We headed to Teesside Autodrome for Round 3 of the British Drift Championship held over the weekend of the 19th / 20th July.
Saturday mornings practice sessions gave the drivers time to learn the judged line, this time the clipping points were off the natural line of the track. This would push the drivers skill and product close battles with plenty of opportunities for door on door action.
Qualifying took place after lunch but it soon rained making it difficult for the drivers to find grip.
Sunday morning would start with the Top 32 battles for each of the classes with several drivers being knocked out unexpectedly early, including Simon Perry and Mike Marshall.
The Semi-Pro class would start off the afternoon with their Top 16 battles. Steven Donnelly would beat Jake Spickett after a close battle before beating Adam Simmons to earn his place in the final.
On the other side of the tree Tony Walker got to the final by beating Ryan Pothecary and Ryan Cooper.
Third place in Semi-Pro was settled when Ryan Cooper spin during his battle against Adam Simmons.
The final was a close battle with Steven Donnelly taking the win after Tony Walker made a few mistakes on his chase run.
The Pro class would be next on the track for their Top 16 battles. Notable battles included William Rose surprising everyone, it didnt matter who he battled he was right on their door with his E36 Compact, Dan Firmager would knock him out on his run to third place.
Antony Mortley beat Matt Tilyard to earn his place in the final where he wasnt able to match Ollie Silcock who took the win
The Super-Pro class would be the last class onto the track, plenty of action and One More Times followed. Shane O’Sullivan beat his teammate, Paul Smith to progress through to the Top 8.
Team Falken’s Matt Carter knocked out Driftworks Phill Morrison after a close battle.
Mark Luney would battle Mark Huxley in his new Toyota Celica RA28, six runs followed before the judges decided that Mark Luney would progress to the Top 8.
Matt Carter battled Wes Keating, Steve Biagioni and David Waterworth to earn third place on the podium. During the battle with Steve Biagioni the judges thought that there was contact so they stopped the cars on track to inspect them.
Shane O’Sullivan took the win from Steve Biagioni during the final.
The next round of the British Drift Championship is the 9th-10th August at Lydden Hill in Kent, get your tickets here – http://www.thebritishdriftchampionship.co.uk/event/round-4-lydden-hill/