Floyd Parsons on DW

Hello, my name is Floyd… and I like to shoot things! This is my first, possibly only post to the Driftworks blog, so I thought I had better make it a good one! For you, the viewer, I present some pictures I took that I like, and that I think you also may like.

A short introduction: I’m 18 years old, with a brief on-and-off experience of the media side of the drifting culture in this country. Back in April, I drove the long old way up to Manchester to attend JDM Allstars, making a relatively successful video, which was even featured here! Since then however, I have not been able to get to any of the other events this year, through things like working at a big festival, or going on holiday. Half the time, I really really wanted to be at JDM though.

I picked up a camera a couple of years ago, but it wasn’t until around November last year that things made me think about doing it more seriously. I had visited Llandow for the first time, it was in fact the same time that Bryn Alban had just put the Bee*R kit on his R32 Skyline; I took a few pictures and he managed to get one of them put on Speedhunters – I was so stoked!

Since then, I have had the odd bit of recognition for my work, but that doesn’t really matter to me; as long as I’m enjoying what I’m doing, then it doesn’t matter what other people think. I take pictures and make videos for myself more than anybody else. If I like it, there’s a good chance that somebody else might too!

With good friends in the south west scene, I have managed to keep my drifting fix going, travelling to events with them occasionally and taking pictures of what I see. The above picture is a friend of mine, Mark and his S14. He recently qualified for the British Open Drift Championship and has a lot going for him in the next few months. I personally can’t wait to see how he gets on at Mallory Park come the end of the month.

I like to take pictures of the cars on track, but sometimes it’s the ‘behind the scenes’ pictures that really interest me – how the drivers spend their time when they aren’t ripping it up, or how their cars are received by spectators. The above picture is BDC driver Tony Fong’s F20C KE70 Corolla running flush… literally! It is one awesome piece of machinery, not only does it look tasty, but it sounds insane! The throttle-bodied Honda S2000 engine sound is one that suits the cars looks down to the ground!

Another view of this awesome car, with Tony’s Girlfriend and Llandow regulars Rhys and ‘Woody’ giving Tony a hand. I love this car so much, it oozes style! The trickest pert has to be the S2000 clocks sat inside the original dashboard – New age fun with a vintage feel! (LOL)

At the other end of the scale, you have Brad Hacker’s 2-rotor RX-7. This year was Brad’s first season in the JDM Allstars series. For a first time competition driver, Brad has done really well, considering the controversy surrounding him when Dragon Performance first announced their new wildcard driver. His car is immense, as is his driving; every time I hear the two rotors spinning up I can’t help but think of this cars past as a drag car. Even hearing this car idling, you know it’s a serious piece of kit.

Back to the Bristol crew, ‘Team Armco’ as they like to be called. If it wasn’t for the likes of these guys, I wouldn’t be writing this for you to see – these guys have given me an awesome insight into the work that goes into these cars when they’re not competing, not to mention how much of a moneypit a drift car is! I will be waiting a few years before I get my own I think!

But on the contrary, I could take a page out of this man’s books. This man is called Dean Turner and he is a king. I wanted to share this picture, even though it isn’t that good, just to show you that drifting isn’t always a big budget thing. Dean still runs a standard CA engine, the only modifications being a welded differential, an air filter, a blow-off valve and an intercooler. You have to see this guy to believe his determination! Just this weekend he was showing the big budget guys how to do it with next to nothing at Castle Combe. Entries and smoke were just as big as the RB engined Skylines, the only difference being that you couldn’t actually hear his car! He doesn’t even have an aftermarket exhaust! Mr. Turner is living proof that you don’t need to be a millionaire to enjoy drifting!

I do try to variate what I take pictures of, so if I earn myself a permanent spot here at the Driftworks blog, I will bring you as much cool stuff as I humanely can, as long as it’s drift related! I hope you like my pictures, and I hope to by typing my fingers off again in the near future.

Thanks for reading!

Floyd