JDM Allstars Professional Drifting Round 1-Manchester The Trafford Centre Results

For Immediate Release
April 20th 2010

JDM Allstars 2010 Round 1 – The Trafford Centre, Manchester Results.

Rookie Driver Jon Calvert takes the win and the championship lead in his first ever round of JDM Allstars.

JDM Allstars made its debut in the north west of the Unities Kingdom last weekend, kicking off its third year in competition.

The Trafford Centre’s custom-built street course kicked off the first round of the 2010 JDM Allstars Professional Drifting series. With a huge pre-event media advertising campaign put into action, the 2010 season opener was one of the most successful events in the history of JDM. Pre-sold tickets met new records numbers, further showing the growth in the following of the JDM Allstars brand. By midday on Sunday, the main event day, the venue was a sell-out with huge crowds coming from all over the UK and Europe.

With a new themed car show, Monster Trucks and Freestyle Motocross, the 2010 season opener was bigger than ever. This much anticipated season opener was shaping up to be a spectacular opening to the new season.Also being unveiled was the SAVE IT FOR THE TRACK roadsafety campaign zone.

One of the biggest additions to the 2010 series is the addition of the Jumbotron bigscreen at events.Here several thousand fans can get minute by minute updates in the pits.Live interviews so all footage can be seen aswell as saturdays actions.

Its also a great way to showcase our partner brands and showcase our Road safety partnership Save it For the Track viral video campaigns.

Going into the 2010 season there was lots of hype surrounding several new driver and team combinations as well as a few up and coming rookie drivers. With the change to a ‘dropped score’ format, meaning that out of the five championship rounds, each driver must drop one score, all the drivers are now able to compete in there national championships in between JDM events without having to worry about epossible event clashes. Round 1 unfortunately clashed with the Polish, Dutch and Irish series, so a few of the main championship players were missing. However one big last minute addition and one of the biggest names to commit to JDM in 2010 was 2009 Drift Australia champion Luke Fink, who would be joining the Severnside Imports /Nexen Tyres team.

Qualifying

From the Saturday un-seeded Qualifying session and Sundays top 32 session it was evident that there was some new big hitters in the mix for the 2010 title. Mark Luney in the new SATS Toyota Supra was one of the most consistently excellent and finished 3rd. Dan Chapman finished second, one point below Luke Fink, who dominated the session on his first Professional European event.

Some other big surprizes was Phil Morrisions and Ben Brokes Smiths Driftworks car.The Driftworks S15 developed a clutch problem in the morning after showing good form in the morning sessions. The driftworks team where all hands on deck but unfortunately missed the qualifying session.Ben Broke Smith in the Driftworks R32 also debuting his newlook R32 developed an electrical problem which couldnt be fixed in time meaning two of the championship heavy hitters nwhere already out.

Top 16

Luke Fink easily beat Matt Chiappa, his smooth fast consistent lines put him effortlessly through to the Great 8.

One of the first big upsets in the top 16 was Anthony Cahill, in the Japspeed Nissan 180SX, dismissing seasoned veteran Martin Ffrench after not one, but two one more times. Ffrench, in a borrowed car, was making the most of his underpowered ride but Cahill was consistant and went through to the Great 8.

Robin Neeson in the high powered Toyota JZX90 couldn’t keep up with the new rookie Jon Calvert in a borrowed Nissan R33. Calvert would get better and better as the weekend went on, showing his natural talent at every opportunity.

Another new addition to the series was Brad Hacker in the Dragon Performance RX7 up against Brad ‘Lightning’ McQueen in the battle of the Brads. Hacker surprised more than a few people by taking the advantage in both runs and advancing to the Great 8 in his first ever drift competition.

Dan Chapman in his PS13 went through against Brian McCann in another high powered Toyota, this time a JZX81. Chapman navigated his way around the course with speed and precision that was untouchable and proceeded to the next round.

The bright pink R33 Skyline piloted by Simon Perry pushed the BMW M3 turbo of Steve Will every step of the way and Perry eventually won through after one of the closest battles of the top 16.

Mark Luney in his brand new SATS Supra went on to beat Alan McCord in his new, totally bonkers, 700bhp Team Toyo Nissan Silvia S15 V8 supercharged, with McCord making some small but critical errors, Luney edged in front and proceeded to the Great 8.

And Anthony Scott in the Rocket Bunny S13 Sil80 easily proceeded against up and coming youngster Duane McKeever after a differential issue caused a half shaft to snap on McKeevers RB26 powered S13 180SX in mid-battle.

Great 8

In the Great 8 battles, things were really starting to hot up.

Luke Fink in the Severnside PS13 took on local hero Anthony Cahill in the Japspeed 180SX.With a close battle and both cars developing exhaust problems, Fink speed and determination shone through and he took the win.

Dan Chapman paired off with a another local hero, Simon Perry. The Driftworks PS13 marched forward on its Federal RSR tires and could not be touched as the sheer speed of Chapman through the course could not be matched by Perry’s R33.

Next, in a battle of the rookies, with both drivers on their debut drives in JDM Allstars, Jon Calvert took on Brad Hacker. Calvert took the win by the slimmest of margins with only the tiniest of errors separating the drivers.

In the final battle of the Great 8, Mark Luney went to a ‘One More Time’ with Anthony Scott. In the end Anthony Scott in the Skylinepart/Livingholidays S13 couldn’t find the grip to match the Maxxis tyred SATS supra and Mark Luney marched forward to the Semi Finals.

Semi-Finals

In the first battle Luke Fink faced off against the new boy Jon Calvert. Finks car was now developing a severe turbo problem and was running with barely enough power to slide. A tough battle between the two drivers resulted in Calvert going forward into his first JDM Allstars final.

Dan Chapman was to meet Mark Luney in the second Semi Final with both driver clearly hungry for the win. After another hard fought battle, Luney progressed to his first JDM Allstars final.

Third/Fourth place battle would therefore not only be the battle of the day, but also the battle that many had tipped to be the final. The fight between the two Nissan PS13’s was shaping up to be an epic constest of nerve and skill. By now Fink’s turbo problems were almost completely crippling his car, with the turbo being held onto the manifold with nothing more than a ratchet strap. Both drivers still clearly wanted to put on an immense show though and in the end the battle went to not one, but two ‘One More Time’ rounds. With both cars so close that they touched several times the atmosphere was electric, however on one transisition, Fink’s car lost even more power and slowed dramatically to such an extent that Chapman collided and had to spin to avoid further damage to both cars. Chapman took the win and in doing so, his first podium of 2010.

Final

The final battle of the day would be a match up between the top event rookie, Jon Calvert, in a borrowed Nissan R33 up against Mark Luney in the SATS Supra. Calvert, a new addition to the series, had shown signs of his talent in 2009 in the BDC series, winning a round ofthe championship, but had run out of time to complete his 2010 car for this round and so had been forced into the borrowed car.

Luney was the favourite going in with his wealth of experience at the top of the sport in Europe, but Calvert matched him every step of the way and eventually squeezed out the veteran with only slight differences in line separating the two drivers. Calvert’s first win in the JDM series was much deserved and he will be an even greater force to be reckoned with when he returns to Round 2 in his own S13 180SX.

Round 2 will take place at Newcastle city centre which will be the return of team Falken Europe, and the much hyped debut of James Deane in his new Severnside Nexen UK Team