The British Drift Championship headed west to Wales and for the first time in its history visited the home of Welsh Motorsport, Pembrey Circuit.  In another first for the BDC, there would be a Top 32 competition across all three classes, giving drivers more of a chance to qualify for some twin drifting.  The two day event was blessed with lots and lots of sunshine which meant there would be plenty of smoke.

As always, the first order of the day was the drivers briefing with drivers flocking to the briefing area to hear what was required from them. Saturday morning was set aside as an open practice session which allowed everyone to get acquainted with the challenge ahead.

A hairpin was the first test of the drivers skills and from the off it was apparent some people were trying to enter it backwards!  After the chicane, drivers then put their foot down to get as much speed as possible for the final two corners which were long and sweeping.  One of the cars definitely raising eyebrows was the Diesel Mercedes OM606 Estate which had none other than a turbo from a Scania truck attached! The noise from this thing was unlike anything we’ve ever heard before from a drift car.

After a short lunch break it was time for qualifying and with 32 spots to chase in each class, no-one was being complacent and gave their all.  In the Semi-Pro class, Oliver Silcock clocked up the 70 points in his second run securing top spot.  Next up in the Pro class it was Richard Grindrod who took the honours of highest qualifier after taking points in this third run and in the Super-Pro class Irishman Brendan Stone was awarded 88 points in both his second and third runs, securing him the highest score of the day.

Sunday morning arrived and once again drivers assembled for their briefings.  Competition kicked off bright and early with the Semi-Pro class heading out first for their Top 32.   Stuart Edgell seemed to be in form all weekend and knocked out runner up at round 1 Matt Hitchcock.  Joseph Ankers from Car Loan4U Drift Team won in his battle against Mike Jones.  Damen Haskett, in his unusual looking BMW, eliminated the only female driver in the class, Kirsty Widdrington.

In the Pro class, Nathan Chivers from Team GDA had an early bath after his drive against Chris Smith.  Chivers teammate Matt Tillyard was more successful though as he won his battle against Gary Dunne.

In the Super-Pro class there were some big surprise results, with all of Team Japspeed defeated in their runs.  Abdulhadi Al-Gahtani, the current Saudi Drift Champion, did well to reach the Top 32 after some tough competition, but was knocked out by Steve Biagioni. Mark Luney was knocked out after Steve Moore put in some amazing driving, with lots of door to door action.

Irishman and Formula ‘D’ star Darren “D-Mac” McNamara was knocked out at the behest of Chris Hawkins.  Wes Keating was knocked out by Joe Fletcher who was in a car borrowed from Japspeed after being unable to have his car ready in time for the event.

In the afternoon, it was time for the Top 16 battles and it proceedings were kicked off by the Semi-Pro class. Third place was taken by Lee Barry after a consistent performance over the course of the day.  The runner-up spot went to Damen Haskett, who revealed that his BMW was only running with 185bhp!  Continuing his form from round 1, Nick Statham took the top spot in the class and now sits at the top of the overall standings with an 11 point advantage.

Onto the Pro class and third place was secured by Gert Hoekman who had shown an amazing amount of talent over the course of the weekend.  In 2^nd place was Antony Mortley who had an amazing final battle against eventual winner Alex Law.  Law now has a lead of 7 points in the overall standings.

Finally, it was on to the main event, the Super-Pro class.  In what was one of the most confusing, bizarre and downright insane runs of the day, we had two Lassa Tyres drivers against each other, with one in a Maxxis Tyres sponsored Japspeed backup car.  In what was a repeat of an earlier incident by Jay Green, the rear wheel of Simon Perry caught on a manhole close to a clipping point, ripping it off in the process and reducing Perry to three wheels.  Stunned, confused and unaware, Perry opened his door and popped his head out to see what all the fuss was about!

Former EDC driver Paul Conlan made up for his performance at round 1 and showed that he has the talent to play with the big boys after he made it to the Top 8.  Local boy Jamie Kenyon showed that this was his event and he too managed to make it to the Top 8 before being knocked out by Steve Moore who went on to take 3^rd place.  Michael Marshall showed that he has come on leaps and bounds by taking the runner up spot.  The winner on the day was top qualifier Brendan Stone.  Putting in a blazing performance all weekend the Irishman deservedly took the top spot on the podium.

Congratulations also go to Car Loan 4U Drift Team who took the team win.

With two rounds down the championship is starting to shape up to be very tightly contested across all three classes.  The next round sees the championship head to Teesside Autodrome, which gives spectators an amazing view of the action thanks to its amphitheatre style design.  It will also feature the annual Team Event where three cars from the same team drive in tandem around the track to boost their points in the team championship.