Drift Allstars Europe RD 1 -British Drift GP May 17-18th Drift Allstars Europe RD 1 “British Drift GP” kicks off in London at the International Quarter located between Westfield Stratford and the home of the 2012 Olympic Games. With this being the Only UK round for 2014 the British Drift GP is going to be even more special. The backdrop of the Olympic Stadium and central London will be the perfect fit to kick of the 2014 Drift Allstars European Series. This is the biggest custom built track of its type with over 400 metres of barriers, fencing and infrastructure coming into transform the International Quarter Stratford ,into Europe’s only and original city based drift event. 30 International drivers + 10 wildcard UK drivers! Biggest international lineup of drivers to ever hit the UK! More information here > Drift Allstars Europe Round 1 -British Drift GP London - Drift Allstars
My first post and my first drift event this Saturday. Really looking forward to seeing the guys in action.
We got lucky and got two deck chairs next to the extreme tent. right on trackside. Then went for lunch and managed to sweetalk the girls to let us under the tent against the fence. So super lucky, if we hadn't the line was 5 back from the fence!
Only thing that let it down for me was the viewing. Needed proper stands or something. Wasn't such a problem for me as I'm pretty tall but for some people you could see they were getting fucked off with no being able to see anything.
So how did people find it in the end? I only heard negative stuff all over FB? Especially the judging bit?
It was a great event. A difficult track, mental cars and superb driving. The judging seemed spot on from where I was sitting. FB's full of nonsense.
Spot on. From what I watched on the live stream, the driving was pretty mental. You had guys running mental power and generally used that power with insane entries out of the start line wall and really aggressive driving, to those running 350ish horsepower SR's pedalling them like mad. Probably THE best DA event I've watched to be honest, kinda regret not going now. The level of grip and speed some guys have is just insane.
I thought so, always try to hear different opinions but was surprised how many negative comments were posted (especially about the judging).
Thought the skill level was ridiculous. And the American commentator was very good. He new all about the cars , teams and alot of back ground stuff. View from the crowd wasn't the best. Hoped there might off been some seating. And dan chapman drove the wheels off the 14 to get third.
surely troll? please expand? ive been to a shit ton of drift events and id say this was one of the best events ever! driving levels compared to a few years ago have gone through the roof. some absolutely crazy runs, lots of close battles and a fair few smashes on a very challenging track. commentary was a lot better than previous events, had a good explanation of what was going on. The end runs there was a fair bit of confusion as to what was going on, but that was down to someone switching on a big magnet on the wall i reckon! There were a few lulls in the action but all of which were caused by mechanical failure/accidents, which happen in drifting. Recovery and fire crews seem to be on the ball though. spose it might of been good to have a grandstand or some form of seating but its not easy putting on an event as you never know how many people will turn up etc, and things like that dont come cheap. Wasnt an issue for me, big thanks to driftworks guys to letting us pile into the back of their truck. Had a great view! well done fathead for smashing 3rd place. Once again showing its not all about huge horsepower. Reliability and going hard can get you a long way! my only small gripe was the 180 whose wheel came off. no harm done but a definate reminder to remember to check the basics, as it wouldnt of taken much for it to come off at speed and take someones head off. Accidents happen though, just something to learn from Well done to everyone involved in making the wkend happen
Everything was phenomenal. Never ever seen drifting like it. Jusy couldn't see jack shit in the 2nd half as im a short arse..
AS everyone said i thought it was nuts. Was absolutely gutted when Dan hit the barrier. Can we swap wheels tho? Thought the level was insane, the track was good, apart from the bumps. Even my miss' had a great day, it's made her want to drive my car at a DWYB day!
Not being able to make it I caught bits on the live stream. Few things I noticed compared to the other events that I've been to: - Live streaming is awesome, thanks for supplying it. Such a great way to extend viewer numbers, minimal advertising (which sometimes fucked up and turned into feedback) and means I can tune in and out, for free, at my liberty. I'd love to see it develop along the lines of FD, with more presentation from the commentators and the mobile cameras in the pits which I'm sure were in use in Lithuania last year. Means those gaps in the drifting become less significant and gives spectators at the course something to engage with on the big screens. - Street courses (and those on carparks) are always going to be unpredictable surface wise, they aren't intended for this purpose so bumps and humps is all part of the game. Given the general quality of the driving this only serves to make it more exciting. Seeing some of the cars practically leap into the first initiation was impressive. Downside to this is obviously provision for spectators - the DA event in Lithuania last year made do with some raised flat stands which at least offered a view over the crowds at the fence. I'm sure it just wasn't possible in London, rather than it being an oversight. - It didn't seem to be the smoothest or most impressive DA event ever because of the mechanicals - these are the biggest single factor in making drift events dull to watch. Some are part and parcel, engine and drivetrain failures etc, but wheels falling off and cars literally breaking down seemed a little daft. Its not something I'd expect to see, even given that the teams are building the cars up to the last minute. I'm just going to say, from a spectators point of view, teams really ought to be taking tested cars to the first round not using it as an initial shakedown wherever possible, as the biggest victim is the spectator and the event. (unless someone actually gets hurt by a wayward wheel) Downtime is seriously the biggest atmosphere and momentum killer which every event has to contend with, if FD can't fix it with all the money then it really does mean that the solution is in the format somewhere. Any additional downtime to deal with silly mechanicals has got to be removed as a priority. - Commentary was pretty good, was this possibly the first round with a new partnership? Loads of talking over one another which sometimes made the commentary on the live stream irritating - probably less noticeable at the event. Shame because both Farouk and the other guy (didnt catch a name - sorry!) are knowledgeable and relevant. That said, please don't have the commentary team running off onto the track to deal with loose wheels / oil spills etc. I know they are a big part of the wider team and have been part of the DA circus for a long while, but there should be track marshalls to deal with this. Without any sort of superiority complex, the commentary team's role is to keep the crowd interested, not sweep up. - Judging was spot on? Not sure where the complaints are coming from. Last year in Lithuania the level of driving was as high, the course was just as intense and unpredictable and they even had some serious weather to contend with (a deluge of rain put a large part of the track under four inches of water in ten minutes) - but the whole event seemed to go off with more of a bang and leave a much better impression, even compared to previous Wembley events I've been to which I thought were excellent. I'd urge anyone to attend one of the Mainland European rounds if they want a good time, I'm just trying to work out where I'll be this year. Quite fancy Riga...
My 2 cents for what its worth from being at the event: I can understand a portion of the negativity, the gaps in driving and the breakdowns killed a lot of the atmosphere. The track did look good, loved the run up the hill to the first corner i bet that was something else to drive. The biggest dissapointment I think was that there wasnt any great battles, all of the top 16 either ended in a retirement or a walkover, there was one or two that were quite close but nothing to get the fans going and really get into it. Funnily enough a couple of years ago at Wimbledon had some awesome battles even though the track wasnt as mental the atmosphere was much better and people got a great view of the action. Where we were sat there was a lady and her young son who was around 10, obviously know nothing about drifting and came down from Swindon to have a watch. I dont think they saw what the fuss was about with drifting, which is a shame as they are the people that will help the events grow in size and budget. It also didnt help most of the crowd was jostling for a good viewing area I heard a fair few arguments from people trying to see what was happening, not a lot DA can do about that but it is something you have to bare in mind for a large drifting event in london. Not to take away from the event though some of the driving(When the cars were working) was fantastic, and the weather was fantastic, it was much better finishing at a reasonable time to unlike the usual late finishes in a dark wet car park!
what everyone has said is spot on personally i prefered the saturday as there was less people was less hot (i got really badly sunburned on the sunday) but wasnt as good driving but still totally insane but i will have to agree there was not many places to sit and viewing on the sunday made me kinda wish i had just done the saturday but it was totally insane the judgeing was spot on commentary was good but the hype of the event was killed by mechanical failures and would have been nice to see some mental battles overall it was insane really enjoyed it and if anything has encouraged me to get into it even more and also to go to the likes of bdc and possibly idc
