japspeed-4.png

SATS Motorsport - Maxxis BDC - Round 3

With the results from the previous round at Pembery in Wales firmly pushed to one side, the whole team were focussed on the task ahead and the car and driver were raring to go

This is the circuit that driver Mark Luney would consider to be his “bogey track” as his previous performances here have never really been quite good enough.

With the results from the previous round at Pembery in Wales firmly pushed to one side, the whole team were focussed on the task ahead and the car and driver were raring to go.

In previous years, the track layout has never really suited Mark, but this rear the judges decided to mix things up and altered the lines that drivers were required to be on, as well as the location of clipping points. From the very first practice session it became obvious that these changes were benefitting Luney and it was apparent he was the driver to watch, driving like a man on a mission. 

Producing masses of tyre smoke on the banked first corner, the crowds loved it and Mark was receiving the greatest appreciation from them. Unfortunately, during the last run of the session the steering began to get heavy which indicated a problem with the power steering.

Upon inspection, the team found that the power steering pump had failed. As always, a spare was found and within fifteen minutes the car was once again ready for action.

Mark continued on in the afternoon during the second practice session just like he had left it earlier and was putting in some amazing runs. Each run saw him initiative earlier and with more angle, which was achieved thanks to the Wisefab and Meister R suspension setup he was running.

With his confidence growing, Mark was more than ready for qualifying and with a renewed confidence in the car he was raring to go. 

Luney played it safe in his first run, making sure that the car was good and that he could remember all of the clipping points. On his return to the start line, he was waved off and powered down the straight, aggressively initiating into the first corner and precisely hitting the clipping points.

With fellow drivers and the crowd watching in awe Mark really went for broke and powered out for his last run. Pushing the Supra to its full potential he launched the Supra into the first corner with what he described as “a do or die special”. 

At an almost right angle, he continued to increase his speed and angle on the bank producing massive plumes of. Powering his way around the circuit, he even received a round of applause from the judges. This final run earned Luney 96 points, which is one of the highest awarded runs so far this year, but more importantly he had secured first place in qualification. 

The following day brought the competition proper and Mark knew that he had to get a result to stay within contention for the championship. It looked like that wasn’t going to be easy as his first opponent was Team Japspeed’s Brett Castle. Fortunately for Luney, things were easier than expected as Castle seemed to be having fuelling issues with his Impreza.

Mark led the first run and quite simply left his opponent in the distance. During the second run, things proved tricky for Mark as he was chasing a car that was operating at 50% its maximum speed. This caused Brett to straighten and with Mark continuing to drift all the way round the track he was handed the win and progressed to the next stage.

Onto the Top 16 and Marks next challenge came in the form of Irishman Ciaran Sinnot, whose car was pushing out 800bhp. With years of experience and power behind him, it was going to prove to be a tough challenge for Luney.

Both drivers put on a stunning display during their first run and second runs and with it being so close to call, the judges asked if both drivers could run their battles again. As the car headed back to the pit for a fresh set of tyres, the team noticed a major issue.

The car had suffered massive heat soak and exhaust temperatures, causing the waste-gate to burn the vacuum pipes completely off which led to the car running at over three bar of boost. As a result, it was causing huge DET and taking the car down to 5 cylinders. The team had come too far in the competition to retire, so decided to keep going in the hope a good result could be achieved.

Mark returned to the start line for his repeat runs with Sinnot and gained the advantage after he created a massive gap. With Ciaran ready to do battle on the second run, it looked like it wasn’t to be his day as he suffered a gearbox failure during his leading run, thus handing the win to Mark and the Supra.

Mark’s next battle was one of David and Goliath proportions, but in this case the giant was already an injured with the Supra running on 5 cylinders. Luney was to face the mighty Brian Egan and the Dealtwidth AE86.

Knowing that the battle would be a tough one, Mark launched the Supra off the line and took a small lead advantage into the 2nd battle allowing the Corolla to catch him in the centre section of the track, but knowing that the battle wasn’t over Mark had to pull out all the stops to keep up with the little AE86.

Luney was now in fighting mode and with the words, “I’m going to stick it in his door; be prepared” , Mark latched the Supra onto the door of the Corolla and followed it in one of the closest proximity battles of the day leaving nothing to chance and taking the win.

By now, the Supra was dropping in and out of 4 and 5 cylinders and with the high probability that the damage would be terminal we continued onto the next battle, which was against Mark Lappage from team Acorn Insurance.

Mark led in the first run and once again ran the perfect line asked by the judges, running high on the bank. His opponent though ran a very low shallow line which meant he would be able to catch up with the Supra on the entry to the first corner. This left Mark nowhere to go at the first clipping point and also made it look like the S13 was keeping pace with the injured Supra in the centre section. Luney still managed to pull a gap in the final section which was good enough to take the advantage.

On the second run, Mark was leaving nothing to chance and now on 4 cylinders he stuck the Supra onto the quarter panel of the S13, again running the correct line with his opponent taking a more central line. Regardless, Mark and the Supra stuck to the door. So much so, that it caused Lappage to straighten which in turn cause Luney to straighten slightly, but both finished their runs.

The judges unfortunately didn’t see things the way everyone else did and awarded the win to Lappage. Bemused, the team soldiered on to battle for third place with the opponent being Mike Marshall from Team MNM.

By this stage, the Supra was on its last legs and during these final battles, Mark decided to give one last push to try and get onto the podium. After pulling a gap on the first corner and entering the centre section, two events happened that caused both drivers to score a double zero.

Mike had spun his car in turn two which should have almost certainly handed Mark the win, but on the last corner the engine of the Supra expired and switched off. As Mark could not drift the final corner the judges ruled that he would be marked zero.

Regardless of the result, Mark still took a top 4 finish and is still firmly in contention for the Championship with just two rounds to go. He is currently sits in fourth place and with just a few points between him and the current leader, Luney has set his eyes firmly on the prize.

The hard work now begins to rebuild the Supra’s engine in the run up to the fourth round of the British Drift Championship, which sees everyone head back down to Lydden Hill for our second visit of the year, on the 10th and 11th August. Will we make it? You can count on it!