Team Falken head north for Round 2 of the British Drift Championship to take on the ever daunting
Knockhill race circuit, Fife, Scotland. With all drivers qualifying for battles and Matt Carter getting
as far as the great 8 but unfortunately could not progress any further it was a strong effort from
Team Falken which has filled them with confidence going into Round 3.
With a damp start to the weekend which later lead to a cold drizzle on the Saturday afternoon the
Pro Am drivers didn’t have it easy and any sign of grip was lost due to a greasy tarmac surface.
Kirsty however dialled in her Silva in free practice ready to show the judges she has what it takes
to advance into the battles. With a solid 1st run this sat her in 17th ready to take on Lewis Mitchell
in her top 32 battle. She wasn’t able to match the pace of Lewis who later went on to take the win.
Sunday was much improved with both the weather and the results. Matt and Paul took to the hill for
the first time this weekend after skipping a wet free practice on Saturday, It gave them the chance
to adjust their new TDP geometry arms to suit the Knockhill circuit and really put it thought their
paces in their 2 hour free practice on Sunday.
The qualifying runs got underway and a little downpour made things very interesting to start with.
some of the track was bone dry while other parts where still very greasy and drivers where finding
it hard to find the perfect balance.
Paul quotes “ I feel the car is driving well this year with the off season changes. It is enabling me to
consistently qualify for battles and really mix it up with the big names in the British Drift
Championship. Hopefully I can tame the G35 some more and start to see some strong results
going forward.
After a short lunch break the sun did decide to come out over the Knockhill Circuit and quickly
dried up the the track ready for the battles to take places. The outside of the track filled up with
spectators ready to see the competition unfold.
Matt took on TJ Burney in his first battle and he did not take no prisoners. He put in a good lead
run which enabled him to easy off his chase run and make sure he was on the qualifying line
tohand him the win.
Paul took on Alex Law in his very low S14 in his top 32 battle and won this taken him onto the top
16 and up against Mark Luney.
Unfortunately this is where it ended for Paul with him making a few mistakes and dropping a wheel
on to the dirt in the last corner it handed the win to Mark who advanced thought to the great 8 and
come up against our very own Matt Carter who had his best drive yet against Steve Biagioni in a
rematch from last year but this time in the dry. Matt went in hard and drove right on Steve’s door to
take the victory and advance to the top 8.
Matt was feeling confident after this but just couldn’t quite control his R32 and crashed out on the
first corner in his great 8 battle. He quotes that it all happened so fast i didn’t really know what went
on but with my aggressive driving style there was never going to be room for any error.
The team come away from Knockhill with high hopes for round 3 at Teesside in a few weeks time
with previous podium