My name is Charlie Hulme, I live in West Yorkshire and im 17, I have a passion for all sorts of Motorsports and Photography, Soon I will have my driving license which means I will get a car and start doing this thing called Drifting...looks interesting. Well that’s me in a nutshell I guess.          

Thanks for reading my (first ever) blog and enjoy.

Saturday…practise day started out very well, few drivers were new to the layout and had to learn and some of the old veterans had to get themselves reacquainted with it, whilst the drivers were getting the usual briefing, I had a look at some of the beasts sat in the pits. The first cars that stood out were the new Low Brain Drifters PS13’s…

The new LBD cars were looking very intimidating with the sparkly vinyl’s and deep dish Equips.

Right in the far back corner of the pits I saw a well-known UDC Champion! The Sil-V8 stood out like nothing else! With its Dark blue base paint and the Light yellow parts all over the car(also sporting the Sleepycat Photography stickers)!

Another hour passed by, giving me more time to check out the cars and track, Then a few of the drivers headed out and the first person out on track was Lennard Wander in the Falken S14A

After a few runs by other drivers, I heard a big roar, I looked up in the sky but there was nothing, then as I turned back to the track I saw a big cloud of smoke, bit further ahead I saw this, being followed by Luke Fink in the newly designed LBD PS13

For the rest of the day it was just practise and a bit of twinning, but Pawel Trela is 1 of the most impressive driver’s ive seen all year, hes almost always on full lock as seen below

Later that day Vincent Noott & Daniel O’Brien ran together but ended up colliding

but later that day they were both on track and qualified for the Top 32 on Sunday(dedication!)

The shocker of the day was Duane McKeever who qualified first with a score of 95 out of a possible 100, he was on form all day and showed his precision when needed the most!

Sunday morning looked very dull in the sky, whilst the drivers were being told there qualifying positions, I checked out Lennard Wanders Falken S14A, and I saw the best sticker ive seen on any drift car

During the morning practise sessions, Christy Carpenter and Nigel Colfer showed what they were here for

Lennard Wander decided he wanted to be on ‘Stars in your eyes’!

“And tonight Matthew I will be…”

After all the excitement of practise, it was down to serious business, the Top 32!

With most of the drivers pushing their cars to the limits, it would be set to be the best JDM Allstars of the year! This is just how much each of the drivers wanted to win this year at Wembley, with just millimetres between the cars…

During the top 16 Luke Fink was giving it all against Brad “Lightning” McQueen

The final place in the final was to be decided by Nigel Colfer and Walton Smith, both of which are fantastic drivers, Nigel Colfer who also drives in the Prodrift Championship over in Ireland, and Walton Smith, son of the legend Julian Smith, this was going to be 1 of the closest battles of the day…

It was a close battle, but with George on form there was nothing Walton could do, George pushing his hardest gained the advantage on the last run and took 3^rd place!

Now onto the final…with 2 very consistent drivers, it would be tough to decide who took home the trophy…Pawel Trela was on full lock for almost all of the runs making it very hard for Nigel Colfer.

On the last run Pawel Trela closed the gap between himself and Nigel giving Pawel the victory and title of JDM Allstars Wembley 2010 Round 4 Winner!

Congratulations to Pawel Trela!

In the first of our series of Driver profiles we’ve chosen Barry McCann.

Barry competes in the Ulster Drift Championship and JDM Allstars in England. He comes from Bellaghy in N. Ireland

and his Drift car is none other than the big green Belfast Taxi

Name: Barry McCann (BMC)

Age: 34

Occupation: Owner of BMC Engineering, so on an average day I could be doing almost anything!

How long have you been drifting: 2 years

What started it: A friend was thinking of buying a drift car and brought me along with him when he went to see it – he didn’t buy it but I did.

I had heard about the Drift Skillz sessions and went along to one of the mornings. I got on well and really enjoyed it. That afternoon there was a UDC round and I was amazed but I actually qualified for it. I haven’t looked back since.

Where would you most like to drift and why: Long Beach Florida. The media really hype it up for the machinery that goes to it, the skill of the drivers that compete there and it sounds like an amazing high speed, flat out 4th gear track!

Best Result: UDC round 5 – 2010, where I finished 2nd. I’d been trying to break into the top 8 for ages and I was over the moon to do it by getting a second place.

First Drift Car: Nissan 180 SX S13

Current Car: Toyota Chaser – JZX81

Spec List: Car built by PJS Auto Engineering

Power: Approx 500 bhp

Engine: 1JZ GTE Standard inners

Fuelling: 800cc injectors and twin rail Bosch 044 fuel pumps

Waste Gate: 46mm XS Power

Exhaust: 3″ stainless steel straight through

Engine Management: Link Storm G4 supplied and mapped by PowerMax Engineering

Boost Control: Gizzmo from DW’s

Suspension: BC Racing all round from Apex Performance

Brakes: Skyline brakes

Gearbox: R154 with Exedy hyper twin plate clutch from DW’s

Bodykit: Marios D1 Kits

Paint: JF Bodyworks – Jon Bon

Graphics: M – Tec  Graphics

Sideways Racing – Life in the Pits at Round 5

Sideways Racing – Ulster Drift Championship Round 5

Fans gathered at Bishopscourt airfield circuit on Sunday 1st August to see the action of Round 5 of the Ulster Drift Championship….Unfortunatley the rain clouds gathered too!

Jason Dobbin threw the big Carlton about well all day

This photo needs no caption!

Josh Moffet threw up some serious amount of debris all day. We were totally plastered in it by the end of practice!

Seamus McCooey put in a great performance to come joint 3rd

One of the closest battles of the day was between Barry McCann and Duane McKeever

Jamie Russell gave Chubby McCord a close fight in the Semi Finals

The clouds brought the rain…..Chubby brought the thunder!

Greasy conditions all day made it tricky for the drivers

Duane ‘The Wonderkid’ McKeever. Definitly not what I was at when I was that age!

Mrs SleepyCat didn’t realise just how close Josh Moffett was after his spin!

Jamie Russell’s spin in the Semi Final helped Chubby progress

Good tight final between Chubby McCord and Barry McCann. Chubby takes the win.

The top 2 congratulate each other after a great days racing. The 2nd place for Barry McCann was his best ever

result and he’s clearly over the moon. Here’s hoping its upwards and onwards from now on.

Mix up at the end of the day meant that Jamie Russell missed out on his podium spot for 3rd.

Chubby’s son Jordan holds the trophy for dad.

As a consolation for Jamie, lets see him again.

Sideways Racing – AMA Round 5

We thought we’d show you some of the action from 1st August’s AMA round at Bishopscourt airfield circuit.

You’re nice enough to stand in the rain taking photos, and this is what you get! LOL

Ross Connery in his immaculate R33 Skyline put in a great performance

Tim Smyth in his TJ Bodyworx R33

Ross Connery and Ian Wilton had an immense battle for 3rd. Ian takes the last podium spot.

Connor Cunningham leads Tim Smyth in the final

After spinning in the first battle, Tim Smyth put in a great run but lost out overall to Connor Cunningham

Us Drift Bloggers are a hardy bunch!

Podium celebrations. From left to right. 2nd Tim Smyth, 1st Connor Cunningham and 3rd Ian Wilton

Sideways Racing – First Corner Action Round 5

Photos taken just after initiation into the first corner during qualifying for UDC round 5

Ulster Drift Championship - Round 4

Sunday 4^th July saw the 4^th round of the Sideways Racing UDC Championships take place at Bishopscourt Airfield Circuit.

A very wet start to the day proved to be a real challenge during the practice sessions and there were plenty of spins on track but that didn’t dampen the enthusiasm of the drivers.

Barry McCann lights her up!

An epic semi final battle between Chris Brady and Josh Moffett saw Brady into the final.

Barry McCann and Rob Barnett battle it out in the semi final. Barnett progresses.

An intense final battle between Chris Brady and Rob Barnett resulted in a ‘One More Time’.

Barnett grabs the win and celebrates in style.

Next event is 1st August when its AMA, UDC, and SWRC plays ‘Car Football’

Can Spain win the cup again?

Ulster Drift Championship Rd3

Sideways Racing held the 3rd round of the 2010 Ulster Drift Championship on sunday 9th May. Bishopscourt was bathed in beautiful sunshine and it’d prove to be a hot day out on the track as well. Over 1000 spectators turned out to witness a great day’s drifting and they definitely weren’t disappointed.

Barry McCann in full flow in the 'Belfast Taxi'

Robert Simpson in his Nissan Silvia were going well till a brief meeting with a tyre wall. No major damage done though.

Rob Barnett putting out major smoke…

Chris Brady’s immaculate Nissan sadly retired with mechanical problems

Ladies and Gentleman. I proudly present Mr. Show-off himself……..Richard Bradley!

Robin Neeson’s big Chaser looked a class act all day

Bring on the thunder! The Sil-V8 makes its N. Ireland debut with the new supercharged V8 engine. And, oh mummy, its sounds immense!

Closest battle of the day was definitely between Rob Barnett and Richard Bradley.

After numerous ‘One More Times’ Bradley made it through to the next round.

'TAXI!'

Chubby McCord and Richard Bradley battle it out in the Semi Finals. Chubby goes through.

Josh Moffett beats Robin Neeson in the 2nd Semi Final to setup a final with Chubby McCord.

A close final saw Chubby McCord take his 2nd win of the 2010 UDC

Josh Moffett celebrates a well earned 2nd place.

Podium celebrations. 1st Chubby McCord, 2nd Josh Moffett and 3rd Richard Bradley.