Easter weekend saw Round 1 of the British Drift Championship with a new look Boss Motorsport for not just the cars but the whole team in the paddock, with our two new team drivers Martin Wonnacott and Ollie Elmore joining Super Pro Steve Moore for 2014.
The weekend began with a wet practice session which saw all three drivers struggling to find the grip level of the track but by the end of the session all three drivers were dialled into the track ready for qualifying. After some work back in the paddock on Martin’s 1JZ powered Chaser’s to his braking system, some minor suspension adjustments to Ollie’s Skyline and Steve’s Silvia, the team were ready to roll.
Qualifying began for the Semi Pro class with the field setting a high standard right from the off. The Boss drivers were charging hard with a stunning result for the team with Ollie finishing 4th and Martin 13th, seeing both of them into the super 16 battles for Sunday. The result meant that both drivers were drawn against each other for an all Boss battle to progress to the great eight.
The Super Pro field saw a strong entry including young 14 year old Jack Shanahan from the Irish Drift Championship joining previous champions Japspeed’s Paul Smith, Driftworks Phil Morrison and last year’s champion Mike Marshall. Steve began the session right on the pace with the S14 handling perfectly and hitting every clipping point on every run seeing him finish 10th drawing Lassa drift team’s Simon Perry. The qualifying results gave the team a strong start to the weekend with everybody upbeat about a good result on the Sunday and confidence high.
Sunday started once again with a downpour making the track conditions slippery so the team all softened their cars to get as much grip as possible. First up was the Semi Pro’s and the match up of our two drivers which saw both Ollie and Martin spin in their practice run, after finding the grip level the battles themselves where a close contest with both drivers charging hard and hitting the clipping points with ease. The judges gave the win to Ollie after Martin’s car stalled at entry to the first corner and had to correct to get the Chaser back up the hill.
With Ollie now pumped up and ready for the next competitors, the team made some minor tuning to the Skyline which then saw Ollie progress to the Final against Matt Stevenson in his Slide Motorsport 350z for a truly epic battle with both drivers pushing each other in their runs. The judges gave the win to Matt with Ollie taking second and a podium in his first ever British Drift Championship event, an awesome achievement and reward for all the hard work through the winter months from all the team.
The Super Pro main event saw Steve Moore facing Simon Perry in the top 16 battle. The track was now drying so both drivers could commit to their runs and put on a display which saw close door to door action throughout both runs. Steve’s right hand rear tyre came off the rim in the first run causing him to spin out just as he crossed the finish line; the second run was faultless from both drivers and saw Simon through to the top eight.
With all three drivers performing well and Ollie’s podium finish, the team knew they were in with a chance of the constructors win and are awaiting confirmation from the championship organisers to find out our final position.
Overall the team and drivers came away from round one buzzing and eager for round two, confidence is high and the hard work begins back at Boss HQ to get the cars ready for round 2 at Knockhill Circuit in Scotland on June 7th and 8th. The team would like to thank all our sponsors for their help and support throughout the year and looking forward to working with them closely throughout the season, all the BDC staff, and of course the marshals and organisers from Lydden Hill race circuit for all their hard work over the weekend.
