After 2000 miles, five incredible circuits, and over a week on the road; Baggsy and the SB Motorsport Team crossed the finish line of the 2023 Monster Energy Up In Smoke Tour. Tyres were shredded, memories made, and the bar for drift road road trips was forever raised. If you weren’t able to come along, or meet the tour on the road or on the track; here’s a quick round-up of what went down. |
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| First things first though – the only rule of the tour was… No pro-cars and no competition spec built engines. It was all about taking drifting back to its roots, and with the help of Monster Energy; reminding everybody why they fell in love with drifting in the first place. Spending time with your friends, driving street legal cars, and making tyre smoke filled memories! |
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| For the Tour Baggsy and the SB Motorsport Team built and prepped three Nissan 350Z – adding custom parts from GKTech, ST Suspension, BBS Wheels, Hel Performance, Forge Motorsport, Zestino Tyres, Samco Sport, EBC, Japspeed, Sparco, K&N Airfilters, Abbey Motorsport and Sparco. Check out the build breakdown of Baggsy’s 350Z here… |
| As May 12th rolled round, it was time to hit the road. For the first time since the venue closed in 2018, Rockingham Motor Speedway in the UK opened its doors to drifting – allowing Baggsy and the Up In Smoke Tour to kick off the week in epic style. Universal Studios newest release of the Fast and Furious franchise – FastX – also jumped on board – creating an incredible atmosphere on and off the track. Baggsy took key media and influencers for laps of the track – check out the footage here… |
| As the day wrapped – the tour headed for Ferries bound for the Netherlands; where stop number two awaited. First off a visit to X-Car Wrapping and the Dutch Monster Energy team for a cars and Monster takeover. JDM, Americana and Euro style cars all mixed together in the summer sun, with cold Monster cans for good measure. The next day, the Tour linked up with Rick Van Goethem, and headed to the Foundation Midland Circuit in Lelystad to shred the tread for a full day on the asphalt. Waving goodbye to the Netherlands – stop three called for an epic road trip leg; spanning nearly 600 miles south, with an overnight stop in Luxembourg. The drive was worth it however; as a private circuit awaited – run by former Gymkhana GRiD competitor and star of Netflix HyperDrive; Alex Claudin. BBQs and burnouts were the order of the day in France. Baggsy’s former team mate, and Monster Energy ambassador Shane Lynch ran the grill in between drift sessions, making for an unreal day four – and the half way mark of the tour. |
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| An early start after the previous day’s action in Lyon brought more twisting roads, streeto-worthy passes, and a final night time run into the mountains to Andorra. With exclusive use of the 2400 meter-above-seal level Circuit Andorra Pas de la Casa – famous for hosting the annual Trophée Andros ice race – the surrounding snow-peak mountains echoed with limiter bashing and tyre slaying like never before. |
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| Sadly all things must come to an end; and with Andorra fading in the rear view mirror, the Tour headed for its final stop in France – at the Circuit Bourbonnais. With a final day of tyre slaying in the books, there was only one thing left to do – light all the leftover smoke flares and fireworks… but that’s a story for another time… |