So every year in June we set out to conquer Anneau du Rhin during the driftcup organized by Team MSO from France.
This is always a great event, with lots of visitors and a good vibe.
Team Speed Industries is usually in the mix with several cars and so was it this year too.
We had Capo and Jo going for their first drift race, both were super excited and a bit nervous.
Andrew and me signed up for the pro class and were also very excited about the event.
So Friday came and we took off towards Anneau after a busy week.
Arriving around 3pm we started to set up camp and got everything in line.
The technical inspection officers came through and checked our cars. Everything was fine.
Around 6pm there was the first briefing and the organizers and judges gave us an outline of the schedule and what they wanted to see on track.
So soon after this we set out and got some practice runs in.
After the first session I had way too much grip on the rear so I switched dimensions on the rear and tire pressure.
Second session was much better and I was feeling comfortable for the next day.
Andrew only got very little laps in due to yellow flags on track and was not that happy about it.
Our rookies Jo and Capo got a few laps in and were struggling with the layout and their road legal cars.
So Andrew and me did the best we could to help them setup their cars to make things easier.
Saturday came spirits were high after all.
Andrew and me started qualifying in the afternoon.
We got 1 warm up lap and 3 for qualifications.
I managed to put in some decent laps with kicking most of the clipping points.
Andrew was only half happy with his laps.
As it turned out Andrew got 17th with 65 points missing the top 16 only by 2 points.
I got 94 points in my second run which put me into 3rd place.
Only Dirtdrop Phil (95) and Uwe Sener (96) got more points.
Once again I got mixed feelings qualifying up the ladder. As some of you might know that did no really go to plan the last couple of times.
But when I saw that I was up against Markus Militzer it was cool. He is a very consistent and talented driver so I would not have to expect any awkward driving.
In the battles I did get some lucky strikes with Markus and Phil but check for yourself in the video:
Driftcup 2013 the battles from Speed Industries on Vimeo.
So as you can see I took the overall win.
Finally I could rip off the past failures and got a win again. Oh boy did that feel good.
On Sunday it was a whole new game again.
The layout was completely different and we started again with qualifications.
Andrew did get some decent runs and I was not sure what to think of mine.
I was kind of all over the place and still did not know how to approach this layout, it was super odd.
However we both qualified in 16th (Andrew) and 11th (me) position, so it was cool.
Our rookies did get a new go at the track again and from what I know did quite good for their first race.
Jo ended up in the 8th position and Capo in 21st.
Not bad for the first time.
Congrats boys.
Then it was the pros time again.
Andrew was up against a very good frenchman and his BMW e46 M3 supercharger with 500-600hp.
I was up against Uwe Sener, the same guy I battled last night in the finals.
No jokes aside, I liked this since he is a cool guy and good driver.
Andrew went first.
I could only follow it from the start line and only saw entry and exit, nothing in between.
Unfortunately it did not looked too good from what I saw.
The french guy made full use of his power and just ran away from Andrew. Too bad.
Then it was my turn.
We got in the cars and up to the line.
Uwe was leading the first run and I chased him.
At one point I did get into the dirt with at least one tire so I guess it was a big advantage to him.
Then it was on me to lead.
I accelerated and entered the first turn.
Then baaam, Uwe hit me into the side.
I stopped drifting because I was unsure if the steering and rear wheel was still ok.
Back to the start line it was a confusing situation. I checked the car and it looked ok.
Then the judges called for one more time, which was cool with me. I always like to get some extra driving.
So Uwe started again and I chased.
Up until half of the track it was all good and then suddenly he washed out like crazy.
I did not really know where to go so I just overtook him.
He stopped because something with his steering was bad.
I realized it was probably due to the accident we had and it turned out his steering was quite a bit bent.
This was just bad luck on his side and it is not cool to win this way. So I ran back to him to applaud him.
He deserved better then this.
Then I was up against Mike and his PS13 with rb25.
He is a good driver and almost won the french series last year.
So it would be interesting.
He lead and I gave chase.
Unfortunately I spun out at one point.
Then in the second run he went completely into the dirt.
So we got a one more time.
In my second chase run I did have a small mistake and straightened shortly.
That gave him the win and I was out in the Top 8.
Was still ok though.
The whole weekend was a good experience for the team and me.
Everybody had a good time and that is what it is all about.
Of course we also take some wins here and there.
Here is also the video about the whole experince. Gives you a short version of all the action that went down.
Driftcup Anneau du Rhin 2013 from Speed Industries on Vimeo.
So every year in June we set out to conquer Anneau du Rhin during the driftcup organized by Team MSO from France.
This is always a great event, with lots of visitors and a good vibe.
Team Speed Industries is usually in the mix with several cars and so was it this year too.
We had Capo and Jo going for their first drift race, both were super excited and a bit nervous.
Andrew and me signed up for the pro class and were also very excited about the event.
So Friday came and we took off towards Anneau after a busy week.
Arriving around 3pm we started to set up camp and got everything in line.
The technical inspection officers came through and checked our cars. Everything was fine.
Around 6pm there was the first briefing and the organizers and judges gave us an outline of the schedule and what they wanted to see on track.
So soon after this we set out and got some practice runs in.
After the first session I had way too much grip on the rear so I switched dimensions on the rear and tire pressure.
Second session was much better and I was feeling comfortable for the next day.
Andrew only got very little laps in due to yellow flags on track and was not that happy about it.
Our rookies Jo and Capo got a few laps in and were struggling with the layout and their road legal cars.
So Andrew and me did the best we could to help them setup their cars to make things easier.
Saturday came spirits were high after all.
Andrew and me started qualifying in the afternoon.
We got 1 warm up lap and 3 for qualifications.
I managed to put in some decent laps with kicking most of the clipping points.
Andrew was only half happy with his laps.
As it turned out Andrew got 17th with 65 points missing the top 16 only by 2 points.
I got 94 points in my second run which put me into 3rd place.
Only Dirtdrop Phil (95) and Uwe Sener (96) got more points.
Once again I got mixed feelings qualifying up the ladder. As some of you might know that did no really go to plan the last couple of times.
But when I saw that I was up against Markus Militzer it was cool. He is a very consistent and talented driver so I would not have to expect any awkward driving.
In the battles I did get some lucky strikes with Markus and Phil but check for yourself in the video:
Driftcup 2013 the battles from Speed Industries on Vimeo.
So as you can see I took the overall win.
Finally I could rip off the past failures and got a win again. Oh boy did that feel good.
On Sunday it was a whole new game again.
The layout was completely different and we started again with qualifications.
Andrew did get some decent runs and I was not sure what to think of mine.
I was kind of all over the place and still did not know how to approach this layout, it was super odd.
However we both qualified in 16th (Andrew) and 11th (me) position, so it was cool.
Our rookies did get a new go at the track again and from what I know did quite good for their first race.
Jo ended up in the 8th position and Capo in 21st.
Not bad for the first time.
Congrats boys.
Then it was the pros time again.
Andrew was up against a very good frenchman and his BMW e46 M3 supercharger with 500-600hp.
I was up against Uwe Sener, the same guy I battled last night in the finals.
No jokes aside, I liked this since he is a cool guy and good driver.
Andrew went first.
I could only follow it from the start line and only saw entry and exit, nothing in between.
Unfortunately it did not looked too good from what I saw.
The french guy made full use of his power and just ran away from Andrew. Too bad.
Then it was my turn.
We got in the cars and up to the line.
Uwe was leading the first run and I chased him.
At one point I did get into the dirt with at least one tire so I guess it was a big advantage to him.
Then it was on me to lead.
I accelerated and entered the first turn.
Then baaam, Uwe hit me into the side.
I stopped drifting because I was unsure if the steering and rear wheel was still ok.
Back to the start line it was a confusing situation. I checked the car and it looked ok.
Then the judges called for one more time, which was cool with me. I always like to get some extra driving.
So Uwe started again and I chased.
Up until half of the track it was all good and then suddenly he washed out like crazy.
I did not really know where to go so I just overtook him.
He stopped because something with his steering was bad.
I realized it was probably due to the accident we had and it turned out his steering was quite a bit bent.
This was just bad luck on his side and it is not cool to win this way. So I ran back to him to applaud him.
He deserved better then this.
Then I was up against Mike and his PS13 with rb25.
He is a good driver and almost won the french series last year.
So it would be interesting.
He lead and I gave chase.
Unfortunately I spun out at one point.
Then in the second run he went completely into the dirt.
So we got a one more time.
In my second chase run I did have a small mistake and straightened shortly.
That gave him the win and I was out in the Top 8.
Was still ok though.
The whole weekend was a good experience for the team and me.
Everybody had a good time and that is what it is all about.
Of course we also take some wins here and there.
Here is also the video about the whole experince. Gives you a short version of all the action that went down.
Driftcup Anneau du Rhin 2013 from Speed Industries on Vimeo.