Lex

Last weekend saw the GT Battle Round 4 event return to Silverstone race circuit, Northants. With all to play for in both the D1GB and Time Attack and the last Round prior to the finals, good results were needed for the top contenders to place themselves well for the finals……what happened?..... D1GB SVA Imports D1 Z33 The familiar surrounding of Silverstone combined with the huge jump in skills required in Round 3 at Knockhill was always going to mean the boys would put on a fantastic show at Round 4 with some fears squashed by the courage required for Knockhill’s Seat corner and the boys didn’t disappoint! Even with a wet start in the morning, only a couple of drivers managed to fall foul of the gravel trap at the first turn giving a clear indication that the cars and drivers have yet again moved the game for the better. In qualifying it was Morrison, Luney and Marshall in the top 3 all showing great form and scoring consistent points throughout the solo runs. Also making their first appearance was Tony Green in the MotorPoint Soarer, Pete Barber in his PS13 Silvia and the man on the move, Mark Johnston in the Weston RPS13 Silvia, all showing good form in their first professional drift event. Ben 'Bon-Bon' Broke Smith vs Paul Vasblom With qualifying finished and the Top 16 announced for the twin drift, the first man up was Morrison, who was leading the Championship with everything to play for, up against Ian Harrison. With Harrison putting up a fight which proved not enough for Morrison’s effort as Morrison moved on to face Autoglym’s Evans in the Top 8. The most remarkable battle in the first runs was between Luney and new-comer Green. With Green over powering Luney down the straight section, Luney was finding it hard to challenge with less power and fought with everything he had to allow his experience to take charge over Green. As a close fought affair the pair went onto a run ‘ one more time ‘ and only with Green making what proved to be a fatal spin on his second run did it push Luney through to the Top 8 with a sigh of relief that Green made a simple mistake to push himself out. Also making good viewing was the drive between Polish contender Polody and the SVA Imports car of Crampton, with Crampton struggling to compete after a failing handbrake meant he had to fight without a good entry angle at the first transition, allowing Polody to take a clear win. With the Top 4 running order, it would show two of the most experienced drifters coming together for a close run, almost too close to call between Mulvey and Morrison, both hungry for the Championship points. With Morrison unable to show the small edge over Mulveys advantage, Mulvey went on to put himself into the final against the victor over Polody in the Top 4 of Luney. Damien Mulvey vs Mark Lunney in Final As the final came, the anticipation of the crowd shone through, expecting to see these two putting an unforgettable show and they didn’t disappoint. With the close pairing of the days best, who one by one picked off the other 14 drivers, it was Mulvey who suffered defeat as his RPS13 suffered some serious mis-fire issues from his engine on their second pass, resulting in no power to challenge the might of D1GB favourite, Mark Luney who stormed ahead to use his experience and well prepared car to be crowned the winner of Round 4 of the D1GB – and well deserved it was, well done to Mark Luney and the WK Developments/Kerr Tyre Nissan Skyline R32! How close?? As well as podium trophies, the HKS Hard Charger Award was awarded on the day to the driver showing the best determination and ambition, this award was presented to Polish entry, Maciej Polody who has constantly improved his skill and was able to demonstrate that with the right luck he could challenge the UK’s best and put on a fantastic show for the crowd. Well done Maciej Points table after round 4 http://d1gb.co.uk/points_table.asp Time Attack RC Developments Evo6 dominates Silverstone again With an over subscribed field of cars for Round 4, the Time Attack finally touched down with the masses as the record entry numbers and spectators came together to experience what Time Attack is and the pressure it creates for the drivers. As well as the Pro and Club classes, introduced for the first time was the ‘ Open Wheeled Class ‘ , for lightweight sportcars of non saloon body type, such as Dax Rush/Caterham/Ariels. With a wet start to the day in Practice, both the Pro and Club Challenge cars showed slower lap times that the previous meeting however as the second practice session began and dry racing line appeared around the circuit, the MST timing began to shoot out some spectacular times. In the Pro class, Norris and Seddon were once again at locked in battle as their Evo’s laid down some terrific times in the 1.01min bracket with the Club Challenge front runners of Bly and Horsham knocking on the door of 1.05mins. In the all new Open Wheel Class, Duncan Cowper and Andrew Smith managed to sneak between the Pro and Club classes to lay some 1.02 and 1.03 lap times in their super light vehicles. With a Grid of 29 cars making the Club Challenge, 4 in the Open Wheeled and 14 making the Pro class, the sight on track was phenomenal during the sessions with not one of them under 200bhp and some exceeding 800bhp. The long awaited extra power in the Sumo Evo 8 promised some quick times but teething troubles with a brand new engine setup meant that Round 4 wasn’t the day for it to shine though and show its full potential as the final for the Pro class got underway. Also suffering mechanical problems was the Litchfield entry of Keen who was unable show the blistering performance of the Subaru as seen in previous rounds. Norris Designs 800+hp Evo9 SWB vs Fensport 650hp Celica in SuperBattle As the final of the Pro’s took shape, including Rocket Ronnie in the Abbey GTR and John Terzidis in the Autoergonomics Evo 8, shipped inform Greece to participate at the event, the clear pattern from earlier in the day continued at Norris and Seddon clashed set very close times, with Norris being piped to 1st place with a 1.02.178, by Seddon in the RC Evo with a 1.01.140, enough to once again show the incredible pace of their machine and claim yet another 1st place trophy with Soothill in third with a 1.03.960. In the Open Wheeled final, Cowper in the Dax Rush stormed ahead, laying a 1.02.679 over Andrew Smith in 2nd with a 1.03.368, followed by 3rd place Green in yet another Dax. The Club Challenge was equally as intense and Bly in his GTR romped home with a win over Horsham in 2nd and Wilson in his Evo 3 in 3rd, showing a mix for the top between the 4WD and RWD cars on the dry National Circuit. Running for the second time this year was the new SuperBattle addition to the line-up where the 10 top cars go head to head in an open pit lane to lay down the quickest lap within a set time. Teams must stage their strategy to ensure they get a clean track without traffic to set the quickest time (normal Time Attack is just one hot lap with one chance). With the top 3 cars from the Pro class Time Attack going forward, once again Seddon in the RC Evo demonstrated great driving to take 1st place with Norris 2nd and Cowper 3rd. These guys know how to make your car go fast. Full results here http://timeattack.co.uk/round%204%20results.asp Excellent gallery of all the days action here - from the most 'JDM tyte' club in the UK http://www.tatsu.co.uk/pictures/meets/Aug062.html Confirmation of Finals Following on from last weeks release that the D1GB finals will be now held at Silverstone on the 3rd Sept, we can now release information that the Time Attack Series Final will be held at Donington on Sept 30th at the all-new ‘ JAPFEST 2 ‘ show. This year the D1GB and Time Attack have been held at the same venue and on the same day however due to the unforeseen circumstances at Rockingham and the need to move the D1GB, we also needed to relocate the Time Attack to a different venue and whilst talks have been in place over the last 3 weeks to find a suitable location worthy of our finals, we now have pleasure in confirming this information and that the finals will be held at Donington. Donington was originally used by the Series at the beginning of the season as a warm-up event and we are pleased to announce the return to Donington, and to once more add a respected and challenging circuit not only to the calendar but as a fantastic finish to a rollercoaster year for the Series. D1GB National Championship FINAL : September 3rd (Sun ) – TRAX Silverstone ( D1GB ONLY ) Time Attack Series FINAL : September 30th (Sat) – JAPFEST 2 Donington ( TIME ATTACK SERIES ONLY ) Cheers Lex

Time Attack For the first time Knockhill had the opportunity to host the Series and for the local Scottish fans to see the top tuner and privately tuned cars in the UK performing on track before their very eyes. With the majority of the grid travelling up from the South it was also a first for these guys to get to Knockhill and prove to the Scottish crowds what the Southern Tuners could do. As the practise sessions got underway and the cars lead out onto the track the sight was unbelievable. One after another each car pulled out of the pitlane in a procession around the track leaving the local crowds and marshalls with their mouths open in amazement at what they were looking at. The grid was mixed from Ford Cosworths to Mitsubishi Evos and Skylines, not forgetting Nadine Geary in her Dodge Viper and Adrian Smith in the Fensport Celica. For most this was the first time they had driven Knockhill but they didn’t disappoint with the front runners in the Series laying down 55+ second laps and all on street legal tyres ( BTCC cars do 54 seconds on Slicks! ) Local Scottish track heroes Stewart White and Chris Doherty joined the Time Attack Pro Class in their pair of professionally built Cosworths, putting in some amazing 55 second laps and seeing off the competition and matching times of Time Attack regulars Simon Norris in the Norris Designs Evo 9 and Philip Keen in the Powerstation/Litchfield Imports Subaru WRX. As the finals came in Time Attack, the local guys in their Cosworths showed their knowledge of the track and put their cars staggeringly fast around the track with Cossy powered Stewart Whyte laying down a 55.191 lap for first place, leaving only Philip Keen to closely match his time to file a second place for the Litchfields/Powerstation team 55.476 and third place going to Chris Doherty in the Scottish Escort Cosworth with a 55.953 lap. In the Club Challenge Class it was all go with a mixed bunch of cars making the event in both 4WD and RWD classes. Nadine Geary put up an excellent fight against the Evo's of John Swift and Jason Shires, posting a final position of 3rd with a 59.906 behind Jason's' 2nd place 59.621 in his Evo 8 and 1st place man John Swift in the Evo 6 with a 55.870. A first for the event was the new SuperBattle addition to the line-up where the top cars go head to head in an open pitlane to lay down the quickest lap with a set time ( 10 minutes at Knockhill ). Teams must stage their strategy to ensure they get a clean track without traffic to set the quickest time ( normal Time Attack is just one hot lap with one chance ). With the top 3 cars from the Pro class Time Attack going forward, once again Stewart Whyte in the Ford Cosworth pipped a quick lap of 55.012 being not only the quickest in the SuperBattle but also the quickest time recorded all day. Full results and more pics here : http://timeattack.co.uk/round3%20results.asp http://www.litchfieldimports.co.uk/timeattack.asp D1GB The Knockhill circuit has great character with its sweeping bends veering on and off camber and the section of track used for D1GB was simply amazing. The drivers would approach at speeds of up to 110mph from the pit straight, initiating their first drift on the handbrake a hundred yards before the first corner. The first corner ( Seat ) was very scary for all as it trails off steeply down hill which is also a blind bend, with the drivers having to initiate their second transition half way down the hill! As the drivers got familiar with the circuit in practice, a pattern was emerging of those who had the power and determination to tackle the downward slope at 110% to get the best result. In attendance from Japan was Mr Ueno, Top D1GP driver and owner of Vertex in Japan who flew in to judge the event and cast his expert opinion on the drivers and their exploits. Drivers showing the most speed and skill throughout the day included Mark Luney, Damien Mulvey, Tim Marshall and Ralph Crampton who were all on a charge to see who could take the course the quickest and with the best line with Mulvey making the course look easy. Championship leader Brett Castle had car failure during practice and was unable to continue forcing him to retire and miss his opportunity to increase his lead in the Championship, paving the way for a change at the top of the overall standings. After qualifying the drivers were paired up according to scores with the weakest against the strongest. The last 4 drivers put on a nail biting fight as crowd pleaser Phil Morrison took on Mulvey for a place in the final. With both drivers pushing to the limit Mulvey eventually ended up the victor and ending Morrisons day with a 3rd place and valuable points. Tim Marshall in the Sumo 350Z was paired up with Stephen Evans in the Autoglym Skyline and with both cars built in the Sumo Power stable, there was a score to settle between the drivers with Evans putting in consistent runs to out drift Marshall who held back to watch Evans take his podium opportunity away and giving another 4 place for Marshall. The final was Mulvey in the DataCom S13 against Evans in the Autoglym Skyline with Mulvey once again giving clear and consistent runs which Evans was unable to duplicate, giving the lead and 1st place podium to Irishman Mulvey in his blue smoke machine. As well as podium trophies, the HKS Hard Charger Award was awarded on the day to the driver showing the best determination and ambition, this award was presented to local Scotsman Kieran Cameron who had only just gained his Provisional licence in the morning and went through to compete and finish in 8th place, automatically earning him a full D1GB licence. Kieran battles Tim Marshall in the Sumo D1 Z33 Full results and more pics here : http://www.d1gb.co.uk/news.asp YOUR CHANCE TO WIN A PASSENGER RIDE IN THE HKS D1 CAR! http://www.d1gb.co.uk/competitionsandprizes.asp The Next GT Battle Event is: Silverstone – August 20th Followed by GT Battle Finals Rockingham – September 17th Cheers Lex

cool vid - chuffed im in it heres another vid from the day http://www.performancejapcars.co.uk/car ... ifting.wmv Not built for drifting , but still fun trying Next time dont hide outside the arena mate - come inside and we will give you a passenger ride

D1GB Held at Silverstone on June 17th, the event managed to push forward the drifters most capable of high speed drift to equally match the speeds witnessed when viewing the Japanese last year. Speeds were recorded around the 95mph mark at the first entry point as the cars entered the Brooklands corner and only 6 inches from the wall! As the practice sessions moved on more drivers got comfortable with the high pace and began to amaze the crowds with their speed, smoke and vast skill. Although managing to get into the top 16, Round 1's winner and current Championship leader Brett Castle was pipped to the premier spot by Phil Morrison who went on to win the event outright and claim a superb victory, the first ever 1st place for Morrison who was comforted with cheers and applause from the spectators. Morrisons' victory now gives him a huge boost to challenge Castle for the Championship and a well deserved win in Round 2. Leaderboard Brett Castle 34 Points Nissan 200SX S14 Phil Morrison 28 Points Nissan 200SX S14 – Works Driftworks car Darren McNamara 19 Points Toyota AE86 Mark Luney 18 Points Nissan Skyline R32 GTR ( RWD ) Ralph Crampton 17 Points Nissan 350Z – Works SVA Imports car James Hudson 17 Points Nissan Skyline R32 GTS Damien Mulvey 16 Points Nissan S13 Tim Marshall 15 Points Nissan 350Z – Works Sumo Power car Maciej Polody 14 Points Nissan 200SX Paul Vlasblom 13 Points BMW E36 Ben Broke Smith 10 Points Nissan Skyline R32 GTS Glen Maher 8 Points Nissan S13 Declan Hicks 6 Points Toyota Soarer Niall Gunn 6 Points Nissan S13 Mat Steele 3 Points Nissan 200SX S14 Ian Coyne 3 Points Nissan S13 Mike Deane 2 Points Nissan S13 Stephen Evans 1 Point Nissan Skyline R32 GTS Steven Shine 1 Point Nissan S13 Mike Murphy 1 Point Nissan S13 Andy Barnes, D1GB Championship Co-ordinator said ‘The Championship is now taking shape and the competitors are finding the new and exciting tactics required to keep ahead in the twin drift battles. We can expect to see some revisions of vehicles as competitors square up to their rivals in terms of power and chassis modification. The first two events have shown that car setup is crucial to winning, combined with a good driver they will see the results. Also new to the UK was the anticipated crowd excitement that the events are now proving to have, with cheers and appreciation coming over the fence from the revved up spectators, giving the extra boost to the drivers to push to the limits to win over not only the judges but also the crowds. ‘ Full results here : http://d1gb.co.uk/round_2%20results.asp Time Attack Once more the countries finest tuned cars made their way to GT Battle for Round 2 of the Series. Entrant numbers for the event were oversubscribed giving a full and mixed grid for the second chance for the Pro and Club Challenge class' to do battle once more to see who is quickest around the National Circuit at Silverstone. This Round saw a new entry in the Pro class from the Ford Cosorth of Steve Scott, who was laying down some great times to better the Japanese cars and on paper there would seem to be a favourite to take the fastest lap following on from Rockingham and the efforts made by the Litchfield/Powerstation Subaru however stepping up the pace and making further changes to their car, the RC Developments Evo 6, driven by Clive Seddon managed to set some blistering laps, narrowly beating fellow competitor and rival tuner Norris Designs and their Evo 9 by just a few hundreths of a second in the final Time Attack session to go on to take the days fastest lap in the finals and pounding down a 1.02.815 lap on the National Circuit. The Club Challenge also saw the entry of the RK Tuning Skyline, driven by Darren Bly who went on to show that the sprint friendly GTR could use the advantage of its power on the long straights at Silverstone to take the win just ahead of the GTR Registers own Peter Everett in his R33 GTR Skyline. Darren's time even equalled some of the Pro cars, laying down a lap time in the finals of 1.04.750 to take the overall fastest lap. Time Attack Tuner Class Times Clive Seddon - RC Developments - Evo 6 - 1:02.815 Simon Norris - Norris Designs - Evo 9 - 1:02.864 Steve Scott - Escort Cosworth - 1:03.481 Phil Keen - Litchfield Impreza - 1:03.655 Adrian Smith - Fensport - Toyota Celica - 1:04.107 John Curistan - East Coast Customs Impreza - 1:04.463 David Harrison - Abbey Motorsport - R32 Skyline - 1:04.820 Robbie Thornton - Trackday Plus - R32 Skyline - 1:06.563 Rob Barnes - Sumo Power - Evo 8 - 1:08.58 Time Attack Club Challenge Times Darren Bly - Nissan Skyline R32GTR 1:04.750 Peter Everett - Nissan Skyline R33GTR - 1:05.443 Nigel Wilson - Mitsubishi Evo 3 - 1:06.786 Steve Fitpatrick - Escort Cosworth - 1:08.721 Maxim Taylor - Mazda RX7 - 1:09.620 Nadine Geary - Dodge Viper - 1:09.776 Jez Horsham - Nissan S13 200sx - 1:10.163 Neil Wrenn - Subaru Impreza WRX - 1:10.461 Tony Pearman - Lotus Elise - 1:10.777 Terry Buckel - Subaru Impreza STi RA5 - 1:10.824 Thomas Farnham - Nissan 200SX S14 - 1:10975 Dixon Cheng - Honda DC2 Integra - 1:12.612 Simon Miskelly - Honda DC5 Integra - 1:13.273 Shaun Fennings - Imprezza Type25C - 1:14.561 Paul West - Honda EP3 Civic Type R- 1:16.313 Shaun Harvey - P1 Subaru Impreza - 1:25.055 Andy Barnes commented on Time Attack : ‘ Time Attack and its format is now being understood and is receiving good reception from the competitors. The Club Challenge area of the Series is proving popular to those who wish to compete alongside the big guns of the industry. From using the Internationally recognised circuit at Silverstone, the Pro class now have a benchmark time to aim for when we come back to Silverstone for Round 4 in August with a pattern emerging of some strong competition between Norris Designs and RC Developments, both worthy contenders to prove who is the best tuner of Evo’s in the UK More Pics here : http://www.timeattack.co.uk/round2_results.asp ‘ The Next GT Battle Event is: Knockhill Race Circuit this Saturday Followed by Round 4 Silverstone Aug 20th cheers Lex

Time Attack Round 3 is next weekend 1st July at Knockhill In case you did not know cars like this Norris Designs Evo9 SWB 841hp This Nadine Geary Dodge Viper 600hp And this Fensport Celica 4WD 650hp Are on their way to Scotland to battle it out on track! We still have a few spaces for competitors in the Time Attack So far lots of different types of car have entered the Time Attack however we are keen to get as many different cars to compete this year so that we have lots of different records at each circuit for drivers to aim for next year So if you have own a fast car and want the chance to claim the Time Attack record for your make of car at Knockhill Send a mail with your car and spec to rob@timeattack.co.uk Results from last round can be seen here http://timeattack.co.uk/round2_results.asp More info www.gtbattle.com http://www.knockhill.com/news.php?a=62 cheers Lex P.S get to see these D1 Z33s aswell

cheer mate here the latest update Don’t forget to stay after the Time Attack closing ceremony as there will be an open practice session for all the top Drift Drivers competeing in the Europe Vs Japan Demo on Sunday - last yr they managed to have 9 cars attacking the drift course at the same time ! If you like Twin Drifting - Multiple Car Drifting will blow you away !! And Tiff Needell is also coming back for more : "After Tiff's 'Machine Trouble' in Round 1 at Rockingham the 5th Gear guys are back and Tiff has unfinished business! The Toyota Soarer is 100% and ready for Tiff's attack in Round 2... WILL HE MAKE IT THROUGH TO THE D1GP ON SUNDAY??? " Here is the new vid from D1GB Round1 http://d1gb.co.uk/downloads/round1_d1gb.wmv Cheers Lex

Hi all, I appreciate that there is a sticky thread and not many of you seem keen on this However the 2 350Zs that enetred that last round did very well and you may like to know which top UK tuners are competeing so here is the update Hi all, Here are the confirmed entrants for TimeAttack Round 2 at Silverstone next Sat 17th June Time Attack - Tuner Entries Phil Keen Litchfield/Powerstation Impreza Type 25C 4WD - 500bhp Rob Barnes Sumo Power Mitsubishi Evo 8 4WD - 410 bhp David Harrison Abbey Motorsport Nissan Skyline R32GTR 4WD - 600bhp Clive Seddon RC Developments Mitsubishi Evolution 6 4WD - 600bhp Darren Soothill RC Developments Mitsubishi Evolution 5 4WD - 500bhp Adrian Smith Fensport Toyota Celica 4WD - 650bhp Simon Norris Norris Designs Mitsubishi Evolution 9 4WD - 650bhp Raef Davis SVA Imports Nissan Skyline R324GTR 4WD - 1100bhp Paul Blamire Zen Performance Subaru Impreza GC8 4WD - 600bhp est Robbie Thornton Trackday plus Nissan Skyline R32GTR 4WD - 550bhp est TBC WRC Technologies Porsche GT3 RWD - 400 bhp TBC WRC Technologies TBA RWD - ??? bhp Duncan Cowper DAX DJ Sportscars Dax Rush RWD - 400bhp Phil Gooriah RE:Worx Mazda RX7 FD3S RWD - 500bhp Time Attack - Club Challenge Maxim Taylor Mazda RX7 FD3S RWD - 450bhp est Tony Pearman Lotus Elise RWD - 220bhp Tony Kember PORSCHE GT3 RWD - ??? bhp Thomas Farnam Nissan 200SX S14RWD - 400bhp Jeremy Horsham Nissan 200SX S13RWD - 450bhp est Nadine Geary Dodge Viper RWD - 700bhp est Neil Wrenn Subaru Impreza WRX 4WD - 370bhp Steve Fitzpatrick Escort Cosworth 4WD - 460bhp Neil Wells Mitsubishi Evolution 5 4WD - 550bhp Peter Everett Nissan Skyline R33GTR 4WD - 600bhp Terry Buckel Subaru Impreza STI 5 RA 4WD - 365bhp Nigel Wilson Mitsubishi Evolution 3 4WD - 500bhp Shaun Harvey Subaru Impreza P1 4WD - 350bhp Darren Bly Nissan Skyline R32GTR 4WD - ??? Bhp Lisa Diamond Nissan Skyline R33GTR 4WD - 600bhp Shaun Fennings Subaru Impreza Type 25C 4WD - ???bhp Dixon Cheng Honda Integra DC2 FWD - 200bhp Raj Gill Peugeot 106GTi FWD - 160 bhp Simon Miskelly Honda Integra DC5 FWD - 200bhp D1GB Round 2 is also next saturday Tiff gave us some feedback on the NRG Soarer in which he competed Round 1 at Rockingham "We all know you shouldn't try to run before you can walk ... but I did! Handling the big Soarer with its big turbocharger, big horsepower, big turbo lag ... and small power band was quite a challenge but, if a wall hadn't got in the way and the crank sensor hadn't given up, I'm sure I would have cracked it ... or the wall. Controling powerslides isn't a problem for me but doing them in certain conditions can be. With the Soarer I had to learn to 'clutch kick' to bring in the power when I needed it - in order to break the traction - and then I needed the handbrake (which was broken) to slow the transition from fast right to to tight left - which I did manage ... once! Harder than it looks, in competition conditions practice runs are few and so the pressure is on. Great sport and surely one with a great future." To find out more about Tiff's attempts at drifting watch out for the return of Fifth Gear on Channel 5, after the World Cup Loads of wallpapers like this available here http://www.d1gb.co.uk/mediaandgallery.asp And in case you have missed any of the action so far here is a taster movie http://www.d1gb.co.uk/downloads/d1gb_timeattack06.wmv cheers Lex