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One Mad Weekend

An action packed weekend saw Matt ‘Doorhunter’ Carter competing in the 4th round of DriftMasters Grand Prix followed by the long-anticipated RedBull Drift Shifters event less than 24hrs later.

Check out our round-up film of all the antics from RedBull Drift Shifters in Liverpool ↑

“RedBull Drift Shifters is a drifting event like no other. We take the world’s best drifters, put them on a custom track on the streets of a major city and rig it with high tech speed and proximity sensors. Drivers must show their skill, speed and precision as they manoeuvre their way around the features. The closer – the better.”

– RedBull
www.redbull.com

Having been briefed on the event via Skype directly from the event’s creator; legendary rotary advocate Mad Mike Whiddett while he was still in Poland almost the moment DMEC finished Matt had less than 12hrs to prepare for the arrival of this all-new event on UK soil.

Owing to the timescales involved Matt along with Piotr Więcek and James Deane were treated to a series of taxi rides and a private jet courtesy of the event sponsors – RedBull UK. Upon arrival Matt joined some of the biggest names in international drifting including Fredric Aasbo, Gaz Whiter, Dan Woolhouse and Masato Kawabata as host Mad Mike took the competitors on a track-walk.

“The track started in the Mersey tunnel where we fire out of the top and through the start line sensor; onto the Angle Grinder – the more angle, the bigger the score. From there on its freestyle – this is the most insane thing I’ve ever seen; tight and technical with proximity and angle sensors and lots more”

-Matt ‘Doorhunter’ Carter
Team  Japspeed

Best described as drift car pinball laser tag the RedBull Drift Shifters course featured a selection of obstacles including a traditional British telephone box, a yellow submarine (it is in Liverpool after all) and an articulated lorry (who doesn’t love drifting under those). Open freestyle sees each driver use as many of the obstacles as possible to gather as many points as they can until the yellow flags wave and they have a mere 20 seconds to reach the Esso finishing box.

Jumping behind the wheel of the Japspeed Lexus IS200 for only his 3rd time Matt was keen to tackle the demanding and technical layout. With only a single practice lap under his belt Matt took to the track for qualifying.

“A massive wall of people line the sides as we come through the angle grinder; wall ride around the telephone box, under the undertaker, around the yellow submarine and onto George’s dock wall ride before ripping back up the course tagging as many of the obstacles as possible until the yellow flag.”

-Matt ‘Doorhunter’ Carter
Team Japspeed

The rigours of his weekend were starting to take their toll and despite giving his all Matt didn’t score as well as he might have hoped but a 2nd run gave some promise of remaining in the competition. Unfortunately an unexpected mechanical issue saw the Japspeed Lexus IS200 suffering from power-loss. Persevering through the run Matt completed his 2nd run; landing in the Esso finishing box in a cloud of smoke the noise of the finishing bells ringing.

Unfortunately a combination of fatigue and mechanical gremlins saw Matt not score as well as he could. All that he could do now was sit back and take in the sights and sounds of this amazing event. Everyone at Team Japspeed would like to congratulate Gaz Whiter, Forest Wang and Fredric Aasbo on their success.