BDC Thrills the crowd at Trax

Trax is one of the biggest car shows in Europe, and when you merge it with the Maxxis British Championship it goes to a whole new level of awesome! Silverstone is the home of British Motorsport and the lure an event at such an illustrious venue like this sees over 16,000 cheering drift fans line the track to see the BDC Super Pros.

Compared to some BDC weekends which span two days and have 32 drivers in each class, due to the incredibly tight time constraints of the Trax schedule, we have just one day where the Super Pro Class drivers have to qualify and compete. It showcases the cream of the British Drifting crop to an audience who may not have had the chance to spectate on live drifting before.

The morning saw the teams quickly finishing off their pit areas for the day.

We caught a glimpse of the Speedhunters cars, the 86-X and Dmac86! You couldn´t miss them, we were drawn to them for a look up close at the engineering involved.

It was all hands on deck as the drivers and teams quickly checked their cars over ready to tackle Silverstone! It would be the ultimate test!

Before long the hardworking BDC staff lined up to deal with the driver briefing.

The Super Pro´s listened intently to what lines they would be expected to take to get maximum points.

With the important briefing dealt with, the drivers were then allowed out onto the circuit to become accustomed to the fast flowing F1 track for the  practice sessions. If a driver was going to put wheels off or spin, now is the time to do it!

Once practice was over, we found a few moments to have a quick poke around the show to see what was about. Trax really is a mixed bag of the modified world.

LS engines are being transplanted into everything these days, even the legendary YB Cosworth has been hauled out to be replaced with some nasp-power!

Monster Energy had a big presence at Trax, they were on hand to run the Gymkhana Grid contest which proved very popular with drifters throughout the day.

We even spotted a very "Gatebil style" Volvo parked up on show, looking menacing. With Trax being spread over the entire of Silverstone, it´s a huge area to cover and we had to head back to the BDC pit area for the autograph signing.

Once the drivers had all sat down and the annoucement had gone out, the BDC pit was a sea of bodies! All keen to have a few words with their favourite drives and grabbing autographs.

After happily engaging the fans and sharing a few jokes, it was soon back to the serious business of getting ready for qualification!

The unpredictable slippery surface made for a tough time in qualification.

The overall standard was incredibly high with some storming runs! We headed back to the Maxxis truck to hear the results from the BDC Staff. One or two tense faces showed that Silverstone is no walkover.

Even with changing conditions, several at the top of the table scored more than 90 points! The circuit really suited some drivers and seemed to make things difficult for others.

Qualification places-

1. Fredric Aasbo2. Mark Luney3. Matt Carter4. Shane O´Sullivan5. Darren McNamarra6. Simon Perry7. Stephen Biagioni8. Kevin Corsius9. Steve Evans

10. Paul Smith11. Shane Lynch12. David Waterworth13. Wayne Keeber14. Walton Smith15. Julie Robinson16. Steve Moore

BDC Judge Chunk entertains Mark Luney with his best Tommy Cooper impression...

There was an hours break before the championship round started. We poked our camera in the face of those we found loitering in the pits.

Some of the drivers had interesting clothing choices! You can insert your own four-letter word here, being a family friendly site, we will assume it is "Kick"....

Simon Perry was still sporting a smile from his 6th place qualification. We then began to hunt down the Maxxis babes and BDC staff.

We also turned our camera on those who are often found watching drift events through a viewfinder.

We could spend all day showcasing the faces and personalities that make the BDC such a close knit family, but time was short, and we had to rush trackside to get on our perch for the main event! Once the cars were lined up they were led around the circuit in a parade for the fans.

It´s a chance for the drivers to relax inside the cars before they unleash hell on the track!

After a hectic day, the main event was about to start! People flocked to the best vantage points so they could soak up all the sights, sounds and smells of british drifting! It was all about to erupt on the circuit!

Wayne Keeber was up against Shane `O Sullivan for the first battle of the day. Going in hot, with wild fast entries it set the standard, but O´ Sullivan couldn´t find his previous form and Keeber took the scalp.

Darren "D-Mac" McNamara had a lot to prove as he faced David Waterworth and the sound of thunder from these two engines echoed around the track. Waterworth was in 3rd place on last year´s Silverstone podium but couldn´t repeat the success as D-Mac took the win.

An early team Japspeed battle with Steve "Baggsy" Biagioni taking on Paul "Smokey" Smith. Smokey pulled away and booked his place into the great 8!

In the power stakes this is a little and large battle with Julie Robinson´s Skyline facing the monstrous Supra of Mark Luney. The SATS Motorsport Supra covered the Team Sukeban-San Skyline in thick Maxxis smoke and applied huge pressure when chasing to seal the win.

Shane Lynch battled with Simon Perry, and Lynch was chasing hard but the distance which Perry created had allowed him to dictate things and knock out Lynch to move forwards.

The current BDC Champ Matt Carter was locked in a tight and narrow battle with Walton Smith, they looked hard to separate but the mad initiations from Carter when chasing gave an edge that gifted him a place in the next round.

Steve "Stiggy" Evans against the BDC new boy Kevin Corsius had us excited and it lived up to it, with "entry king" Corsius taking a completley different line to what we had seen. A crazy backwards entry was attempted and almost pulled off but the spin from Corsuis meant it was a straight win for Stiggy.

Steve Moore had to take on the imposing Fredric Aasbo. The Norwegian Hammer led and Moore did well to apply pressure but in the chase Aasbo was mauling Moore with unbelievable proximity to gain the judges nod.

Great 8

Wayne Keeber made it easy for D-Mac as he left the track. McNamara kept his usual calm collected composure to step on into the Semi Final.

Paul Smith made early initiations against Mark Luney but the huge power of the Supra allowed Luney to pull close and keep on Smiths door. Some small errors from Luney made the difference and put Smith through.

Matt Carter took the lead run with Simon Perry in hot pursuit. The second run looked like motoring symmetry, we just couldn´t separate them and the crowd showed appreciation of the efforts. The judges had the best view and granted Perry the win.

"Stiggy" had been very vocal about never lifting around Silverstone and he backed up the talk with a great chase against Aasbo. Only this ended with the "Mighty Starlet" giving Aasbo´s freshly built 86-X a love tap on the door, right in front of the grand stand and spinning out! The crowd gave an almighty collective "ooooh" as it happened, and the Starlet undressed itself of a front bumper. Aasbo held it together to drift onwards to victory. On the return pass the crowd gave a standing ovation for the commitment of the drivers.

Semi Final

D-Mac lead with huge angle into the first section as Paul Smith nipped at his heels. D-Mac returned the favour in the chase as Smith did all he could to put some distance between them. It was incredibly close and no surprise it went to "OMT", One More Time.  The second bout saw D-Mac from Smith when leading, the second run saw tremendous angle from Smith. D-Mac seemed to turn up the wick with even further pressure but the angle and consistency of Smith allowed him to edge past into the final!

Perry and Aasbo faced, two big personalities with lots of power! Aasbo led with another big flick, Perry looked to be heading for a collision but balanced it perfectly and both completed a very tidy run. Aasbo then chased Perry with startling closeness into the first corner, proving he was after retaining his title! Another strong performance from both, but Aasbo was this year´s finalist!

Battle for 3rd and 4th

With the smell of a podium place in the air the pair of D-Mac and Simon Perry pushed out a fast paced run. The Pink Lassa Skyline put out huge smoke and angle throughout both bouts, but would this be enough to step over the Formula D star? The judges held the decision until later.

Final

Smith continued his great run of form and gave his all in the chase of Aasbo. Big speed and almost backwards entries from both drivers. The second duel got an audible gasp from the crowd due to the proximity, speed and smoke, this was what they had come to see! It was a serious Silverstone spectacle that rightly needed an OMT to find a clear winner, a 5 minute rule was called and it was over to the podium.

The second battle was also incredibly tough to call. Smith led with a rapid, clean drift through the whole lap, only to have Aasbo tapping on his door. This would be tough for the judges after an epic battle for the top spot, it was over to the podium to hear the results!