Wayne Keeber, driver of the Landsail Toyota Soarer, gives us a run down of his weekend at Round 5 of the British Drift Championship.
Friday morning I started the journey to Anglesey with a trip to Tan-Y-Clawdd Garage, a Landsail tyre dealer in Wrexham, to give them the opportunity to see the car close up. From there we carried on our way to Anglesey Circuit to meet the rest of the team and get set up for the weekend.
Saturday is for the Pro-Am class with Pros getting a 30 minute practice during a break in the Pro-Am action. For me this short practice session was to make sure the issue from the previous round at Lydden Hill was rectified. There was only just enough time for 3 or 4 runs but the car felt great and the issue from the previous round was fixed.
With practice done and the car checked over the Pro-Am class were lining up to start their top 32 battles so we watched from the pit wall. The quality of the driving in the Pro-Am class is amazing to watch from the side-lines. Sunday morning we had 2 hours of practice and knowing the car was good after the short practice on Saturday I could push right from the start. The car ran without an issue and the only stoppages were for a change of tyres and tyre pressure adjustments.
With practice coming to an end it was back to the pits to fuel the car and put a new set of tyres on ready for qualifying. Lined up for qualifying and as I got nearer to the front of the queue the sun was just breaking through the clouds, first qualifying run done and it was a safe banker run. Slightly wide of clip 2 but the rest felt good from in the car.
As the second run got closer the clouds had gathered again and there was some drizzle which looked to make the track a little tricky but by the time of my second run it had stopped and the track looked to be in good condition again. The second run was better than the first and when I got back to the pits I was told that it was good enough for 5th place and I had the highest drift speed through clip 2 of 63mph.
This was my best qualifying position of the year and the best the car has felt all year. With just enough time to bolt on a new set of tyres it was time for the top 32. My first battle was against Wesley Keating from team WKD, I was the lead car on the first run and was on the qualifying line that the judges were looking for. Happy with the lead run it was now my turn to chase, all was going well until I misjudged the transition and hit a tyre stack with the rear and pulled the car straight momentarily and that cost me the chance of at least a one more time against Wes.
I have to say a massive thanks to GBH Motorsport for preparing the car and resolving the issues from the previous round, without their help I wouldn’t have made it to the final round. Big thank you to Landsail Tyres for their supply of great tyres for me to be able to compete.
I have to say thanks to all my sponsors for their help/support throughout the year and I hope to be able to continue to work with them in the future. Landsail Tyres / GBH Motorsport / Huxley Motorsport / EverythingDrift / Pipercross Air Filters / Wolfbitz.