Finale of the 2013 Maxxis British Drift Championship

The finale of the 2013 Maxxis British Drift Championship took place at the infamous Knockhill circuit last weekend, with the winners taking home silverware and champions taking home well-sought after championship titles.

Practice kicked off on Saturday afternoon for the Semi-Pro, Pro and Super-Pro drivers, with the top two classes spending their time getting accustomed to Knockhill’s notoriously difficult first corner. With all three classes being far from sewn up there was a wide array of drivers in the running to take home the three championship titles, so it was vital that they found every last drop of performance from their cars.

We have been graced with the presence of a number of international drifters throughout the season and Round 5 was no exception, with Australia’s Luke Fink flying over to join in the fun along with a number of big name Irish drivers such as Duane McKeever and Alan McCord.

After two practice sessions for all three classes it was time for qualifying. Each driver had just three chances to nail a perfect run in which they had to match the judging criteria as closely as possible and get as close as possible to the five clipping points. Once the dust had settled, Olly Silcock, Adam Simmons and Tony Walker found themselves at the sharp end of the Semi-Pro class, Jay White, Paul Cheshire and TJ Berney took the lead in Pro and Shane O’Sullivan, Duane McKeever and Phil Morrison took the top three places in Super-Pro.

Sunday afternoon would see the running of the Top 16 battles for each class and if the drivers wanted to capitalise on their championship positions and gain as many points as possible they had no option but to push themselves to the limit.

In the Semi-Pro class there were many fantastic battles but it was Car Loan 4U team mates Matt Samuel and Joe Ankers that found themselves in the final, with Matt eventually emerging the victor.

In the Pro class the competition was turned up another notch, with Irishmen Gary Dunne and TJ Berney making it through to the final having eliminated all of the championship favorites. It was Gary that emerged the victor, with TJ in second and Slide Motorsport’s Ben Manuel in third.

The Super-Pro class was undoubtedly the highlight of the weekend for the spectators, with the standard of driving truly at a world class level. International visitor Luke Fink was knocked out in the Top 16 stage by eventual winner Jamie Kenyon, but thrilling battles between Wesley Keating & Alan McCord and Mike Marshall & Paul Conlon made for thrilling spectating. The final saw first time finalists Jamie Kenyon and Wesley Keating go head to head in an awesome finale that eventually saw Jamie emerge victorious ahead of the determined Irishman.

After five incredible rounds it was time for the officials to tally the scores and determine the 2013 Maxxis British Drift Championship Semi Pro, Pro and Super Pro championship winners!

In Semi Pro, Car Loan 4U’s Matt Samuel claimed championship victory with a commanding 90 points ahead of Matt Hitchcock (60 points) and Monster Energy’s Luke Woodham on 59 points.

In the Pro class, the ever-consistent Jay Green took the championship with 81 points ahead of Team MnM’s Jay White (74 points) and Team Falken’s Paul Cheshire on 72 points.

Throughout the 2013 season the Super-Pro championship has had no clear leader, with a whole brace of drivers taking victory across the five rounds. However, it was consistency that was eventually rewarded with Team MnM’s Mike Marshall claiming the Super-Pro title on 86 points, with Team Lassa’s Simon Perry in second place on 76 points and Driftworks’ Phil Morrison in third with 72 points.

In the constructors championship, Car Loan 4U took the title with 208 points ahead of Team MnM on 190 points and Slide Motorsport with 168 points.