which made it easier and less awkward at times.
Always pleasant to see an RX-8 getting in the mix. This one looked particularly aggressive with a “Mazdaspeed” frontend accompanied by a pair of widened front wings.
The SE3P chassis from this angle is golden. The way the factory front arches were sculpted by Mazda’s design technicians are like nothing else seen on cars of the same early 2000s era. Then to go and plonk widearches over them just turns the sick-o-meter dial to 11.
A familiar livery came into my line of sight…
The first time I saw Haydn Cruickshank’s Toyota Cresta was at this exact track back in 2019’s BDC event.
A car with years of use and abuse, yet – from the exterior atleast – this Toyota looks fresh as a daisy for a compeition drift tool.
Simply dressed in battle-ready garments, Marcus Clare’s R32 Skyline looked like it meant business.
Sat on a concave set of 7Twenty Style46 wheels, the rough purple bodywork has obviously been stressed to the nth degree, regardless of how nice the paintjob once was.
False headlights were pretty convincing from a few metres away.
Ryan Hughes’ S14 is a purpose-built, no-BS machine without a doubt. Origin Lab Stream bumper up front, going into front wings and sideskirt made by the same company, but the rear-end baffles me a bit. Custom bumper/diffuser perhaps?
Instantly recognisable and klassic Kouki S14 boot spoiler.
Work CR managing the steering inputs up front…
…whilst some bronze 5-spoke wheels out back handles the grunt sent from the 500+ horsepower SR20. Can’t forget that trusty twin-caliper setup on each hub made up of OEM parts too.
Pure M-car power was out to represent the Euro klique, Mark Smith being one of the standout competitors whipping his S54-powered E46.
You can always count on Team Japspeed to show up and do their thing.
I’d seen their 180SX doing the rounds at other drift events, but it was their S15 that interested me most.
Rob Black has done a fine job putting this 1JZ white knight together.
The people’s favourite – Tom Van Beek.
The Destroy or Die driver puts 900% effort in on every run, but at the same time, he makes it look like drifting an MX-5 is a walk in the park. Anybody whose tried maintaining angle of an NA/NB/NC/ND chassis will know very well how tricky it is.
Two Mazdas that are often the butt of the joke, about to set the record straight.
JJ Stevens and his R34 Skyline are a guaranteed crowd-pleaser, I mean, how can you not be impressed?
Sikky isn’t a name I’m familiar with, but then again, I’m not really involved with the drift scene as both my cars are FF. Appears to be one of those quick-change differentials for those who aim to optimise that final drive ratio for any given course.
Tomei, Samsonas, Garrett. These are but a few of the time-proven brands that feature throughout this build, giving you an idea of how serious this Skyline is.
Another S14 that looks like it has seen some duty.
Crisp Tuning and their Rocket Bunny S14.5 made one hell of an RB-sounding racket.
Straight-sixes in Silvias make so much sense.
This Soarer/SC (there’s no way of knowing with it being this far from a stock exterior) stays true to the tri-colour livery it sported at DriftCup a couple years back.
Stefan Stefanov’s RPS13 has no need for the hatch with the rear-mount radiator setup aiding the cooling system at low vehicle speeds.
You’ll have noticed I spent quite a bit of time shooting cars whilst they readied-up prior to practice runs. Don’t worry, there’s visuals of the cars drifitng coming up next, so hold tight.
I’ll end this part of the UKDC coverage with an image of Van Beek launching his 5 out the gate…
S O U L 志向 F O K U S 
