Sunday morning came quickly and, even though I hate waking up early, the pre-drift event excitement on my mind was enough to make me drag myself out of bed. I arrived at the track and headed over to the new paddock where everyone was setting up. The weather had taken a turn for the worse compared to the previous day's roasting hot sun. The wind had picked up a lot. So much, in fact, that it was blowing tents into the air and whatever else wasn't nailed to the ground. A quick glance up at the sky confirmed that the weather wouldn't be getting any better...But I wasn't about to go home because of a little bad weather and neither was anyone else! Bad weather is what we do best here in the UK so, either way, we were gonna make this an awesome event!
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Posted by: Daniel Bridle | Jul 14, 2010 | Categories: Coverage | Tags: 180SX, 1JZ, 2JZ, Alan McCord, Avon Bellamy, BMW M3 Turbo, Bon Bon, ContourHD, Dan Chapman, Daniel Bridle, Driftworks, Duane Mckeever, Faruk M Kugay, George Tilling, Impreza, Jap Performance Parts, JDM Allstars, Jon Calvert, Kouki, Luke Fink, Martin Ffrench, MashaMoto, Mitto, Monster Energy Drink, Neuton Tyres, Nissan, Nissan Factory, Origin Lab, Paz, Phil Morrison, PS13, RB25, Rota, S13, S14.5, S15, Silvia, SR20, Steve Wills, Subaru, Sunderland, Toyota, Zenki | 14 Comments »
Just four days after the fantastic JDM Allstars Round 2, it was already time for me and video dude extraordinaire Josh Allen to hit the road again and head on up north to the city of Sunderland for Round 3. One long journey on probably the most boring road in the UK later and we finally arrived at our destination - The Nissan Factory.
The fact that Nissan itself was down to hold a drift event outside one of its factories was pretty cool. But the actual location to me was even cooler. Set on a section of land that usually holds hundreds and hundreds of freshly built Nissans, we were surrounded by factory buildings and trees with giant wind turbines looming over head. It's a testament to the JDM Allstars team that they can turn something as bland as a car park into an exciting place to hold their competition.
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Posted by: Daniel Bridle | Jul 09, 2010 | Categories: Coverage | Tags: 200SX, Alan McCord, Anthony Scott, Avon Bellamy, Bon Bon, Dan Chapman, Daniel Bridle, Driftworks, Garage-D, Gary Chapman, George Tilling, HI-Octane Imports, Jap Performance Parts, JDM Allstars, Josh Allen, JoshAllenFilms, Julian Barnes, Luke Fink, Matt Chiappa, Mitto, Neuton Tyres, Newcastle, Nissan, Nissan Factory, Phil Morrison, PS13, R32, R33, Rocket Bunny, S13, S14, S15, Sil80, Silvia, Skyline, Skylinepart, Sunderland, Walton Smith, Zenki | 9 Comments »
When I first heard that
JDM Allstars was coming to
Donington Park for Round 2 of the championship, I was a little confused as to where the event would be held. Would it be on the actual race circuit? Since it's currently under reconstruction, any idea of that went out the window. Would it be on the large plot of land off to the side of the track known as the "
Launch Pad"? Well, since two other drift series have used that area in the past, it didn't seem to fit JDM's approach which usually involves coming up with fresh and exciting course designs.
I later heard that the plan was to hold it on something called the
Donington Alpine Circuit. I had no clue what that was until I came along to the shoot of the promotional video a few weeks back. Then it all became clear. On the outskirts of the main track and the Launch Pad is a fast, wide, almost mountain road-like track that the JDM Crew decided to use. It's made up of four corners and a steep uphill straight where the cars seemingly come out of nowhere and fly over the top. There's a right transition into the second turn, aiming for a clipping point close to the deadly armco, then a transition left into the third turn where you plant the throttle and bring the rear of the car to the armco on the straight, leading to another transition right into the final hairpin turn.
Fast corners, armco barriers on all sides and beautiful scenery all around. This was looking to be one of the most unique and exciting drift events in the JDM Allstars calendar.
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Posted by: Daniel Bridle | Jun 29, 2010 | Categories: Coverage | Tags: 180SX, 1JZ, 200SX, 2JZ, 540i, 6666, AE86, Alam McCord, Alpine Circuit, Anthony Scott, Asus, Avon Bellamy, Bee-R, Ben Morrissey, BMW, Bon Bon, Brad McQueen, Bruno Esperanca, Bryn Alban, Bryn Musselwhite, Chaser, Corolla, Dan Chapman, Daniel Bridle, Donington Park, Drift Donington, Driftworks, Duane Mckeever, E34, Evicted Wear, Federal Tire, George Tilling, Graham Beatty, HI-Octane Imports, Ian Phillips, JDM Allstars, Jon Calvert, JZX100, JZX90, Kazama Auto, Kenny Lam, Kouki, Levin, LOW-BRAIN Drifters, LS3, Luke Fink, Maciej Bochenek, Mark Norfolk, Martin Ffrench, Matthew Steele, Mint Tyres, Mitto, Monster Energy Drink, Neuton Tires, Nissan, Origin Aggressive, Origin Lab, Origin Stream, Ouch Tattoo Studio, Pawel Trela, Phil Morrison, poland, Powervehicles, R32, R324, R33, RB26, Robin Neeson, Rocket Bunny, S13.4, S14, s14a, S15, Severnside Imports, Sil80, Silvia, Skyline, Skylinepart, Southern Style, SR20DET, Steve Wills, SuperMade, Team Twisted, touge, Touge Automotive, Touring, Toyota, Tra-Kyoto, UK, V8, Vincent Noott, Zenki | 29 Comments »