Why is this so quiet all of a sudden?
It’s Riga baby, and we do things a little bit differently here! As you’re about to find out, drifting in Europe is very much different from what you’re used to in Japan or USA. Unlike Formula Drift, there are no 1000+ hp monsters riding walls, and unlike D1 GP Japan the cars are very seriously modified to drive on extreme angles on medium width tracks. The speeds are noticeably lower than in both D1 and FD, which is made as a safety precaution. Instead the tracks are short, twisty and are more focused on transitions. As we join the action quite a few teams have used the 1 month intermission between rounds to tweak their cars, so we should see if it worked or not. The course itself is on the main straight of the Bikirnieki racetrack, with added chicane and a 180 degree turn. Both Touch’n’Go points are not walls, but stacks of tires just outside the kerbs, with 3 clipping points to touch with the nose of the car. So let’s see how the drivers fare in these new conditions.
This is not how many imagined their glorious return to the track, but sadly it is what it is. The tarmac has been replaced just this year in many spots of the track, meaning the grip levels are uneven and tricky, and most car are not set up for such slow drifting, and behave erratically. The first set of runs got to a smooth enough start, with only Gridghost suffering a minor contact with the tires in the first TnG almost spinning out but managing to salvage the situation. Everybody else ran a decent clean run. The second runs however is when all the hell broke loose. First we saw John Waldock leaving the track for a bit of offroading, just to be quickly stopped by the tirewall and bounced back on-to the track, striking the wall right before C1. Next to go was Matti, who was almost a guaranteed podium finisher, but he ran wide on C1 and struck a wall with the rear of his car exiting the chicane and that bent the whole chassis. Sadly the marshalls did not allow for the car to continue despite the teams’ best attempts to fix the car. Howler Automotive also made a mistake, also clipping the wall on exit of C1 into C2, it caused some serious damage and the car spun out and stopped right outside TnG2. Luckily for him the car was still moving, so there was time to assess the situation and repair the damaged car. Last one to go was Madrias, who ran so hot into TnG2 that he had no chance to slow down for the C3. The car slid straight on and into the guardrail damaging the front end, messing up all the suspension ripping the mount points off the car. So sadly, we’re resuming this championship with 3 cars out of the competition before it began properly.
HowlerAutomotive 69 / 13
GridGhost 45 / 66
Squidhead 64 / 61
Airjordan 62 / 62
Szafirowy 56 / 57
4LGE 55 / 57
Strop 56 / 54
STM316 51 / 56
DoriftoDorifto 54 / 51
RK38 48 / 48
Vri404 36 / 33
Matti 67 / 0 DNQ
Madrias 54 / 0 DNQ
JohnWaldock 43 / 0 DNQ
Yesterday’s qualification left a bitter aftertaste, but here we are the next day, ready to drift once again. Some of the yesterday’s favourites have changed, some teams are higher than expected, some exactly where they’re expected to be, but it’s still unclear whether such a change is due to the fact that 3 cars are missing from the grid. So without further ado, and after another set of practice runs, we begin the battles.
By runners
HowlerAutomotive had a very solid solo run
Gridghost made a mistake in the last corner but it did not really matter.
Squidhead logged a nice tight line displaying good results
Airjordan proved that he still is on point by running a clean line
Szafirowy also did not have any problems taming his car and track.
Run 1
4LGE vs Vri404
This was a pretty one sided battle, on both runs. While both cars were not in the best shape though the track, requiring many corrections 4LGE managed to stay right on top of Vri for his chase run, and once his lead run began he ran away with it leaving Vri driving through a smoke screen.
Keiichi : 4LGE
Ken : 4LGE
James : OMT
Run 2
Strop vs RK38
First run had Strop running away from RK38, not allowing him a chance to get close throughout the course, RK38 responded by logging an extremely precise line mimicking Strop perfectly, even though there was quite a bit of distance between them. As Rk38 led Strop stayed close which left him a bit less room to maneuver, this evened the score as it was harder to follow RK38 perfectly.
Keiichi : Strop
Ken : OMT
James : OMT
Run 3
STM316 vs DoriftoDorito
Another close battle straight out of the gate in the top 16. While Dorito’s speed was clearly higher STM answered this by pouring on the smoke. Both runs ended in a stalemate, without a clear victor.
Keiichi : DoriftoDorito
Ken : STM316
James : OMT
Run 4
Strop vs RK38 OMT
First run was more of the same thing we saw before, Strop running away with RK logging in a clean run behind him. However once the roles reversed and Strop had to chase he put on serious pressure, staying straight on RK’s maesima quarterpanel for most of the track. This provoked RK into making a mistake in TNG2, where he went a bit wide, clipped the tire wall with his rear bumper, bounced back into Strop’s GTC concept, and then spun out. Luckily for Strop his car was not too damaged from the contact and it’s behaviour did not change.
Strop moves up
Run 5
STM316 vs DoriftoDorito OMT
Sadly this OMT ended pretty much like the previous one. That is not the previous run of the two drifters, but like the previous OMT. Straight out of the gate DoriftoDorito layed down the run of his life, running perfectly through the first TnG, but sadly that meant he was going too fast for the chicane and he smashed front first into the wall right outside clipping point 1. The car was terminally damaged, but luckily it seems DoriftoDorito escaped relatively unscathed.
STM316 advances.
No by runs here, luckily, so some of the drifters will be seeing their first competition of the weekend, while others had to seriously strain themselves to get into this round. Let’s see who’ll have the upper hand in this then, shall we?
Run 1
Squidhead vs 4LGE
While 4LGE’s RAX proved to be a powerhouse, it did suffer from sloppy handling and this track demanded serious handling capabilities, since the course was designed to throw the car off ballance. This helped Squidhead a lot. While the speed was on par and in some instances we could see glimpses of 4LGE’s horsepower advantage, the Maesima of team KHT has not only layed down a thick layer of smoke that for all intents and purposes did not allow a clean follow, it also did not require much correction through out the course.
Keiichi - 4LGE
Ken - Squidhead
James - Squidhead
Run 2
Airjordan vs Szafirowy
This was shaping up to be a very very close battle. The first run Szafirowy had almost a perfect follow run, clipping all the points and running the TnG’s as close as he could, leaving thick tire wall marks on his rear bumper. The second run Airjordan knew he’d have to show something truly remarkable to get the advantage back. He ran the Bellfaw pretty much top speed through both TnG 1 and 2, leaving his rear bumper in the tires while continuing on as if nothing happened and running full 90 into the C3. This was a very spirited run that had the viewers on their feet. But eventually the judges figure out what to do.
Keiichi : OMT
Ken : OMT
James : OMT
Run 3
Gridghost vs Strop
Strop has came up against a very strong competitor and knew he had to go all out on this run. Gridghost in turn did not rest easy, as he had his eyes on the prize the whole time. This probably is the thing that pushed him to go a bit harder than he could and in the first run he clipped the wall outside C1 with the rear of his car. The car spun out and hit the wall again, now with the front right side. It was clear that the car did not feel too planted after that happened and in the second run Strop has used this advantage to the maximum, getting the victory
Run 4
HowlerAutomotive vs STM316
This was an uncomfortable battle for STM as he went into battle with the one of the championships’ favourites. It also showed in his driving, it seems his nerves got the best of him. Both the lead and follow run did not go as smoothly as they could, and we did see better from that driver, noticeably better. HowlerAutomotive however just piled 2 more stable runs and took the victory
Keiichi : OMT
Ken : Howler
James : Howler
Run 5
Airjordan vs Szafirowy OMT
Both drivers have already proved that they are serious competitors and we would gladly see both of them in the finals, but as of now, we had to have only one. Szafirowy pushed his Luna right up to Airjordan’s Bellfaw leaving him minimal space for transitions, trying to score as much points for the proximity as he could. Airjordan in his follow run did that and more, and what really caught the judges attention was the fact that on his follow run Airjordan managed to guess exactly where Szafirowy’s car would be moments ahead and his instant transitions into Luna’s door won the day with the judges
Keiichi : Airjordan
Ken : OMT
James : Airjodan
Run 1
Squidhead vs Strop
Strop’s GTC concept surely did not lack for speed, and could easily keep up with Squidhead’s MRZ3, but this track required more, and in both runs it was apparent. The green Maesima kept clean lines and transitions while leaving the track smoked up as if after a smoke screen. Strop tried to follow properly but the amount of smoke meant that he had to make a lot of corrections, which ultimately sealed his spot in the competition.
Keiichi : Strop
Ken : Squidhead
James : Squidhead
Run 2
HowlerAutomotive vs Airjordan
This run mirrored the previous battle very closely. While Airjordan could easily keep up, the Prodigy drift prototype just was way too stable and predictable for Howler to make a mistake, which allowed him to push as hard as he wished, and Airjordan could not follow him into such angles.
Keiichi : Airjordan
Ken : HowlerAutomotive
James : HowlerAutomotive
Run 1
HowlerAutomotive vs Squidhead
This was a pretty one sided battle. While both cars and drivers were on a high level, Howler’s was just that much higher. It would take extra risks for Squidhead to manage to catch up, which he just was not willing to take. The result of this was a clear, while not a very overwhelming victory by HowlerAutomotive
HowlerAutomotive 110pts
Squidhead 85 pts
Airjordan 68 pts
Strop 68 pts
GridGhost 55 pts
4LGE 52 pts
Szafirowy 52 pts
STM316 52 pts
DoriftoDorifto 35 pts
RK38 35 pts
Vri404 35 pts
Matti 35 pts
Madrias 35 pts
JohnWaldock 35 pts