Team Falken at British Drift Championship Round 1: Lydden Hill, Kent
High scores for Team Falken at round one!
Lydden Hill, Kent. – April 20, 2014 – Team Falken kicks off their 2014 campaign with a four-car-strong appearance at the first round of the 2014 Maxxis British Drift Championship at Lydden Hill Race Circuit, Kent. Paul Cheshire and Kirsty Widdrington fail to make the cut amongst tough conditions and competition while Alan Green and Matt Carter qualify high in the rankings and both make it as far as the top 8 in their respective classes.
After a long off-season, the 2014 Maxxis British Drift Championship kicked off in style this Easter weekend at Lydden Hill in Kent. Adjusting to changes made to the cars alongside changeable weather conditions made for an interesting opening round as drivers found their feet following the tenuous off season. During Saturday’s practice event all four Team Falken drivers were in high spirits going into qualifying, despite teething problems with the cars and the circuit’s transition from damp to dry as the day progressed.
Kirsty Widdrington entered into qualification positive following a strong finish last season. Despite this, she was unable to carry her high standard of driving in practice through to qualification, missing the grade in the Semi Pro class for Sunday’s competition. In the Super Pro class Paul Cheshire suffered the same fate, the powerful G35 Skyline going well in practice, but Paul narrowly missing out on a place in the top 16 by ranking in 19th position. Pro driver Alan Green and Super Pro driver Matt Carter were, however, able to carry the baton for Team Falken into Sunday’s main event. Both drivers impressed judges with high speed and aggression, and both qualified high – 3rd position each in their respective classes – a great result for the team!
In the Pro class Alan faced Adam Weeden in the top 16 and, following a spin by Weeden, progressed on to the top 8 to meet Matt Tilyard. Alan led well and pulled a large lead in his first run, but unfortunately a gearbox failure during the second run put paid to his efforts, ending Alan’s competition in 5th place overall.
In the Super Pro competition, former champion Matt Carter won an easy victory in the top 16 as competitor Wesley Keating suffered a mechanical failure on the first run. In the top 8 Matt faced off against a formidable foe in Team Japspeed’s Shane O’Sullivan. Matt put the pressure on, winning the first battle convincingly, but pushed too hard in the second run, sending him into a spin and handing the battle to O’Sullivan. Due to Matt’s high qualifying result, he also sits in 5th position in his class.
“After a long and hard off-season it’s great to be back competing in the BDC,” commented team spokesperson Jordan Butters. “Although Kirsty and Paul narrowly missed out on scoring points, Alan and Matt’s high finishing position puts them in good stead for round two. We’ve got plenty of seat time coming up during our European demo tour over the next few weeks before we return for the next round of the competition. It’s early days still – anything can happen at this point!”
From here the team are busy preparing for their first trip to Europe this year which will see them take in Tuning World Bodensee and the Drift Challenge at Hockenheim in May. Their competition calendar continues on 6-8th June at round two of the Maxxis British Drift Championship at Knockhill Circuit, Scotland.