The weekend saw the Maxxis British Drift Championship head to Teesside Autodrome, a track that Team Japspeed has always traditionally done well at in the past.
With team driver Shane O’Sullivan leading the championship going into the event, a good haul of points had the potential to secure a strong championship position for the Irishman.
Practice kicked off on Saturday on a dry track until a sudden downpour soon put an end to the high grip levels and fast pace. With the aforementioned Sully being joined by his Japspeed team mates Shane Lynch, Paul Smith and Danny Eyles, the Japspeed pits were bustling with activity as the team worked to get all four cars dialled into the conditions.
Come qualifying and the track was as greasy as ever. However, the Japspeed team pulled it together and secured strong positions with Paul Smith qualifying 5th, Shane Lynch 6th, Shane O’Sullivan 12th and Danny Eyles 21st (respectively).
On Sunday the rain had subsided, leaving the Super Pro drivers with a dry and grippy circuit with which to do battle on. Unfortunately for the team Sully and Danny found themselves drawn against one another in their Top 32 battle, only for Sully to then be drawn against Paul in the Top 16!
With all but one battle complete it was Shane O’Sullivan that found himself in the final against Stephen Biagioni. The crowd and the judges were ready for an aggressive performance from both drivers and they weren’t to be disappointed! Once the dust had settled it was Sully that was crowned the victor and found himself ascending the top step of the podium.
All of us here at Team Japspeed would like to thank our sponsors for their continued support and for helping to make attending events like this possible for us. Shane O’Sullivan now sits four points clear at the top of the Super Pro championship table – could the title be coming back to Team Japspeed for 2014? We’ll have to wait and see!
