BDC Round 5 - Lydden Hill

The BDC visited Lydden for the first time and no one had first hand experience of the layout we were to use.

This would be the first time for a lot of drivers using third gear either on the entry to the first corner and the final corner begged for some flat out third gear action.

BDC resident judges Paul Smith and Pete Barber were joined by D1NZ 2005 champion Adam Richard, Adam is working in the UK and is drifting in the EDC while visiting our country.

The judges told the drivers the inside of the first corner was to be used as a clipping point, the second section to be judged was through the cutting, drivers were told to use the middle of the track which would allow them to carry speed on to the down hill section which leads into Paddock Hill bend. The final points would be awarded for the fastest and smokiest final corner.

The battle in the Amateur class was going to be fierce with local driver Jon Stevens out to gain points, after a miserable round 4 back at Teesside. Steven Moore and Alexis Drew were set to be his main rivals on the day. Steven driving his beautiful S14a has been improving all season and came to Lydden on the back of victory at round 4. Alexis Drew was driving an 4 door R34 which is the 5th car in as many rounds he has borrowed.

The Pro-am class was just as tight with a hand full of drivers all in with a chance of taking top honours. David Walbrin who has been Mr Consistent all season was still to get to the top spot of the podium, team greens presence is a force to be reckoned with with Matt Carter, Paul Cheshire and Anthony Cahill all driving very well.

Open practice went well for most drivers, some finding the tyre walls and gravel traps very unforgiving but all the drivers managed to make qualifying. One warm up and three judges runs for both classes. Noticeable driving came from Danny O’Brien in the only Automatic car in the championship, he managed to score high 70’s and an 82 to secure second place behind the on form Steven Moore. Kirsty Widdington driving the Autoglym Starlet secured 4th place with some out standing driving. Last but not least Simon Wilson competing in his 1st BDC event only just missed the top 8 runs offs qualifying in 9th place.

The Pro-am class didn’t fail to live up to expectations, Dave Walbrin put on an almost faultless display of drifting and was awarded with an 98 point run, Simon Perry was another driver on form scoring a 94 point run. Other drivers worth a mention are Anthony Cahill being the top Team Green driver in 4th place, Steve Usher competing for the first time in the BDC qualified in 10th and Jordan Butters was happy to make the top 16 qualifying in 15th.

Steven Moore continued to dominate in the Amateur class and showed total commitment and was top of the leader board going into the trophy shout out, joining him were Kirsty Widdrington, Louis Geldart and Jon Stevens keeping his championship hope alive.

The top four shoot out saw some fantastic driving from all four drivers, Louis Geldart being the unlucky driver not to make it on the podium, 3rd place went to Jon Steven, Kirsty Widdington made it on to the podium for the first time with second place and Steven Moore made it 2 rounds on the trot with a fantastic 83 point run.

The twin battles were epic, a few drivers have major problems, Simon Perry with a very poorly car eventually going out to Anthony Cahill, Matt Carter suffered another gearbox failure letting Dave Walbrin continue his way through the finals. Shane Lynch in the Japspeed Skyline was the most aggressive we’ve seen him all year, throwing the car around in an attempt to reach the, finally coming unstuck when attempting to make a move on Anthony Cahill which meant the drivers making contact, Antony was awarded the points and made his way to the final.

The final was set, Dave Walbrin and Anthony Cahill, as the drivers headed to the first corner for the first time Anthony made a huge mistake which saw his car up to the axles in the gravel, his comments to the marshalls on the scene were “I’ve made the final”, it seemed nothing else mattered to the Team green driver, so with a 10 – 0 advantage all Dave had to do was a controlled run to take the victory.

Dave did what was required and won round 5 of the British Drift Championship at Lydden Hill and heads to round 6, the final round at Llandow on Saturday 23rd August with a healthy lead in the championship.

We look forward to seeing you there.