BDC Round 2 – Llandow
‘Angle’ – The word of the day at Round 2 of the British Drift Championship at Llandow circuit in South Wales. Huge crowds rocked up to check out the action. There’s no doubt this was partly due to 16 year-old Tyler Kelly, who took it upon himself to put up posters around Barry and his home towns in the run-up to the event. Nice one Tyler! This is the kind of “people’s championship” that the BDC has developed into. Something reflected in the banter flying around the pits, and also by the sheer number of drivers: 32 Semi-Pro, 40 in the Pro Class; 72 in total.
Excited spectators lined the grass bank and the fencing right up close to the action. Everyone was eager to see who would be a hero, and ready to shout “big fat zero” at the spinners. Some of the crowd held up banners to show their support to the drivers: “You Suck”, “Epic Fail”, etc. The banter continued to bounce around the pits, some of it from commentators Motty and Mike who gave the crowd plenty of laughs throughout the day.
Using the main straight as a run-up, the course invited drivers to make a brave entry into an unsighted series of tight left-right-left 90-degree corners, before opening out into a longer tyre-shredding final bend.
Judges Mark Buckle (Sweeps) and Jordan Butters (Jord), asked for two things from the drivers: “ohmygodhe’sgoingtodieohmygodhe’spulleditoff” entries, and masses of angle. Anyone who failed to look out of their side windows would be marked down heavily – “anyone straightens we’re gonna hammer ‘em” warned Sweeps. He wasn’t joking either..
Semi-Pro The Great 8 Qualifiers
Pos. Name Driver No. Car Team Dropped run Scored run
1 Martin Richards 60 Nissan Skyline R33 Team Teyaki Un it 70 79
2 Dylan Thanushyan 80 Nissan 200SX S14a Slidestars 51 73
3 Martin Griffiths 27 BMW E30 n/a 0 73
4 Lloyd Bagladi 26 Nissan Skyline R32 Team Teyaki Unit 52 69
5 Danielle Murphy 61 Team Pog Moi Thoin 30 68
6 John Kavanagh 37 Team Pog Moi Thoin 43 67
7 Jamie Kenyon 79 Mazda MX-5 Nightwalkers (reserve) 26 65
8 Sam Holt 96 Nissan 180SX Team Sunset 62 64
Semi-Pro Final – The Great 8
[1 Practice run, 2 x Scored runs – Highest scored run counts]
The Great 8 started steadily with Martin Richards just about holding on to prevent a spin on his first run. Dylan Thanushyan put in solid run. Martin Griffiths tried a Scandinavian flick into the first corner but it didn’t seem to help. Then Lloyd Bagladi stormed in with an epic first entry. The judges applauded as Bagladi zipped round the rest of the course, and were then wowed shortly after by his Team Teyaki Unit team mate Martin Richards, who matched Lloyds entry and went on to complete a great run. Fast and with the plenty of angle, it was everything the judges had asked for.
Dylan Thanushyan had caught the judges’ attention earlier in the day with his improving consistency, and was still putting in great first corner entries but struggled for overall speed. The complete opposite of Martin Griffiths in his E30, whose second run was fast but lacked angle.
Sweeps yelled at Sam Holt as he cocked up his practice run and tried to style it out with a burnout, wiping out the barriers marking the second clipping point in the process. John Kavanaugh was “decent but not spectacular,” although he was consistent across both runs. Jamie Kenyon was still committed, but spun on what looked like being his best run. Sam Holt put two wheels off the track to ruin his first run, but was much better with his second. Although he was marked down for missing the second clipping point. Danni Murphy proved it isn’t just the Irish guys who have drifting in their blood as she put in a pair of excellent runs. The best of which had the judges clapping once more. She was aggressive and gave the judges what they wanted: Angle. She was the only driver able to separate the Team Teyaki drivers with Martin Richard’s crowd-pleasing run taking the win by just one point!
Semi-Pro Final – The Great 8 Results
Pos. Name Driver No. Car Team Dropped run Scored run
1 Martin Richards 60 Nissan Skyline R33 Team Teyaki Un it 43 79
2 Danielle Murphy 61 Team Pog Moi Thoin 63 78
3 Lloyd Bagladi 26 Nissan Skyline R32 Team Teyaki Unit 69 71
4 Dylan Thanushyan 80 Nissan 200SX S14a Slidestars 56 71
5 Sam Holt 96 Nissan 180SX Team Sunset 0 63
6 Martin Griffiths 27 BMW E30 n/a 36 58
7 John Kavanagh 37 n/a 56 57
8 Jamie Kenyon 79 Mazda MX-5 n/a 0 53
Pro Class
Pro Class Top 16 Qualifying – Results
Pos. Name Driver No. Car Team Dropped run Scored run
1 Stephen Biagioni 40 Nissan 180SX Japspeed 2 90 92
2 Richard Clarke 48 Nissan 180SX Team Driftworks 88 90
3 Shane Lynch 3 Nissan Silvia S15 Japspeed 1 0 89
4 Danny Eyles 7 Nissan Silvia S15 Japspeed 1 86 88
5 Neville Payne 86 Toyota Corolla AE86 n/a 75 88
6 Steve Moore 35 Nissan 200SX S14a JDM Garage 82 87
7 Alan Green 88 Nissan 200SX S14a Team Green Founders 0 87
8 John Calvert 19 Nissan 180SX Team Sunset 68 86
9 Danny O’Brien 47 Nissan 200SX S14a Nightwalkers 77 80
10 Simon Perry 99 Nissan Skyline R33 Skyline Owners Team 1 0 80
11 Terry Davies 60 Ford Escort Mk2 n/a 61 78
12 Brad McQueen 41 Nissan 200SX S14 Team Green Tagalongs 56 77
13 Ben Horne 67 Toyota Soarer Slidestars 0 77
14 Julie Robinson 12 n/a 66 74
15 Andy Faulkes 39 Nissan 200SX S13 Team Driftworks 0 74
16 Dave Monaghan 49 Nissan Skyline R32 Skyline Owners Team 1 72 73
Pro Class Finals – Top 16
The Pro Class Top 16 kicked off with an ‘old skool’ battle: Nev Payne in his AE86 struggled without second gear and lost out to Terry Davies in his Cosworth YB-powered Mk2 Ford Escort. Danny Eyles and Brad McQueen have a real scrap with Eyles just edging it after sliding up the inside of McQueen on the last corner of the second run. Skyline Owners’ Simon Perry continued his consistent days drifting knocking out McQueen’s Team Green team mate Alan Green. A momentary straightening by Green and Simon’s superior angle did the damage.
Driftworks’ Richard Clarke qualified in second place and was consistent all day. Except when he followed Skyline driver Julie Robinson and span, helping to send Julie through. Steve Moore gave the same 10-0 head start to Martin Richards, who took the win. The biggest celebrity in the BDC field (after Mike Gaynor) is Shane Lynch and his match-up with Ben Horne proved a real spectacle. Two 6-4s resulted in a “one more time!” Lynch just manages to prevent a spin in the first run, and despite pushing Ben in the second he spins over the third clip and Horne progresses.
Danny O’Brien and John Calvert spin together and then match each other to tie the first two runs and force a re-run. The judges call the next two runs “scrappy” and call for a third shootout. The last battle is close, but Calvert’s surprise decision to not drift the last corner in the first run hands the victory to O’Brien. Andy Faulkes and Steve Biagioni go to a one more time, where both drivers spin with Andy leading, and then Biagioni leads with more angle to take a narrow victory.
QUARTER FINALS
[60] Terry Davies vs Danny Eyles [7]
Ford Escort Mk2 Nissan Silvia S15
n/a Team Japspeed 1
[99] Simon Perry vs Julie Robinson [2]
Nissan Skyline R33 Nissan R32
Skyline Owners Team 1
[35] Steve Moore vs Ben Horne [67]
Nissan 200SX S14a Toyota Soarer
JDM Garage Sildestars
[47] Danny O’Brien vs Steve Biagioni [40]
Nissan 200SX S14a Nissan 200SX
Nightwalkers Team Japspeed 2
Danny Eyles shows more angle than Terry Davies to get the advantage after the first run, but then spins while following Davies, sending the Escort driver through. Simon Perry leads and his speed over both legs, means Julie Robinson is too shallow in her attempts to cope. Steve Moore is too aggressive and spins at the first corner entry on his leading run, despite a spectacular 5-5 second run. The fight between Danny O’Brien and Steve Biagioni is close but Biaginoi’s impressive speed sees him through.
SEMI FINALS
[99] Simon Perry vs Terry Davies [60]
Nissan Skyline R33 Ford Escort Mk2
Skyline Owners Team 1 n/a
[67] Ben Horne vs Steve Biagioni [40]
Toyota Soarer Nissan 200SX
Slidestars Team Japspeed 2
Terry Davies shows plenty of speed while leading and Simon Perry uses too much handbrake. On the second run Simon gains and early advantage and Terry tries to catch up but is too shallow, handing the win to Simon.
With Ben Horne leading it’s heading for a 5-5, but then Biagioni spins and gets a “big fat zero!” Horne straightens momentarily during the second run, but it’s the only difference between the drivers and Horne goes through.
FINAL
[99] Simon Perry vs Ben Horne [67]
Nissan Skyline R33 Toyota Soarer
Skyline Owners Team 1 Slidestars
Simon Perry leads:
All eyes are fixed on the apex of the first corner. Simon leads the charge in his Skyline and a duet of six-cylinder exhaust notes echo around Llandow. Both drivers go for it with hugely fast and early initiations. WHAM!! Ben’s Soarer slams into the passenger-side front wing of Simon Perry’s stranded Skyline. Simon’s Skyline is too damaged to continue. Ben Horne is declared Round 2 Winner!
Round 3 takes place at Lydden Hill on Saturday 13th June
For the current Semi Pro, Pro and Team tables visit the official BDC website here: www.thebritishdriftchampionship.com