Category Archives: Team Falken

Falken Racing–Team Falken at British Drift Championship Round 5: Silverstone Circuit, Northants

Team Falken at British Drift Championship Round 5: Silverstone Circuit, Northants

Silverstone, Northants – Team Falken’s Matt Carter and Paul Cheshire put on an exciting drifting display at the UK’s largest modified car event, TRAX, at the world-famous Silverstone Circuit.

The fifth round of the 2014 British Drift Championship would be a Super Pro-only affair, and would take place on the Brooklands and Luffield bends of the legendary Silverstone GP circuit in Northamptonshire. Team Falken’s Matt Carter and Paul Cheshire would take part in the competition, hoping to secure valuable points in the penultimate event of the season. Continue reading Falken Racing–Team Falken at British Drift Championship Round 5: Silverstone Circuit, Northants

Team Falken at British Drift Championship Round 4: Lydden Hill, Kent

Team Falken at British Drift Championship Round 4: Lydden Hill, Kent

A challenging time at Lydden Hill

Lydden Hill, Kent – August 10, 2014 – For the first time in the circuit’s history, Lydden Hill Circuit in Kent would be run in reverse configuration during the fourth round of the 2014 Maxxis British Drift Championship. A heavy crash during practice would see an end to Alan Green’s weekend, although thankfully no serious injuries were sustained. Matt Carter qualifies in 5th position and makes it as far as the Top 16, although both Paul Cheshire and Kirsty Widdrington fail to make the grade this time.
Continue reading Team Falken at British Drift Championship Round 4: Lydden Hill, Kent

Team Falken–Team Falken at British Drift Championship Round 2: Knockhill Racing Circuit, Scotland Against the elements in Scotland!


Dunfermline, Scotland – June 9, 2014 – Team Falken battles both the competition and the elements at round two of the 2014 Maxxis Tyres British Drift Championship at Knockhill Racing Circuit, Fife, Scotland. As the weather fluctuates between sun and torrential downpours, the team deliver a strong performance overall – Kirsty Widdrington makes it as far as the Top 8 in the Semi Pro class while Paul Cheshire makes the Top 16 in the Super Pro competition. Matt Carter qualifies third in Super Pro and goes on to finish fourth overall!

Stiff competition and gloomy forecasts greeted the Falken UK drift team as they arrived at Knockhill Racing Circuit in Fife, Scotland for round two of the 2014 Maxxis Tyres British Drift Championship. Wit
h a huge storm forecast to hit during Semi Pro qualifying on the Saturday, Kirsty Widdrington was against the elements to put on a strong showing. Despite the qualifying track resembling a lake come Kirsty’s runs, she held her own and qualified in 15th position. Come the Sunday morning it was Alan Green’s turn to qualify in the Pro class on the main circuit – despite his best efforts, Alan was unable to keep his 180sx on the track and failed to make the grade. In the Super Pro class both Paul and Matt drove incredibly well on a temporarily dry track, qualifying in 16th and third positions, respectively.

Kirsty would face Knockhill’s main circuit and the formidable Duffus Dip corner in the dry for the first time come the Top 16 on Sunday morning. Kirsty quickly adjusted to the extra grip and battled on, earning a One More Time run against Ryan Pothecary in her first battles, which she went on to win, taking her to the Top 8. There she would face Jack Symes and, despite Kirsty leading well, the judges deemed that Jack lead better, ending Kirsty’s day by the narrowest of margins.

In the Super Pro competition, Paul Cheshire would face a tough battle against top qualifier Wesley Keating. Paul and Wesley matched each other blow-for-blow and this battle would also go to a One More Time. In an attempt to put pressure on Wesley, Paul went in too hot on the final bend and spins, handing the win to Wesley. Matt Carter would pair up against Lassa Tyres’ Jody Fletcher in his first battle just as spots of rain start to hit the track. Matt stayed composed and made swift work of Jody, before going up against Matt Tilyard in the Top 8. Right on cue the heavens opened, forcing Matt to quickly adjust his tyre pressures to suit the lower grip levels. Matt dealt with the change of conditions well, and forced a spin from Tilyard, landing him in the Semi Finals against Monster Energy’s Stephen Biagioni. Under torrential conditions Matt and Stephen go all out, almost touching bumpers at times and forcing yet another One More Time. This time Stephen manages to pull a gap on Matt and, by the finest of margins, Matt is knocked out but takes fourth place overall and putting him second in the 2014 championship standings.

“Knockhill and the infamous Scottish weather certainly threw some surprises at us!” commented team spokesperson Jordan Butters. “It was very hard to predict what conditions we would be driving in for each set of battles, but the team did an incredible job of adjusting to the track under some of the hardest rain we’ve ever seen in competitive drifting. Despite this, we had three good qualifications and the team are in good standings across all three classes – fingers crossed for some sun at round three!”

From here the team head out to Germany again for the annual Nürburgring N24 race, where they will perform demonstrations and passenger runs in front of over 250,000 hardcore race fans on the world famous GP circuit. Their competition calendar continues on 19-20th July at round three of the Maxxis British Drift Championship at Teesside Autodrome, Middlesborough.

Team Falken return to the UK following successful demonstrations in Europe

Team Falken return to the UK following successful demonstrations in Europe

London, England – June 1, 2014 – After busy demonstration events at the Bodensee Tuning World show and the Hockenheim Drift Challenge in Germany in front of thousands of motorsport and tuning fans, the Falken drift team have returned to the UK in anticipation of their next competition event next weekend.

The team first visited the annual Tuning World Bodensee event at the start of May to performance live drift demonstrations and passenger rides in the outdoor area. Having become a regular feature in the show, fans lined the live action arena to watch the team perform and queued in their thousands to meet and greet the drivers. Alongside Paul, Alan, Matt and Kirsty from the UK, Irish Drift Champion James Deane was in attendance as well as Dutch drifting duo Remmo Niezen and Lars Verbraeken.

Just two weeks later the Falken collective would congregate again at the Hockenheimring for the Hockenheim Tuner GP and Drift Challenge. This low-pressure event on the challenging world-famous circuit gave the drivers the chance to hone their skills ahead of the upcoming British Drift Championship round at Knockhill Circuit in Scotland.

The cars are currently making their way back to the UK to be prepared for their next competition event. With Matt Carter and Alan Green both sitting in 5th position in their respective classes and Paul and Kirsty in 11th in theirs, there’s still everything to play for and the team’s performance at round two will be crucial. 

Team Falken Racing–Team Falken at British Drift Championship Round 1: Lydden Hill, Kent

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.