Matt Denham gets the taste for champagne after victory in his first Drift Pro Event

A new championship for 2021. The Drift pro Series is a collaboration between Motorsport UK and Club Time Attack. It will take place over three rounds visiting legendary circuits such as Brands Hatch, Donington Park and Snetterton.

Japspeed’s Matt Denham and Rob Black will be flying the flag for the team this year and following Rob’s podium in Round 1, confidence is running high.

Top 16

Both Matt and Rob made it through to the Top 16 after qualifying. Rob was up first against Richard Grindrod’s Nissan S14a. Robs, chase run was strong but a mistake during his lead run gifted the victory to Grindrod.

Matt was pitched against Driftworks, Tessa Whittock and her Nissan Skyline R33. Matt’s lead run was almost faultless. A combination of speed angle and clean driving meant Tessa simply couldn’t get close. The chase run was a bit scruffy but judges voted in our favour and Matt was safely through to the Top 8.

Top 8

It was now time for Matt to face up against Richard Grindrod. Matt was starting to make a habit of nailing the lead run on this technical course but Richard was on fine form too and there was not much to separate the two drivers.

Aggression was the name of the game heading into the chase run, with Matt tapping the purple S14 numerous times throughout the course. Again it was untidy but great proximity saw Matt through to the next round!

Semi Final

Max Cotton was Matt’s opponent in the final four. It was a stellar chase from Matt, ironing out the errors that blotted his first two runs. It was clear to see Matt was really starting to get comfortable in the car, a worrying site for his competitors. While Max produced a fine chase, he couldn’t match the proximity thrown down by Matt moments earlier.

Final

It’s been a long time coming but Team Japspeed’s Matt Denham was back! After a few years struggling with an un reliable car it was great to see our man show everyone exactly what he is capable of.

After growing in confidence through the day, Lwi Edwards had it all to do to try and topple Matt in the final. The first run saw Matt lead the green BMW E36. While both runs where clean, there was a fair bit of separation between the drivers. With the power of the Japspeed S13 starting to shine through.

Matt knew what he had to do to get the win. A clean run with closer proximity would likely see us on to the top step of the podium. With that in mind Matt produced a near perfect chase to leave the judges with no doubts! Congratulations to Matt who’ll be looking to repeat this result when the championship heads to Snetterton in October!