Well,
After learning the hard way that Abbey always turn the boost controllers off after they map cars, and that 275bhp isnt really enough to do 3rd gear well anymore with the grip we now have, I turned on the controller, found many powers and enjoyed great sidewaysness.
Then it rained.
Then suddenly it was a bit of a lottery.
But I managed to qualify in 12th which means I will be running tomorrow in anger !!
WooooooooooHoooooooooooooooo !!!!
J.
Seeya all in a few hours !!!
EDC - North Weald
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Bladerider
- Posts: 1597
- Joined: Sat Aug 26, 2006 2:51 am
- Location: nowhere !!!
- Contact:
James and Mark were on form again. Both qualified in the top 16 (of the UK as EDC is the premier national drift series).
Sadly Mark overdid it on his twin run when qualifying for the top 8 and found the grass on the first turn which wrecked his chances.
James beat the championship leader Mark Johnston to progress to the top 8 and was eventually beaten by Brett Castle who went on to win the day. He went out in spectacular fashion by demolishing a section of infield and giving a camerman a fright. If that was a Motors TV cam that will be an interesting clip.
The top three were Brett Castle, Phil Morrison and Ben Broke Smith.
The show itself isn't one I'd normally be interested in but the drifting made the day.
Props to Bladey and Sweeps, I don't know how James stays so calm just ahead of a national final.
Sadly Mark overdid it on his twin run when qualifying for the top 8 and found the grass on the first turn which wrecked his chances.
James beat the championship leader Mark Johnston to progress to the top 8 and was eventually beaten by Brett Castle who went on to win the day. He went out in spectacular fashion by demolishing a section of infield and giving a camerman a fright. If that was a Motors TV cam that will be an interesting clip.
The top three were Brett Castle, Phil Morrison and Ben Broke Smith.
The show itself isn't one I'd normally be interested in but the drifting made the day.
Props to Bladey and Sweeps, I don't know how James stays so calm just ahead of a national final.
James had one of the most consistent drifts all the way from initiation into the roundabout and back out the other side I saw all day. Loads of angle from the moment the hydro went on, and the angle just stayed there without straightening or spinning for about 200 yards.
Considering people like Pete Barber (who scored 99/100 at eurodrift a couple of weeks ago and didn't put a foot wrong that day) were struggling at the roundabout showed how tricky conditions were. Soaking wet then completely dry but still on peri track spec concrete.
LOL re the culling. thats kind of what I was thinking but too scared to voice lest I disappeared under a chav avalanche. To be fair, the ones asking questions in the crowd watching the drifting all seemed genuinely interested.
Considering people like Pete Barber (who scored 99/100 at eurodrift a couple of weeks ago and didn't put a foot wrong that day) were struggling at the roundabout showed how tricky conditions were. Soaking wet then completely dry but still on peri track spec concrete.
LOL re the culling. thats kind of what I was thinking but too scared to voice lest I disappeared under a chav avalanche. To be fair, the ones asking questions in the crowd watching the drifting all seemed genuinely interested.
It was great watching Bladey, he was on fire from what I saw ... and like Dunk, that show is scary .... I honestly honestly saw a crowd videoing the flames created by a flamer kit on a 1.1 fiesta ...
They needed to drop a sterilisation bomb on the place so they couldn't pro-create ... (after we had gone home mind)
They needed to drop a sterilisation bomb on the place so they couldn't pro-create ... (after we had gone home mind)
Dum spiro, spero
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Bladerider
- Posts: 1597
- Joined: Sat Aug 26, 2006 2:51 am
- Location: nowhere !!!
- Contact:
Sorry I couldnt deliver another BigPower podium guys !!!
Considering what happened on the day I have to say I am chuffed at what I managed to acheive yesterday. Mark Johnston was on fire all weekend, and he hasnt been beaten all year in Tsuiso - he only dropped out of round2 with mechanical problems. We did our first runs and I knew the grip on my car just isnt as high as a lot of the top runners, so the only chance I would have is to do what I did against Tony Green at Knockhill and slow right down in the mid section to hope they have to straighten.
From my perspective I thought Mark was "playing games" or just driving slower into the first corner and matched his speed, followed him closely and had a reasonable run, then when I led I went at the speed I wanted, slowed as much as I could for the back end of the roundabout and then came out fine - which got me a "one more time". The problems started when at this point the event organisers decided to spend over 10 minutes filling some of the water barriers up with more water after kieron nearly made it through them into the crowd !!! i suffered from a mild panic attack - I tend to be pretty nervous anyways, and have worked hard to learn to calm myself down and keep it at bay, but 10 minutes of hanging around, against the championship leader after you have just held him and start to realise you CAN beat him is a bit more focus than I can muster right now !!! Fortunately Mark from Abbeys was at the start line, I reversed up to him, called him over and asked him to just talk to me before I went barkling mad and would likely as not spin out at 120mph on the first entry manfoot style !!!
Alec the starter called us both to the line, we held for another minute and then fortunately the judges gave us another practice run to see how the track was, settle nerves and so on. That went well, I followed Mark for the first run and again we seemed to be having trouble matching our pace, but I followed him pretty well with what I thought would be a 5-5 or maybe 6-4 run, but l.ater got told they gave it to Mark 7-3. My turn to lead, normally the point of make it or break it for me, and I led off at the pace I wanted, normal run for me and just nailed it - as Clive kindly said - instead of taking my usual line into the second corner I slowed as much as possible, left foot braking, changing down early, holding the car as tight with as much angle as possible, clipped the apex at about 4inches, powered out, made sure there wasnt enough space for a full overtake while maintaining as much speed as I could on the way out. Because I could hear Marks wastegate by my ear pretty much the whole run, and the fact he got alongsiode me at the end of the course - although actually outside the judged area - I guessed he had gone through, although I was pleased at my performance I was stilled pished off that I hadnt won.
At this point Mark Buckle (Sweeps) came over, shock my hand looking really pleased and said "I dont know why you've parked over here mate, you fooking beat him, well done" !!!!!!!! At this I must admit I became a tad teary for a few seconds, I just couldnt believe it, I was just gobsmacked. This meant I had just beaten the best driver in Europe, and unfortunately just ended his title hopes. Mark J came over and said well done, but was pretty pissed at what he thought was me going too slowly. I felt pretty crap at this point and didnt want anyone to think I had done the dirty on him which I class deliberately going too slow into the first corner, the second corner is racing and at that point I will do anything I can, but the first one is meant to be a fair initiation to give both drivers a good starting point for their run.
Without getting suckered into it all, every driver backed me and even Mark J himself once calmed down agreed that I had been fair and just outdrove/out thought him. Which is all I cared about, I dont ever want to be acused of poor driving. It turned out he had had to straighten at least twice, so much so that Sleepy scored it 9-1 in my favour, which meant I was now Top8 for the secoind time in a row, and about to face once of my best mates in drifting - Brett Castle - in one of my sponsors main car, who was now able to win the championship, if I DIDNT beat him !!! Talk about alot to think about in the pits fopr the next hour or so !!! Yikes !!!!
When it came to the top 8 runs and we had been introduced to the crowds and had some fun skidding in front of the cameras it was down to business - I just wanted to beat the guy next to me, the fact it was brett and Abbeys didnt matter, it was just another car, and if I wanted to progress I had to do him. The only change I made was to my strategy. I didnt want anyone to say I hadnt gone into the first corner as fast as I could, so when it came to the practice runs I went a bit faster than before, in fact quite a bit faster as the track was now almost dry on that section - trouble was the tricky roundabout section was still pretty wet and slick. My practice showed me there was more grip than I thought as i had to straighten quite badly, and when it came to the roundabout Brett actually touched me and made a pass on the exit of the course.
First run, me leading and I went in as hard as I could - I just didnt have the grip to make a tight line round the roundabout at thos entry speeds, ran a cars width wide which was all the invite Brett needed as he pulled level and we went round for the last corner. There was no way I was going to hit him and piossibly mess up his championship so I didnt try to force the point and he must have got an 8-2 or 9-1 which he fully deserved for such awesome driving. Second run, he led, and I was expecting him to shoot off, which he did, but I easily matched him for pace, but this meant we were now initiating towards a wet section of course at around 85-90mph !!! I followed him as hard as possible, and he had actually made a slight mistake, coming in too close to the grass, I thought we might actually go off course but we didnt, I went for it but ultimately just couldnt match Bretts grip or skills, he had me beat. But then the guy has been doing it several years before me, was UK champion before I started drifting and has a car that is just that bit grippier than mine, so I guess I cant be too dispondant !!
One other highlight was I think during my first run against Brett (or maybe the practice) I was so determined not to lift that I knew I was going to hit the barrier on the inside at the start of the roundabout, so I clutched kicked in 3rd to get that bit wider line, but not quite enough (by about 4inches) and proper hit the barriers, not really noticeable in the car, and not enough to alter my line a millimeter, but enough to rip off the front right corner of the car - splitter, bumper end spat, piece of wing and pretty much Fubar that right front wing - so hopefully over the closed season I will be able to find a nice bodywork sponsor who enjoys a challenge !!!!
Apologies for not getting a better result, but personally, given the consitions, given who I was up against, and given the physical limits of the car I dont think I could have done much better. Im pleased, I now finally believe I have arrived in the top flight of drivers and can go toe to toe with them and maybe not be a 50/50 chance to win, but not a 10-1 shot either !!!
Oh and without wanting to count my chicken, I believe this means I have reached my "wet dreams spec" target for the year of finishing the year in the top 10 - which considering I didnt even qualify in the first event at Donington, means I have done that in only 3 rounds - and should hopefully mean that I am in the prestigious "Single Digit" club for next year !!!!
WoooooooooooooooooooooHooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo !!!!!!!!!!
Chuffed Bladey !!!
Cheers of course to my sponsors:
GBH Motorsport..............Almost everything !!!...http://www.gbhmotosport.co.uk
Abbey Motorsport...........ECU and mapping........http://www.abbeymotorsport.co.uk
Yokohama Tyres............Tyres (thank god !!).....http://www.yokohama.co.uk
Fulford Motorsport..........Body and Paint.............01206 323126
HKS..............................Parts...........................http://www.hkseurope.com
Yau Imports..................New car and parts
Without these guys I couldnt have even thought about competing this year, so big up to the lot of them !!!
Im knackered !!!
Seeya on wednesday !!
J.
Considering what happened on the day I have to say I am chuffed at what I managed to acheive yesterday. Mark Johnston was on fire all weekend, and he hasnt been beaten all year in Tsuiso - he only dropped out of round2 with mechanical problems. We did our first runs and I knew the grip on my car just isnt as high as a lot of the top runners, so the only chance I would have is to do what I did against Tony Green at Knockhill and slow right down in the mid section to hope they have to straighten.
From my perspective I thought Mark was "playing games" or just driving slower into the first corner and matched his speed, followed him closely and had a reasonable run, then when I led I went at the speed I wanted, slowed as much as I could for the back end of the roundabout and then came out fine - which got me a "one more time". The problems started when at this point the event organisers decided to spend over 10 minutes filling some of the water barriers up with more water after kieron nearly made it through them into the crowd !!! i suffered from a mild panic attack - I tend to be pretty nervous anyways, and have worked hard to learn to calm myself down and keep it at bay, but 10 minutes of hanging around, against the championship leader after you have just held him and start to realise you CAN beat him is a bit more focus than I can muster right now !!! Fortunately Mark from Abbeys was at the start line, I reversed up to him, called him over and asked him to just talk to me before I went barkling mad and would likely as not spin out at 120mph on the first entry manfoot style !!!
Alec the starter called us both to the line, we held for another minute and then fortunately the judges gave us another practice run to see how the track was, settle nerves and so on. That went well, I followed Mark for the first run and again we seemed to be having trouble matching our pace, but I followed him pretty well with what I thought would be a 5-5 or maybe 6-4 run, but l.ater got told they gave it to Mark 7-3. My turn to lead, normally the point of make it or break it for me, and I led off at the pace I wanted, normal run for me and just nailed it - as Clive kindly said - instead of taking my usual line into the second corner I slowed as much as possible, left foot braking, changing down early, holding the car as tight with as much angle as possible, clipped the apex at about 4inches, powered out, made sure there wasnt enough space for a full overtake while maintaining as much speed as I could on the way out. Because I could hear Marks wastegate by my ear pretty much the whole run, and the fact he got alongsiode me at the end of the course - although actually outside the judged area - I guessed he had gone through, although I was pleased at my performance I was stilled pished off that I hadnt won.
At this point Mark Buckle (Sweeps) came over, shock my hand looking really pleased and said "I dont know why you've parked over here mate, you fooking beat him, well done" !!!!!!!! At this I must admit I became a tad teary for a few seconds, I just couldnt believe it, I was just gobsmacked. This meant I had just beaten the best driver in Europe, and unfortunately just ended his title hopes. Mark J came over and said well done, but was pretty pissed at what he thought was me going too slowly. I felt pretty crap at this point and didnt want anyone to think I had done the dirty on him which I class deliberately going too slow into the first corner, the second corner is racing and at that point I will do anything I can, but the first one is meant to be a fair initiation to give both drivers a good starting point for their run.
Without getting suckered into it all, every driver backed me and even Mark J himself once calmed down agreed that I had been fair and just outdrove/out thought him. Which is all I cared about, I dont ever want to be acused of poor driving. It turned out he had had to straighten at least twice, so much so that Sleepy scored it 9-1 in my favour, which meant I was now Top8 for the secoind time in a row, and about to face once of my best mates in drifting - Brett Castle - in one of my sponsors main car, who was now able to win the championship, if I DIDNT beat him !!! Talk about alot to think about in the pits fopr the next hour or so !!! Yikes !!!!
When it came to the top 8 runs and we had been introduced to the crowds and had some fun skidding in front of the cameras it was down to business - I just wanted to beat the guy next to me, the fact it was brett and Abbeys didnt matter, it was just another car, and if I wanted to progress I had to do him. The only change I made was to my strategy. I didnt want anyone to say I hadnt gone into the first corner as fast as I could, so when it came to the practice runs I went a bit faster than before, in fact quite a bit faster as the track was now almost dry on that section - trouble was the tricky roundabout section was still pretty wet and slick. My practice showed me there was more grip than I thought as i had to straighten quite badly, and when it came to the roundabout Brett actually touched me and made a pass on the exit of the course.
First run, me leading and I went in as hard as I could - I just didnt have the grip to make a tight line round the roundabout at thos entry speeds, ran a cars width wide which was all the invite Brett needed as he pulled level and we went round for the last corner. There was no way I was going to hit him and piossibly mess up his championship so I didnt try to force the point and he must have got an 8-2 or 9-1 which he fully deserved for such awesome driving. Second run, he led, and I was expecting him to shoot off, which he did, but I easily matched him for pace, but this meant we were now initiating towards a wet section of course at around 85-90mph !!! I followed him as hard as possible, and he had actually made a slight mistake, coming in too close to the grass, I thought we might actually go off course but we didnt, I went for it but ultimately just couldnt match Bretts grip or skills, he had me beat. But then the guy has been doing it several years before me, was UK champion before I started drifting and has a car that is just that bit grippier than mine, so I guess I cant be too dispondant !!
One other highlight was I think during my first run against Brett (or maybe the practice) I was so determined not to lift that I knew I was going to hit the barrier on the inside at the start of the roundabout, so I clutched kicked in 3rd to get that bit wider line, but not quite enough (by about 4inches) and proper hit the barriers, not really noticeable in the car, and not enough to alter my line a millimeter, but enough to rip off the front right corner of the car - splitter, bumper end spat, piece of wing and pretty much Fubar that right front wing - so hopefully over the closed season I will be able to find a nice bodywork sponsor who enjoys a challenge !!!!
Apologies for not getting a better result, but personally, given the consitions, given who I was up against, and given the physical limits of the car I dont think I could have done much better. Im pleased, I now finally believe I have arrived in the top flight of drivers and can go toe to toe with them and maybe not be a 50/50 chance to win, but not a 10-1 shot either !!!
Oh and without wanting to count my chicken, I believe this means I have reached my "wet dreams spec" target for the year of finishing the year in the top 10 - which considering I didnt even qualify in the first event at Donington, means I have done that in only 3 rounds - and should hopefully mean that I am in the prestigious "Single Digit" club for next year !!!!
WoooooooooooooooooooooHooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo !!!!!!!!!!
Chuffed Bladey !!!
Cheers of course to my sponsors:
GBH Motorsport..............Almost everything !!!...http://www.gbhmotosport.co.uk
Abbey Motorsport...........ECU and mapping........http://www.abbeymotorsport.co.uk
Yokohama Tyres............Tyres (thank god !!).....http://www.yokohama.co.uk
Fulford Motorsport..........Body and Paint.............01206 323126
HKS..............................Parts...........................http://www.hkseurope.com
Yau Imports..................New car and parts
Without these guys I couldnt have even thought about competing this year, so big up to the lot of them !!!
Im knackered !!!
Seeya on wednesday !!
J.
I have issues !!! 
....I used to be average, now I reminisce !!!
....I used to be average, now I reminisce !!!