Welcome back! This is my driver’s insight from round 2 of the British Drift Championship at Knockhill race circuit – Scotland, UK
With over 1000 miles round trip to Knockhill, it’s our longest journey on our drifting calendar. The journey began early on Thursday morning with a daunting 14 hour drive, and what better way can you do it ? With the music blaring, ice cold drinks and your team mates in convoy, the miles soon rolled on by.
After a few fuel stops and bladder breaks along the way, we finally reached Knockhill just before midnight. We kicked a few wheels and tyres around in the vans and trucks and bedded down for the night.
Friday was basically chill out day in the sun for all the team, the competition doesn’t start for us until Saturday morning. It gave us plenty of time to rest, set up the paddock area, a bit of social media work, have a BBQ, grab a few beers and chill out before the busy weekend kicked off.
Saturday started with all three Boss cars, out on track at once for a solid 1hour and 15mins practice session in the dry. Tyres did become a little bit of an issue, but amazing work by the team I didn’t lose hardly any practice time and I was happy with how the car was feeling before going into the Super Pro qualifying on Sunday.
Just after we had finished our practice session the heavens opened and boy did it rain. The track was awash in a matter of minutes, and with my driving now done for Saturday, I changed roles and helped out as an extra spotter for my team mates Ollie and Martin, who had to do their Semi Pro qualifying in almost monsoon conditions.
It was very difficult for them as there were large amounts of water on line and with the rubber laid down from the previous session it was very slippery; added with the fact that Ollie’s turbo had seized and Martin’s alternator had packed up in practice, it was going to be tough for them. Ollie managed to qualify in 16th but Martin narrowly missed out.
Sunday was filled with highs and lows. Due to the overnight rain the track was completely green again, the rain had washed all the rubber off the track and with the super pro qualifying early on Sunday morning, all the grip in the car was now gone, I struggled to hit the line the judges wanted in the first run, So I made a some adjustments to the suspension to compensate but unfortunately it wasn’t enough and I didn’t quite make the cut, qualifying in 17th overall. For me my driving was now done for the weekend.
However Ollie was still in the main event for the Semi Pro class, plus with his turbo now fixed overnight and also being eligible to take part in the Pro class qualifying due to the driver promotion system the BDC has (if you gain a top 4 finish at the previous round you get the chance to qualify in the higher class), I helped out as an extra spotter. Unfortunately we bowed out in the top 16 of Semi Pro, but our day wasn’t done quite yet, Ollie managed to gain 9th in Pro qualifying, securing a spot in the main event, Ollie was now pushing hard in his battle with consistent runs, taking it right to the final, with a close fought battle with Martin Battye he clinched 2nd overall.
It certainly was an action filled weekend with thrills and spills. Massive thanks to all our sponsors for all their ongoing support, and a huge thanks to all the team for all their hard work. Can’t wait to get back out there for round 3 at Teesside Autodrome on the 19th and 20th July.
Thanks for taking the time to read my insight, See you next time
Steve