Any drift event at Norfolk arena is usually a good one, so when I realized that my local (ish) drifting venue was hosting the BDC on a day I could actually attend I was pretty pleased.
Those who have been to Norfolk before will be well aware of its unique ‘family like’ atmosphere. Everyone seems to know everyone. Everywhere you look, you recognize someone chipping in; taking tickets, helping with the track, marshaling or doing a sterling job of making sure all the cars shoot of the line in style! I am of course, talking about the Norfolk Drift Team (find them on Facebook!). They help out with all the BDC events across the country and also the practice days too. They really are the glue (cable ties?) that hold a lot of drifty related stuff together so I’d like to think it’s pretty rewarding to see the British Drift Championship wagon roll up to Norfolk and have everyone leave with smiles on their faces.
This year was no different. I was able to attend the Saturday/main event. It was disappointing to miss out on the qualifying as there are a lot of cars and drivers that don’t make it through to the top 16 and it’s a shame to miss out on them, in particular, there’s a photo of an Opel Manta BDC car circulating at the moment! I want to see that skid!
Qualifying on Tuesday led to some surprises. Some of the certainties that we always see breeze into the top16 didn’t and some that never usually quite make it..did!
Qualifying results from the Friday(taken Directly from the BDC homepage):
SEMI PRO
| Position | Driver | Driver | Run 1 | Run 2 | Run 3 | Highest | ||
| No | ||||||||
| 1 | 65 | Gareth Taylor | 75 | 67 | 70 | 75 | ||
| 2 | 52 | Brian Egan | 70 | 0 | 73 | 73 | ||
| 3 | 67 | Owen Taylor | 65 | 0 | 70 | 70 | ||
| 4 | 40 | Stuart Egdell | 69 | 0 | 0 | 69 | ||
| 5 | 26 | Brad Wallbank | 46 | 68 | 0 | 68 | ||
| 6 | 43 | Noel Phipps | 36 | 0 | 66 | 66 | ||
| 7 | 80 | Max Marshall | 65 | 60 | 63 | 65 | ||
| 8 | 33 | Lewis Cracknell | 61 | 0 | 65 | 65 | ||
| 9 | 12 | Matt Samuel | 0 | 56 | 65 | 65 | ||
| 10 | 9 | Ian Rutherford | 64 | 0 | 62 | 64 | ||
| 11 | 18 | Matty Stevenson | 64 | 0 | 61 | 64 | ||
| 12 | 73 | Jay Green | 53 | 64 | 54 | 64 | ||
| 13 | 11 | Jake Spiggott | 0 | 0 | 64 | 64 | ||
| 14 | 61 | Adam Simmons | 61 | 0 | 63 | 63 | ||
| 15 | 71 | Laura Hinks | 62 | 59 | 50 | 62 | ||
| 16 | 41 | Ricky Emery | 49 | 53 | 62 | 62 | ||
PRO
| Position | Driver | Driver | Run 1 | Run 2 | Run 3 | Highest | ||
| No | ||||||||
| 1 | 31 | Matt Campling | 70 | 82 | 74 | 82 | ||
| 2 | 52 | Brian Egan | 78 | 81 | 0 | 81 | ||
| 3 | 79 | Jamie Kenyon | 77 | 80 | 78 | 80 | ||
| 4 | 45 | Hugo Fernades | 67 | 74 | 78 | 78 | ||
| 5 | 14 | Jamie Kay | 72 | 0 | 77 | 77 | ||
| 6 | 38 | James Fuller | 68 | 76 | 72 | 76 | ||
| 7 | 48 | Paul Murphy | 71 | 76 | 70 | 76 | ||
| 8 | 65 | Gareth Taylor | 73 | 74 | 75 | 75 | ||
| 9 | 68 | John Glaister | 64 | 69 | 75 | 75 | ||
| 10 | 26 | Ross Gregory | 0 | 74 | 73 | 74 | ||
| 11 | 30 | Anthony Mortley | 70 | 74 | 71 | 74 | ||
| 12 | 69 | Belinda Challis | 71 | 69 | 74 | 74 | ||
| 13 | 73 | Christan Lewis | 70 | 69 | 74 | 74 | ||
| 14 | 39 | Andrew Kenna | 57 | 72 | 73 | 73 | ||
| 15 | 35 | Justin Clarke | 68 | 70 | 0 | 70 | ||
| 16 | 34 | Alex Law | 0 | 66 | 70 | 70 | ||
Super Pro
| Position |
Driver |
Driver | Run 1 | Run 2 | Run 3 | Highest | ||
| No | ||||||||
| 1 | 14 | Shane O’Sullivan | 88 | 91 | 88 | 91 | ||
| 2 | 2 | Mark Luney | 81 | 81 | 88 | 88 | ||
| 3 | 3 | Wayne Keeber | 85 | 0 | 86 | 86 | ||
| 4 | 99 | Marc Huxley | 86 | 75 | 80 | 86 | ||
| 5 | 4 | Shane Lynch | 0 | 0 | 86 | 86 | ||
| 6 | 6 | Stephen Biagioni | 80 | 80 | 85 | 85 | ||
| 7 | 11 | Alan Green | 83 | 0 | 79 | 83 | ||
| 8 | 22 | Wesley Keating | 82 | 0 | 82 | 82 | ||
| 9 | 7 | Steve Moore | 77 | 79 | 82 | 82 | ||
| 10 | 8 | Paul Smith | 81 | 73 | 0 | 81 | ||
| 11 | 18 | Jody Fletcher | 80 | 75 | 80 | 80 | ||
| 12 | 51 | Micheal Marshall | 78 | 80 | 0 | 80 | ||
| 13 | 33 | Barry Leonard | 80 | 0 | 74 | 80 | ||
| 14 | 9 | David Waterworth | 76 | 78 | 78 | 78 | ||
| 15 | 5 | Simon Perry | 0 | 76 | 78 | 78 | ||
| 16 | 13 | Danny O’Brien | 0 | 78 | 73 | 78 | ||
One person who I was really pleased to see make it to the top 16 was Laura Hinks, aka ‘Lozza’ in her Ill Repute wrapped s14. It’s been fun watching her build her s14 via Facebook and seeing how anxious she’s been getting about her first BDC event (sadly, Loz couldn’t make round 1!). Thankfully, it all went pretty well from what I could see, and although she was knocked out in the top 16 battles against Brian Egan, Loz looked every part a pro drifter, pulling some great angle and smokes! Good luck with the rest of the Season!
Now, I can’t just mention the name ‘Brian Egan’ without elaborating a tiny bit. The man and the car are awesome. Brian drives a Ae86…with an s2000 engine in it! Named the angry Hornet, Brian’s team, Dealt Width seem to be a force to be reckoned with. Throughout the whole day, no one even came close to producing the levels of door to door entertainment Brian and his Corolla did. In fact, at one point, he gave his opponent a friendly tap in the door as they rounded the final corner of the course. Absolutely fantastic driving that I can’t wait to see more of next time at Teesside!
Saturday had certainly started with a bang. Norfolk BDC starts slightly later on a Saturday which meant even I got a lie in before the 2 hour drive up there! The drifting started right on que and for the next few hours it was real edge of seat stuff. Norfolk arena never seems a large place but the layout of the track certainly used every spare inch available. It was great to see drivers really pushing to get the clips. A lot of drivers soon fell foul to the ‘two wheels of track’, where if two or more wheels strayed of track you got an automatic ‘0’.
Soon it was time for the final battles in Semi-pro. Unsurprisingly, Brian Egan was there, lining up against Gaz Taylor. An OMT (one more time) was called and the outcome was left for us all to ponder over…
The Pro class saw some awesome driving and talent. I have to say, it’s a real credit to the guys who sort out the licenses for these events. The jump in skill was obvious. On many occasion it was down to consistency on which car made it through to the next round. A local to us, Ross Gregory (in his s14.3) was up against Paul Murphy in his super bright Pink s14.5. This was Murphy’s Debut to the BDC and despite Ross’s speed and incredibly close clips it was Paul that had the edge and went to the next round.
I have huge respect for people who drive their cars to events – go hard – then drive home again. The same goes for a drift day too. Alex Law arrived in his BDC prepped road car, went balls out and drove home again. Despite being knocked out against Matt Campling from Team Dori Hero both he and the car looked fantastic. He is a driver to watch this season.
The Pro final consisted off Matt Campling and Paul Murphy. Campling ran wide causing Murphy to take avoiding action as he passed him. With a victory almost certain, it was great to see Murphy giving it some serious pedal as he crossed the line.
As dusk approached the Super pro class go underway. Shane Lynch, usually the driver of the Japspeed s15 had been forced to drive the Japspeed Subaru due to issues on Friday with his car. It was as if the jz’d Scooby had been his all along as he thundered straight into the ‘Great 8’ (although it should be pointed out his opponent, Mike Marshal in the MnM s15 was forced to retire mid battle).
The rest of the driving in the super pro class was near on flawless. I would hate to have been the one judging it. It was interesting to watch the Viper Powered s15 do battle against Wayne Keeber from SATs. The engine may be awesome, but something tells me it may be a bit too heavy for the s body chassis as the car bounced around the track and eventually span…twice. With any luck, its driver, David Waterworth with have the handling issues sorted for the next round. It certainly sounded the part!
The Super Pro final had Paul ‘Smokey’ Smith and Steve Moore door on door as they did battle. Both cars seemed identical in the lines they took. This caused a OMT from the judges so once again the guys went all out. AGAIN the judges couldn’t decide, and nor could the crowd. With some saying it was clear cut both ways and others just totally unsure. A OMT was called, and it was pretty clear that this was it. It was sudden death! Any small error would be picked up and the driver marked down. Both guys drove their hearts out and given that they had been sat in hot smoky skid cars neither seemed to want to let up. A decision was made.
Here are the results and points, taken from the BDC site.
Semi Pro Class results
| Position | Driver No | Driver | Points | ||
|
1 |
52 |
Brian Egan |
30 |
||
|
2 |
65 |
Gareth Taylor |
27 |
||
|
3 |
73 |
Jay Green |
21 |
||
|
4 |
67 |
Owen Taylor |
19 |
||
|
5 |
40 |
Stuart Egdell |
16 |
||
|
6 |
80 |
Max Marshall |
14 |
||
|
7 |
12 |
Matt Samuel |
12 |
||
|
8 |
18 |
Matty Stevenson |
10 |
||
|
9 |
33 |
Lewis Cracknell |
8 |
||
|
10 |
26 |
Brad Wallbank |
8 |
||
|
11 |
43 |
Noel Phipps |
8 |
||
|
12 |
9 |
Ian Rutherford |
8 |
||
|
13 |
11 |
Jake Spiggot |
8 |
||
|
14 |
61 |
Adam Simmons |
8 |
||
|
15 |
71 |
Laura Hinks |
8 |
||
|
16 |
41 |
Ricky Emery |
8 |
||
| PRO Class | |||||
| Position | Driver No | Driver | Points | ||
|
1 |
48 |
Paul Murphy |
28 |
||
|
2 |
31 |
Matt Campling |
27 |
||
|
3 |
79 |
Jamie Kenyon |
22 |
||
|
4 |
73 |
Christian Lewis |
18 |
||
|
5 |
14 |
Jamie Kay |
16 |
||
|
6 |
38 |
James Fuller |
14 |
||
|
7 |
65 |
Gareth Taylor |
12 |
||
|
8 |
35 |
Justin Clarke |
10 |
||
|
9 |
52 |
Brian Egan |
10 |
||
|
10 |
45 |
Hugo Fernades |
8 |
||
|
11 |
68 |
John Glaister |
8 |
||
|
12 |
26 |
Ross Gregory |
8 |
||
|
13 |
30 |
Anthony Mortley |
8 |
||
|
14 |
69 |
Belinda Challis |
8 |
||
|
15 |
39 |
Andrew Kenna |
8 |
||
|
16 |
34 |
Alex Law |
8 |
||
| Super Pro | |||||
| Position | Driver No | Driver | Points | ||
|
1 |
7 |
Steve Moore |
28 |
||
|
2 |
8 |
Paul Smith |
24 |
||
|
3 |
33 |
Barry Leonard |
21 |
||
|
4 |
6 |
Stephen Biagioni |
18 |
||
|
5 |
2 |
Mark Luney |
18 |
||
|
6 |
3 |
Wayne Keeber |
15 |
||
|
7 |
4 |
Shane Lynch |
12 |
||
|
8 |
13 |
Danny ‘O Brien |
10 |
||
|
9 |
14 |
Shane ‘O Sullivan |
11 |
||
|
10 |
99 |
Marc Huxley |
8 |
||
|
11 |
11 |
Alan Green |
8 |
||
|
12 |
22 |
Wesley Keating |
8 |
||
|
13 |
18 |
Jody Fletcher |
8 |
||
|
14 |
51 |
Michael Marshall |
8 |
||
|
15 |
9 |
David Waterworth |
8 |
||
|
16 |
5 |
Simon Perry |
8 |
||
See you at Teesside!
Huge thanks to our two photographers at the event, Matt Cross and Chris Wiltowski. They produced some great pictures, check out their pages for more on the Norfolk Arena BDC!