Japspeed

Team Japspeed Goodwood Festival of Speed 2021

The Goodwood Festival of Speed is one of the highlights of the UK Motorsport Calendar and this year’s event was no different. Smokey arrived nice and early Thursday morning ready for practice, alongside some of the biggest names in drifting.

Drivers attacked the famous hill hoping to mix style and speed to achieve the highest possible score. Dotted around the course was a series of proximity sensors that would deduct points if not triggered. The event was run over three days with an aggregate score determining the overall winner.

Paul secured third place in Thursdays practice after a very solid run. With just Kevin Quinn and the BMW E92 M3 of James Deane ahead of him.

Friday

The first round of Driftkhana took place on Friday afternoon and after watching most of his rivals go before him, Smokey was under pressure to deliver! After lighting up the tyres out the gates, Paul managed to hit 7 out of 8 sensors before continuing his way up the climb.

After crossing the traditional finish line, Smokey nailed the final section, hitting up all four sensors on the Wall Ride before a dramatic parallel park to finish. Smokey scored 4380 points, enough to put him in third after Round 1.

You can see Smokey’s first run below from: 5:23:39.

Saturday

We woke up Saturday Morning faced with rain and prospects of a treacherous run up the course. Although the bottom of the track had dried in time for Driftkhana, Alexandre Claudin was unfortunate enough to clip the hay bales on the way into the first corner. Sending his Dodge Charger into the wall and putting an early end to his weekend.

Smokey’s 2nd run up the hill went without major mishap, although the tricky conditions did result in a few errors and a lower overall score than the previous day. Drifting action starts at: 6:30:00 with Paul’s run coming at 7:08:30.

Sunday

The final day of the weekend arrived and the sun was back. Giving drivers the opportunity to really put on a show! Smokey set off with intent, lighting up the rear tyres at the start line before barrelling into the first set of proximity sensors. Paul hit 7/8 barrel sensors and 4/4 on the Wall ride.

Unfortunately he was deemed to have not got into position for the parallel park and scored 0 for that section. Resulting in an overall score of 3317. It wasn’t enough to secure a podium but it was still a fantastic event and a pleasure to be involved. Check out the final run below: 6:30:38

Your next opportunity to see Smokey in action will be at Car Fest North on the 23rd-25th July. Paul will be joined by the rest of the Team, Matt Denham, Ant Thompson and Rob Black. See you there!