What a start to the season! After a hectic few weeks rebuilding the cars, getting them mapped and then putting in some last minute testing we found ourselves hitting the road and heading to Lydden Hill circuit for Round 1 of the 2014 Maxxis British Drift Championship.

Lydden Hill is a fantastic circuit for drifting and is enjoyed almost universally by drivers. With it being both a test of commitment and accuracy, car setup and driver confidence are crucial.

Team Japspeed drivers Shane Lynch, Paul Smith, Shane O’Sullivan and Danny Eyles were all looking forward to tackling the track, with Saturday morning practice providing the guys with the opportunity to get to grips with the circuit and their cars.

Conditions were slippy to begin with but the guys quickly adapted. This would be the first outing for the freshly rebuilt Japspeed V8 S15 and Shane quickly got down to business with familiarising himself with the car again. The freshly forged and mapped VH45 engine was working flawlessly and provided Shane with all the power he required.

Due to a hectic off season Paul Smith was only putting the finishing touches to his Japspeed S15 on the Friday morning of the event. With the paint still drying on his brand new Knight Racer arch kit (a hybrid mix of GT86 front arches and S13 rears) Paul hit the track, instantly proving how he won the event here at Lydden Hill this time last year.

With only minor engine changes having been made to the Japspeed RB25 S15 during the off season Sully quickly set about proving why he is never a driver to underestimate – his fast and aggressive driving style making short work of the clipping points laid out by the judges.

Making his welcome return to competitive drifting after a few years away was Danny Eyles in the Japspeed Subaru. Having had a successful day’s testing at Anglesey the other week Danny was full of confidence and set about putting into practice the information gained during the test session.

With practice over it was time to give the cars a quick once over before qualifying began. With the Super Pro class being filled with some of the biggest names in European drifting it was always going to be a closely fought affair, with each driver trying everything they could to squeeze into the Top 16 and, with it, securing a passage through to the Top 16 battles.

Throughout qualifying Shane Lynch looked to have what it took to secure the top spot but unfortunately a few small errors here and there put paid to his efforts. However, Shane pulled it out the bag when it counted and secured 5th place in the qualifying ranks.

Sully was also charging hard and, despite making a mistake on his third run, secured 7th place thanks to both of his first two runs being perfectly executed.

Unfortunately for Danny his lack of competitive experience with the Subaru started to show and, after a handful of slightly scrappy runs, he wound up in 17th, narrowly missing the top 16.

The same could be said for Paul Smith who, having not driven his S15 for a number of months, struggled to put in a consistent run and found himself down in 20th place as a result.

However, in a stroke of luck for Danny the Lucas Oils Supra of Mark Luney developed an engine fault on Saturday and retired as a result, promoting Danny into 16th place and gifting him a spot in the battles against his former Japspeed team mate Stephen Biagioni.

In the hotel restaurant that evening the pair exchanged plenty of friendly banter and both were looking forward to battling hard the following day!

Come Sunday morning and a fresh influx of rain had washed away the rubber laid down during the previous day’s drifting, leaving the track slippy and greasy. Thankfully, due to the Super Pro battles not being held until later in the day, the Semi Pro and Pro classes had dried the track sufficiently to allow for the subsequent battles to take place at full pace.

The first of our Top 16 battles saw Shane Lynch drawn against fellow drifting veteran Dan Chapman. Shane led the first run in commanding fashion until an uncharacteristic spin on the final hairpin after drifting onto an area of the circuit that was still greasy put paid to his chances.

In his chase run Shane pushed hard but Dan kept his cool resulting in a disappointingly early exit from the competition for Shane.

Our next Top 16 battle saw Sully drawn against our good friend and Maxxis team mate Christian Lewis in his R33 Skyline. With Shane leading the first run Christian was unable to match his fast and aggressive entry, resulting in a spin and gifting Shane the advantage. With the roles reversed Christian ran wide on the first corner allowing Shane to slot in behind. Shane kept it steady and secured a place in the Top 8 as a result.

All eyes were on the battle between Danny Eyles and Baggsy and everyone was eager to see who would emerge victorious. With Danny chasing in the first run a series of small of unforced errors left him at a disadvantage heading into the second run. With the roles reversed a number of errors from the chasing Baggsy saw the tables turned and both drivers being equal in the eyes of the judges.

With the battle called to One More Time you could cut the atmosphere with a knife – who would be able to claim the advantage and head through to the Top 8!? Unfortunately we never got the chance to witness the battle as terminal engine failure left Baggsy unable to rerun the battle, gifting Danny a passage through to the next stage.

Our first Top 8 battle saw Sully drawn against veteran BDC drifter Matt Carter. Having made an error in his chase run Sully had it all to do in the lead if he was to proceed through to the Top 8. Another wild and aggressive entry from the Irishman was enough to throw Matt off, causing him to spin and hand the advantage to Shane.

Danny Eyles’ Top 8 battle saw him drawn against yet another BDC veteran, this time being Simon Perry in his R33 Skyline. With Simon in the lead Danny pushed as hard as he could but was unable to close the gap enough to secure an advantage. With the roles reversed Simon managed to shadow Danny’s every move and with it secured his place in the Top 4. Unfortunately for Danny this was the end of the road but a fantastic start to his first season of competitive drifting in years!

Sully’s Top 4 battle saw him drawn against Simon Perry and what a battle it was! With Shane leading he pulled a not inconsiderable gap and secured an advantage in the process. However, with Simon in the lead position he ran wide at the first corner, allowing Sully to execute a flawless overtake while still remaining on the correct qualifying line and hitting the clipping points. The crowd was in awe and the judges blown away; Shane secured a decisive victory and a passage into the final!

Nerves were running high as Shane lined up for the final against fellow Irishman Jack Shanahan, a young drifting prodigy whose exceptional talent has taken him all over Europe to compete in various drift competitions. With both drivers renowned for their fast and aggressive style it really was going to be a clash of the titans and it was anyone’s guess as to who would emerge victorious.

With Sully starting in the chase position he shadowed Jack as well as he could but a small mistake on the final corner cost him any decisive advantage.

With Shane leading the second run both drivers were evenly matched until Jack straightened ever so slightly at the hairpin, with the advantage being awarded to Shane as a result. The decision was too close to call and the judges chose to run the battle One More Time!

Sully returned to the chase position for the first rerun but an absolutely gigantic entry from Jack left Shane struggling to keep up. Sully pushed on valiantly however and managed to reel Jack in by the end of the run.

The final run of the battle saw Shane leading and, with Jack glued to his door throughout, it was anyone’s guess as to who would emerge the victor.

With the drivers returning to the pits for the trophy presentation we were elated to have secured a Top 3 finish and, despite Jack taking the eventual win ahead of Shane, we couldn’t have asked for a better start to the season when taking into account the issues we encountered in the run up to the event.

We’d like to thank all of our sponsors for their continued support as without them none of this would be possible. The next round of the Maxxis British Drift Championship sees us head to Knockhill circuit in Scotland on June 7th-8th – we’ll see you there!

You can see our full gallery of pictures from the event on our Facebook page here. All photos courtesy of Jordan Butters Photography.