With Round 1 of the Maxxis British Drift Championship looming ever closer Team Japspeed headed to Anglesey circuit to get some last minute pre-season testing done prior to this weekend’s season opener at Lydden Hill.
Team Japspeed drivers Shane Lynch, Paul Smith and Shane O’Sullivan were in attendance along with Danny Eyles who is making a welcome to the team for 2014.
The Japspeed 2JZ Lexus, 1JZ Subaru and RB25 S15 were to be the test mules for the day, with this being the first time the Scooby had seen a track since its rebuild and the first shakedown for the fresh RB25 in the S15.
Shane and Paul would take it in turns behind the wheel of the Lexus…
…while Danny spent the day getting accustomed to the Subaru.
The two proved to be a pair made in heaven and, despite Danny having not drifted for years, found himself settled straight from the off.
We were pleasantly surprised to hear that he had been making good use of 5th gear throughout his first session – so much for taking it easy!
Team Japspeed 1JZ Subaru Testing 2014 at Anglesey Circuit from Team Japspeed on Vimeo.
Once the RB S15 was out on track Sully was quickly up to his usual tricks of pushing hard – the odd off track excursion into the grass was a small price to pay for the heroic entries and all round entertainment that his driving style provides.
Team Japspeed Shane O’Sullivan RB25 S15 Testing at Anglesey from Team Japspeed on Vimeo.
The day also served as an opporutnity for us to invite our highly valued sponsors along to see the team in action, check out the cars and ride shotgun for some high-octane passenger rides.
For those who hadn’t experienced drifting first hand before the passenger rides served as a real eye opener; there were plenty of stunned passengers leaving the cars having experienced a 500bhp drift car being driven in anger for the first time!
Our fresh supply of Maxxis MA-Z1 drift tyres looked great mated to the new XXR 527 wheels on the Scooby and Danny and the rest of the drivers made short work of smoking them up.
With this being the Subaru’s first outing since receiving its fresh 1JZ and new map we made sure we kept an eye on its vitals throughout the day, downloading the logging data from the Syvecs ECU at every available opportunity.
The local press were also out in force, eager to speak to the drivers about the sport and the final round of the Maxxis British Drift Championship which will take place at the track later in the year.
Thankfully the weather was on our side all day and, as the track time drew to a close, we knew the information acquired during the day’s drifting was hugely valuable as we head in to another season.
While occasionally there were one or two hiccups with the cars…
…these things are to be expected and it’s always better to iron out issues before an event rather than when it matters.
We’d like to thank all of our sponsors that made the trip to Anglesey to enjoy the day with us and we hope you had as much fun as us!
You can view the rest of our images from the day on our Facebook page here.
