King of the Castle

Silverstone is regarded as a “home” track for many drifters based in the UK and would be the setting for round 3 of the 2008 Japaneseusedcars.com European Drift Championship. 

The track layout was as used last year. The cars would accelerate from under the bridge of the national straight, make a high speed initiation into Brooklands corner and then change direction and hold a long drift around Luffield. 

The big news since the beginning of the season has been the arrival of Team Orange from Japan. Team Orange is regarded as the best for team drifting in the world and they are both famous for their aggressive attacking style in Tsuisou tournaments. Team Leader Nobushige Kumakubo took the Japanese championship in 2006 and only narrowly missed out in 2007. All local drivers were keen to test their skills against this global benchmark.

As practice began, it was clear that Team Orange wasn’t here to mess about. They set the standard in terms of entry speed and clean “snappy” initiations. The local guys were putting up a good fight however and the gap that existed a couple years ago was certainly smaller this time around. Phil Morrison managed to complete his main competition car for this round and surprised everyone as the car seemed to work very well straight out of the box. The Driftworks S15 Silvia showed signs of being a very threatening car for the rest of the season and beyond. 

Into qualifying and once again the Japanese driver showed dominance by putting up the first ever 100 point qualifying run in EDC history. Nobushige Kumakubo put in a flawless performance showing everyone why he was crowned Japanese champion of 2006. Kazuhiro Tanaka placed 2^nd with a score of 94. The local drivers were not far behind however with particular attention going to Alan McCord in the Hi Octane Imports 180sx and Phil Morrison in the Driftworks S15 Silvia. They both gained 92 points in qualifying and proved that the local drivers could cause a possible upset. 

The finals threw up some interesting battles. Due to the seeding system the top 4 qualifiers would be going against each other in the first round, but more on that a little later. 

The first battle would be between Ben Broke Smith and Steve Evans. Steve Evans seemed to suffer a mechanical fault which caused his car to become very unstable on transition. Both runs were judged in favour of Ben Broke Smith giving him the win and on his way towards maintaining top spot in the championship. 

Kazuhiro Tanaka would face Alan McCord in the next Battle. McCord made a critical error on the first run chasing down Tanaka giving the Orange Impreza a big advantage. The second leg saw Tanaka chasing and closed the distance on McCord but was unable to adjust to the slower corner speed of McCord and made contact. McCord was able to continue the run but Tanaka had to straighten and recompose himself giving a 10-0 advantage and the win to McCord. 

Brett Castle was able to get revenge from the previous round at Knockhill by taking down Declan Hicks. It was a close battle but Brett Castle managed to carry more speed giving him a slight advantage in the Abbey Motorsport/Autoglym 200sx. 

The battle between Tim Marshall and Pete Barber was one which could be enjoyed by both eyes and ears. The distinct sound of a V8 motor and naturally aspirated 3Rotor engine roared though the track whilst neither driver backed off and no clear winner could be found after 2 runs. A sudden death decision was made and Marshall went for the kill. He initiate much earlier than anybody else had attempted but paid the consequence when we found himself completely off line and forced to straighten. The gamble failed for Marshall but worked in Barber favour as he moved on to the top 8. 

Mark Luney faced fellow Northern Irish competitor Paul Conlan in the next battle where Luney allowed his experience to do the talking and took the advantage in the first run. Conlan tried to keep up with the pace of the SVA Imports Z33 350Z but couldn’t maintain a clean drift at the faster speeds. Conlan fought back with a 5-5 run in the second leg but unable to stop Luney from advancing in to the top 8. 

Phil Morrison in the Driftworks S15 Silvia would face Nobushige Kumakubo in the  Team Orange Impreza. Morrison had to correct his steering on the first corner givin g an intermediate advantage of 7-3 to Kumakubo. Morrison fought back on the second corner by showing great speed and getting right on the tail of Kumakubo pulling the decision back to 6-4 in favour of Kumakubo. As the scores were about to go on the sheet, Assistant to the judges, Mark Buckle pointed out the Morrison had touched the Grass around the final corner. It had been agreed by all drivers before the event that touching the grass would constitute a penalty and so the decision was moved once again to 7-3. The second run saw Morrison with more speed that Kumakubo in the transition and second corner giving him the advantage 6-4 falling just shy of the 7-3 he needed to force the competition into sudden death. Although out at this stage, all present were able to see that the new Driftworks machine has the potential to win and that the 2006 GB and Japanese champions were a very good match for each other. 

Daniel Eyles and Steve Carter both suffered temporary talent bypasses as they managed to find the gravel a total of 3 times in their runs. Eventually it was Eyles that found form again and managed to scrape through to the next round. 

Maciej Polody, a previous winner at Silverstone managed to hold off Paul Smith in the final battle. Paul smith straightened his car and slowed down. Polody made his move on the outside but smith accelerated once again and started drifting around Luffield. Polody had no choice but stop the car to avoid colliding with Smith.

Ben Broke Smith faced Alan McCord in the first of the top 8 battles and in both runs Bon Bon managed to take the advantage. McCord was looking very strong and confident after defeating Kazuhiro Tanaka but it wouldn’t be enough to beat the current leader of the championship. 

Brett Castle and Pete Barber would be next to square off and the 07 champ showed his true colours with a strong performance in both runs. Barber still has issues in achieving big drift angles which was the major divide between the two drivers.

Mark Luney would be the next man to Challenge Nobushige Kumakubo. The SVA Imports 350Z looked strong and had the power advantage but Kumakubo managed to stay with the Z and “lock on” to its rear bumper giving a small advantage. Luney tried to return the favour and was unable to get as close resulting in an “evens” decision knocking out the Belfast man by a narrow margin. Once again although victorious, Kumakubo was feeling the pressure of the rising standards of the European drivers.

Danny Eyles and Maciej Polody have a habit of going into sudden death when they face each other and this time was no different. Some small mistakes for both drivers forced meant this one would be fought over 4 runs. Runs 3 and 4 both saw Eyles making mistake whilst Polody kept his cool allowing Polody through to the semi finals.

Ben Broke Smith and Brett Castle is always an exciting battle to watch and this time it was very exciting for a slightly different reason. Castle was chasing hard and stayed close to Broke Smith, but a spin by Bon Bon around Luffield looked like a huge crash was imminent. Castle managed to avoid a collision to the surprise of many and managed to keep his car intact for the final.

Maciej Polody got his turn to show what the Polish drifters can do against Kumakubo. The first run saw Polody fall back slightly whilst chasing giving Kumakubo the advantage and the second run was no better for Polody as further mistakes gave Kumakubo a bigger advantage and the win.

The final pairing couldn’t have been more appropriate if it had been scripted. Having beaten off the 2006 GB champ, the best of Northern Ireland and Poland, Kumakubo would face the 2007 EDC champ, Brett Castle in the Final. The first run saw Castle carry more speed through the transition and final corner giving him a 6-4 advatage after the first run. In the second run, Castle stuck behind Kumakubo through the entire run. Not particularly threatening but certainly present to capitalise on any mistakes Kumakubo may make a 5-5 decision was awarded giving a rather surprised Castle the win.

A truly fantastic show by all drivers involved and a testament to the level that the European drifters have reached over the last 2 years. Kumakubo and Team Orange will be back for the next round to get their revenge at Santa Pod. Also a new man will step up from a different corner of the globe in the form of New Zealand champion Adam Richards. Who will prevail? The only way to find out is to be there, Santa Pod Raceway, July 12^th 2007 with the added bonus of a twin drift competition on the 13^th where once again Team Orange will be making an appearance doing what they do best.

Current standings are below..

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