ExtremeBHP Motorsport have been around for a while now with several drivers competing in Driftcup. This season we are going to bring you updates on the team as they try to earn their place in the British Drift Championship.
Ian Lonsdale took advantage of the chance to practice on the Driftcup layout before the competition started, using the Spring Matsuri to test the car and see where the improvements over the off season had made a difference.
A few runs in the morning gave him the feedback he was looking for as the car had improved, the addition of the grippier tyres also gave him more confidence to push the car out to the clipping points, maintaining a better line, angle and speed.
The afternoon was spent correcting a few issues with the car before the next day’s competition. Sunday morning came with completely different conditions so it was time to learn the track again now that there was less grip on the wet surface.
A few runs were needed before the track was figured out, an issue with the power steering took away some of the practice session so it soon got around to qualifying.
On the first qualifying run there was no boost, he still attempted to complete the course with plenty of clutch kicks, unfortunately a spin would zero out the run.
The team fixed the car in no time and it was back out for the second a final attempt to qualify. A good run through the track through to clip 5 where it all went wrong, a wetter patch of track caught him out with another spin ending his weekend.
Mike Jackson had turned up with his freshly built S13 following a day of testing where he had quickly adapted to the car. The wet conditions on Sunday would mean he would have to learn the car again although it didn’t take too long during the practice session before he was running the correct line.
The engine had a slight misfire that will be sorted before the next round but it didn’t stop him pushing the car as he tried to get a perfect run.
His qualifying runs weren’t ideal although it wasn’t bad, finishing 22nd in a new car that had some minor issues.
He would line up against Mike Walton with both drivers having good runs as they battled causing the judges to send it ‘One More Time’.
Another close set of runs would see it go again into ‘Sudden Death’, where a scappy lead run would see Mike Walton advance through to the next battle. A promising start to the season for Mike Jackson left him feeling positive ahead of round 2 where the car will be running perfectly.
John Gordon didn’t have the ideal start to the season, his S13 wasn’t going to be finished in time so he picked up a Mazda RX8 to compete in at the first round of the year. A week of rushing around trying to get the car to be somewhere near competitive really put him on the back foot going into the event.
The constantly changing track conditions on the day of the event didn’t help as he struggled to learn the car, fighting it through out the practice session.
Right at the end of the practice session he managed to complete four runs without straightening or spinning so it was a step in the right direction ahead of qualifying. His first qualifying run saw him spin as the track conditions had changed again, resulting in no score. The second run wasn’t any better despite changing the setup to try to gain as much grip as possible.
That was the end of the day for John, the S13 will hopefully make it to round 2 where he will be hoping for a better result.
If you would like to see more from the team be sure to follow them on Facebook – ExtremeBHP Motorsport