It’s time to bring you all an update on ExtremeBHP Motorsport’s season in Driftcup now that everything has settled after Round 3 at the Rockingham Motor Speedway in Corby, Northamptonshire.
Before the preparation for this round had even begun, Ian knew that he would be in for a difficult time, his car and van were broken just a week before the event. Whilst diagnosing the car issues it was quickly realised that it wasn’t going to be ready in time so a couple of borrowed cars were considered before choosing a BMW E36 from BDC competitor Matt Walker.
On Saturday morning it was time to hit the track, Ian had a lot to learn with this car as its completely different to his E36, the gearing is shorter, less power etc. He struggled to start with in the higher speed first half of the track whilst the car worked well in the tighter second half.
Some tips from other drivers came in useful before the afternoon session, keeping a better line through the first half of the track, using all of the available power. Ian wasn’t feeling confident ahead of day two though, it would be a struggle to qualify.
Sunday mornings practice session gave him a chance to perfect the line although everyone was struggling with the heat. On his first qualifying run he gave it everything, running out to the clipping points with endless clutch kicks to try to get the most out of the car. The crowd and the judges were impressed with the run considering the low power he was running this weekend.
The second run was just as good as the first but it wasn’t going to be enough to get through to the battles, missing out by 0.8 points. Hopefully we will see Ian back in his own car at the next round!
Mike a better weekend that Ian with his practice session on the Saturday going well, the car was performing and it was looking like he could build upon his performances so far this season.
Sunday morning practice was much of the same with plenty of close runs with fellow competitors ahead of the qualifying session.
During qualifying Mike managed to put in two good runs scoring a 70.8 on the second run, this would earn him 21st place, seeing him advance to the afternoons battles.
He would line up in the chase position against Raphael Fulco in his R33 skyline, off the line Raphael pulled away but mike close the gap as they came around clip 3. The proximity was good throughout the rest of the run.
They swapped over with Mike to leave this time, Raphael stuck to his door all of the way around earning him the win. This was the end of Mikes event although he had a great time over the weekend. Lets hope he puts in another strong performance at Teesside for the next round.
Mike would like to thanks all of his sponsors including Jackson Competition Engines, Hoskins Design & Fabrication, Auto Uniq, Thautomotive, also his girlfried Kayleigh for her support.