BDC round 4 - Knockhill
Under: Maxxis Sport on
BDC Official Event Report - Round 4,
Knockhill
After a six week break the Maxxis British Drift Championship
made its annual trip up to Scotland for Round 4, taking over the
infamous Knockhill Circuit on the 20th and
21st August. This is without a doubt one of the
most exciting venues for both drivers and spectators thanks to its
100mph blind-crest entry! It's a seriously tough course to
master - go too slow and you'll straighten losing all speed before
the hairpin. Go too fast and you'll be straight into the
gravel trap... and there's not much run-off as Jamie Kenyon's MX5
found out demolishing his aero mid-drift!
2011 is proving to be a groundbreaking year for the BDC, with 65
drivers in the three classes (Semi-Pro, Pro and Super-Pro) at
Knockhill - a true testament to the dedication with so many teams
travelling hundreds of miles to compete. What's more,
the continued improvement from the Semi-Pro and Pro drivers means
the BDC is already considering multiple class promotions for
2012.
As a full weekend event, Saturday kicked off with an open
practice session from 1 pm which would later be followed by
qualifying for the Semi-Pro class. Despite a rainy Friday,
the BDC was somehow blessed with sunshine for Round 4 and more
importantly a huge Scottish crowd came out to support the series -
extra incentive for those drivers to push that little bit
harder!
Matt Campling dominated Semi-Pro qualifying, showing great
consistency and scoring 71 on his second run putting him ahead of
rivals Marc Huxley and Belinda Challis. Although previously
being a strong qualifier, Mark Lappage was unable to reach the
final eight, only managing eleventh with a 61 point run. All
the Semi-Pro drivers really stepped it up at Knockhill.
Early on Sunday morning and the Pro-Class qualifying was
underway. Martin Richards made his intentions clear, scoring
77 on his first run - higher than anyone else! In fact,
Martin was beaten by Wesley Keating by just
one point! Jordan Patton took
third again, scoring 77, while Marc Huxley took fourth with
76. Local Jarack 'Jeek' Federico's awesome 540i BMW scored
well taking 9th overall with a 70 point run, that big V8
sounding immense down the hill.
Straight after was the Super-Pro qualifying and Wayne
Keeber shot to the top after the first round with an 81 point
qualifier. By the third runs nearly all the Super-Pro drivers
were well on form - Simon Perry scoring an 89, Mark Luney an 87,
Paul Smith an 86 and Ashley Stevens with 85. In fact, all the
Super-Pro qualifiers scored at least 70 points, a true spectacle
for the massive crowds at Knockhill.
Into the finals and those Semi-Pro drivers included: Matt
Campling, Marc Huxley, Aide Brannan, Christian Lewis, Belinda
Challis, Ashley Willis, Ian 'Doughnut' Waddington and Sam 'Burn
Out' Holt. Despite his early brilliance in qualifying, Matt
Campling just couldn't hold off the S14 of Sam Holt who, after
knocking Matt out in the top 8, continued to dominate taking out
Ashley Willis in the semi-finals and Marc Huxley in the
final. Belinda Challis faced Ash in the
3rd/4th playoff, with Ashley just taking the
edge for those crucial points.
The Pro-class final 16 saw Ian Phillips, Michael Marshall, Pete
Green and Wesley Keating reach the semi-finals. After a 6-4
advantage over Ian, Michael Marshall faced Pete Green in the final
and he kept the momentum going to win 6-4 over Pete after going
'one more time' twice! Over the six judged runs, Pete scored
29 while Michael took the win with 31 - truly superb driving from
both drivers.
In the Super-Pro finals Team Japspeed's Steve Biagioni was
pushing hard, reaching his first semi-final in 2011 and taking out
teammate Paul Smith as well as Dan Moorhead to do so. Steve
was joined by Tema Green's Matt Carter5, Team SATS Cosworth's Mark
Luney and remaining Japspeed driver Shane Lynch in the final
four. Both Matt Carter and Mark Luney looked unstoppable,
both knocking the Japspeed drivers out to face one another in the
final. Having previously won BDC rounds, this was going to be
good! But it turned out to be a disaster for the SATS team -
Mark uncharacteristically spinning, unable to score any points on
either run with Matt taking the win 10-0, 10-0. Shane Lynch
battled Steve Biagioni to take the third and final podium
place.
After round 4 at Knockhill the championship standings could not
be closer going in to the finals. In Semi-Pro Matt Campling's
lead has been reduced to just 8 points ahead of Marc
Huxley. In the Pro-class Michael Marshall'ssuperb win puts
him at the top ahead of Grant Lacker and Martin Richards, while
over in the Super-Pro class Matt Carter extends his lead to 14
points with a total of a whopping 102 points, ahead of Mark Luney
on 88, with third place currently being battled out by Wayne Keeber
and Steve Moore who are both on 65 points.
Next month the BDC descends on the Trax Car Show for teh
Super-Pro ONLY round 5, and with specially invited drivers Fredric
Asabo and Darren Mc Namara from Team Need for Speed attending, this
is one event that cannot be missed! Make sure you check out
the news on: www.thebritishdriftchampionship.co.uk
Semi-Pro Championship
Position
Driver
Name
Points Total
1
Matt
Campling
77
2
Marc
Huxley
69
3
Christian
Lewis
63
4
Belinda
Challis
57
5
Sam
Holt
53
Pro Championship
Position
Driver
Name
Points Total
1
Michael
Marshall
68
2
Grant
Laker
59
3
Martin
Richards
55
4
Wesley
Keating
52
5
Ian
Phillips
51
Super-Pro Championship
Position
Driver
Name
Points Total
1
Matt
Carter
102
2
Mark
Luney
88
3=
Wayne
Keeber
65
3=
Steve
Moore
65
5
Paul
Smith
54
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