Time has flown by this season – it seems like only the other week we were gearing up for Round 1 of this year’s British Drift Championship! Yet here we are, having just returned from the fifth and final round of the series. The finale took place at Knockhill circuit in Dunfermline, Scotland – a formidable circuit for those lacking in commitment and bravery. Team Japspeed drivers Shane O’Sullivan, Paul Smith and Brett Castle made the trip up North to the Scottish venue with the Japspeed RB25 S15, 1.5JZ S15 and 2JZ Lexus in tow hoping for another fantastic BDC event.
Practice kicked off on the Saturday with all of the Super Pro drivers concentrating on nailing their entry into the hugely challenging first corner that features a blind downhill apex.
Brett was eager to find his limits early on which unfortunately resulted in a high speed excursion into the gravel trap (with a few spins thrown in for good measure!).
For Sully and Paul practice went a lot smoother, with Shane in particular looking formidable thanks to his huge speed and angle through the first corner and down into the subsequent clipping points.
Qualifying took place on Sunday morning and wasn’t to be without drama. Thanks to help from Die-Max and Team SATs the Japspeed Lexus was back in fighting form and ready for the qualification runs after some issues with a rose joint, although Brett’s lack of practice looked to be a potential hindrance.
All three Japspeed drivers pushed extremely hard and, once the dust had settled, it was Shane that found himself claiming the top qualifier spot having taken 97 out of a possible 100 points from the judges.
Unfortunately for Brett and Paul both drivers scored 86 points along with Team Lassa’s Jody Fletcher. Due to Jody’s next highest scoring run having raked in more points than Brett and Paul’s it was Jody that secured the final place within the coveted Top 16, with the two Japspeed drivers narrowly missing out in 17th and 18th place, respectively.
On the back of his outstanding qualifying performance Sully was hoping for an equally dominant display of talent in the battles.
His first battle saw him drawn against the aforementioned Jody Fletcher.
Shane walked away with his lead run, drifting at a pace that could not be matched by his opposition. In his chase run, Sully was all over the back of Jody’s S15, securing him the victory and a passage through to the Top 8.
Sully’s next battle saw him facing Super Pro champion-elect Mike Marshall and his 2JZ powered E36 BMW. In his lead run Shane secured the advantage and went into the chase run full of confidence.
Unfortunately Sully got a bit carried away and took a line into the first corner that, for want of a better word, could be described as quite absurd!
It was no surprise to see him ending up off track as a result but he kept his foot pinned to the floor and came out the other side with a rear bumper being the only casualty!
Unfortunately his off track excursion cost Shane the battle and any chance of progressing beyond the Top 8.
Neverthless, the team’s performance at Knockhill was a neat summation of the year that we have had: lots of ups, our fair share of downs but throughout every event we have kept our heads up high and soldiered on with the job at hand.
We’ve got some big changes planned for the cars this winter so stay tuned for updates – we can’t for 2014!
Click here to see our team photo gallery from the event.
