Before the 2016 season kicks off I thought it would be a good chance to look back at some of the highlights of the 2015 season that some of you might have missed.
As the season was coming to a close I looked around to see what events were left for the team to cover. The Nurburgring Drift Cup came up in conversation a couple of times before we all decided to make the 1000 mile round trip for the final round of their championship.
Setting off late one Thursday night we travelled as far as the border of Belgium & Germany before having a few hours’ sleep. We woke early and continued our journey up into the Eifel Mountains, forests and valleys provided a scenic backdrop on our way to the famous circuit.
Upon arrival we headed for the Mullenbach section of the circuit, most people will know this as the hairpin at the bottom of the Formula 1 circuit.
The drifters were already out on the track getting some vital practice, starting from just before the hairpin, driving round it and accelerating hard up the hill toward the Schumacher S.
One they are through the high speed Schumacher S they would then have to slow for the tight hairpin, if you cut the corner or ran wide the barriers would be waiting.
It was then a steep narrow climb into a left hander and across the finish line.
Early in the practice it was easy to see the different way that the drivers attacked the course, some managing very little handbrake as they held the car sideways, slowing for the hairpin.
If the circuit didnt surprise us enough then the variation of cars sure would, there was the usual S13s & S14s.
The usual BMW E36s, although something could be said for the way that they had styled them.
On the more unusual side of things there was a Mazda MX5, a Corvette and even an Opel Manta.
How many times do you see a Porsche drifting?
Or a VW Polo? This was a 350z underneath the body though.
The qualifying sessions on Saturday gave each driver three attempts to get the best score they could, Andrius Vasiliauskas took the top spot with a score of 96 in his 1000hp, fire breathing E46.
Uwe Sener qualified in second in the SportAuto E36, scoring 91 points.
In third place was Sebastian Fontijn with his E36.
The battles on Sunday were interesting with several unexpected matchups including a Volvo 340 against Andrius Vasiliauskas and his E46.
By the time the three groups had battle each other we had seen upwards of 40 battles, in the end it would come down to Remmo Niezen and Eli Hountondji. Remmo had been on it all weeken in his E30 but the Hountondji brothers should never be counted out.
Eli took the event win but Remmo won the 2015 championship.
We cant wait to return and until then enjoy the rest of the photos. It was worth the long hours travelling and many laughs were had with all of the team out there.
