It’s official – Brett Castle has joined Team Japspeed! UK drifting legend and all-round nice guy Brett will be taking over the vacant drivers seat in the infamous Japspeed Impreza and will be piloting it in this year’s British Drift Championship. So, how does it feel to be making a return to a scene that he helped kicked start over ten years ago? We spoke to Brett to find out…
Hi Brett! To kick things off, when did you first start drifting?
2001 (that makes me feel old!). I was part of the original UK drift events which, back then, were known as UKD1. We used an operational aerodrome that we had to have dowsed down with water by a tractor!
How much has the sport grown in the UK since you started?
Given that we don’t have tractors wetting the track anymore for us any more – very far! It’s been great to have been part of the sport as it’s evolved from day one up until now. I’ve enjoyed every minute of it, made some great friends along the way and got to do what some people can only dream of.
What is the highlight of your drifting career?
Getting to the top two with Kumakubo when he came to the Silverstone D1GP. Then to beat him and come first was crazy good!
Which drivers are you looking forward to competing against?
I’m looking forward to competing against some of the guys that I go back years with, like Buff and Stiggy. Likewise though, it will be good to go up against the newer drivers that I’ve never had the opportunity to drive with, like Simon Perry and Steve Moore.
Have you driven all the tracks on the 2013 Maxxis BDC Calender?
Out of the tracks on the calendar I’ve only competed at Knockhill and Teesside before. Teesside was quite a few years ago when I won the JDM Night Fight which was brilliant fun. Knockhill is probably my worst track. It’s always such a mission to get there, the weather has always been bad and something always goes wrong with the car I’m driving. It’s my Knockhill curse!
Which track that you have driven in the past are you most looking forward to driving again?
Knockhill! It would be great to drive there and come away with something other than a broken car!
Do you class your self as a drift super star?
My wife and kids do but I’m just hoping I haven’t lost my touch!
The Scooby has undergone a number of changes over the 2012 winter period in preparation for the 2013 season. It’s had a hard life since its first inception back in 2010 and some much-needed TLC was required! First up was a freshly rebuilt 1JZ engine, the provider of the wild soundtrack that the Scooby is renowned for.
With our workshop engine crane in use elsewhere (in other words, sat on my driveway!) we had to get creative, so in stepped Dave with the Japspeed forklift…
…and the 1Jz started heading towards its new home.
Almost there…
…bingo!
As the eagle eyed amongst you may have noticed, the front end has also been on the receiving end of some fairly substantial modifications.
The entire headlight, intercooler and front bar setup has reworked into a one-piece, removable assembly that means the front end can be removed in minutes by removing just a couple of bolts and disconnecting the intercooler pipework.
Brett couldn’t wait to get out there and give the Scooby some grief, but first it needed mapping.
The car was soon transported to Protuner where expert mapper Greg Gush was ready to create the best map possible to get the infamous Scooby back up to speed and ready to shred some Maxxis rubber.
The car’s shakedown was to be our test day at Lydden Hill (which you can read about here). As Sully’s RB S15 was still in pieces back in Ireland, steering duties between the Scooby and the Lexus were shared between Shane and Brett.
The day was a great success for the team and Brett quickly got comfortable with both cars, proving that his vast experience in high powered drift cars is not to be sniffed at.
With the first round of the BDC just a few days away we can’t wait to see how Brett and the rest of the team get on. After all, we’ve got a championship title to defend!
