BDC Drivers Steal the Show at 10th Anniversary of Japfest at Castle Combe Circuit

Thrilled fans spent much of the time on their feet looking to get a better view of the extreme action.
Thrilled fans spent much of the time on their feet looking to get a better view of the extreme action.
There are things so overwhelmingly scrumptious that with a single taste you risk becoming immediately addicted. The Maxxis British Drift Championship has that sort of powerful allure, collecting enthusiastic converts at an alarming rate wherever and whenever they do their total sensory assaulting thing. Castle Combe Circuit in Wiltshire, England was the venue for the 10th birthday celebration of Japfest. With over 15,000 fans in attendance, at what is arguably the largest Japanese-based car show on earth, drift racers did their "thing" and flat-out stole the show.
Castle Combe is a fast-paced circuit with flowing corners that are ideally suited to drifting.
Castle Combe is a fast-paced circuit with flowing corners that are ideally suited to drifting.


A select group of Maxxis British Drift Championship drivers and Team Japspeed were invited to be a part of the monster celebration this year. The collective drifters were allocated three extended time slots throughout the day to showcase their extreme skills, resulting in some of the most epic on-edge driving that the UK fans had ever experienced. Castle Combe is a high speed circuit not intended for the faint-hearted, offering up some fantastic flowing corners fittingly designed to allow gifted drivers to drift in and out like a high speed tango.

The BDC drivers and Team Japspeed monochrome monsters smoked up their Maxxis MA-Z1 drift rubber before the huge crowds that gathered at every available nook and cranny to witness stunning drift techniques with colorful names such as the Scandinavian or Finnish flick, the Pendulum turn and Manji Drifting. The twinning between "Baggsy" and "Smokey" around Quarry corner brought people up on their feet as they searched to get a better view of the door-to-door motorsport dance. At other times over 30 cars held huge drift trains around the fast-paced Wiltshire Circuit stirring fans into a further frenzy.

The 10th anniversary Japfest was yet another great opportunity to showcase the cars, the drivers, and what the BDC is all about to the spectators, and to that end the event was yet another huge success for initiating motorsport fans to the joy of drifting. The Maxxis British Drift Championship is in fact growing so exponentially, that now the 2012 series is going to be televised on Motors TV. This is a huge step forward for sponsors and everyone involved, and very exciting times for UK drifting as it takes steps towards to becoming a mainstream motorsport and a must-see event.

Round 2 of the BDC will be on June 1st and 2nd at the Norfolk Arena, with Motors TV programming providing footage that will allow to catch up on any action that you may have missed.

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