Drift Practice at Essex Arena after KOTR

Drift Practice at Essex Arena after KOTR on Sept the 11th! Me, Marsh and JT were still fired up from King of the Ring and wanted more drifting fun!! Simon took Martins E36 328i at 4pm to the drift practice, he wanted to get some runs in before we got there, we were leaving at 6pm!

After he got there he called Martin to tell him there was a Big man with a pony tail in the queue to sign in behind him & he was feeling intimidated, ahhaha we were pissing our selves laughing!

Then 15 minutes later he phoned saying he was too afraid to go out on track as they were all maniacs, just too funny! Simon said he would wait for us to come.

At 6pm we headed for the petrol station to get ripped of, then we were on the road! Martin had Simon’s Navara pick up, Jt had his newly acquired 520i beamer & I had my E30 beast! Lets just say it wasn’t a leisurely drive to Essex Arena, still we got there pretty quickly. 😉

Went upstairs to the bar to sign in & met Simon there. He looked quite sheepish saying that it was more like banger racing then drifting!

He had been chatting to a couple drivers in the pits and they were telling him to watch out for this car & that car as they would just take him out for the fun of it! Sounded like Marsh was out already, hehe!

I believe they were just winding him up. 😉 Although I was getting a little concerned, didn’t want my E30 getting smashed up!

Anyhow we signed in and taped up our lights before joining the line for our 1st Drift practice!

drifting at essex arena

drifting at essex arena

Well we were all spinning of, it is a damn site harder then I thought but I knew I just needed some time. We got about 10mins on track each session which was a lot better then the 2 or 3 laps you get at King of the Ring events.

It was not long before I seen Marsh spinning and hitting the barriers backwards in his E36. I had a few close shaves but no contact. Result! Jt seemed to be cruising around. The Traction control wasn’t letting him do any drifting……

For round 2, I disabled JTs traction control & we were out for another session. Martin smashed the front of the E36 this time, I felt sorry for that car only last week it was in someone’s garage with full service history and it was in great condition.

When me & Simon picked it up the bloke asked why the rush buying it & when I told him my mate was taking it to Essex Arena, his face dropped.

Anyway I had a big spin on my 3rd lap and was waiting for a gap to get going again, an E36 flashed his lights and I was off but he wasn’t slowing? As I avoided him a big f`ing Volvo coming close behind the Bimmer whacked the Quarter panel on my Bimmer nearly spinning me, f`ing tosser, I’m sure he could of avoided me! 🙁

Anyhow on our 3rd session Simon was finally going to get his 1st taste of drifting & Jt was getting it sideways. I was beginning to get some good drifts going as well. Ave it, oh yeah…

On the 4th Session things were improving, I was trying to follow the Yetti (Alan) in his black 523i to get some tips as he was real good. I was getting the feel for it, needed to be gentle and not so aggressive as the track is real slippery when wet! And it is always wet at Essex Arena…..

Marsh was still going too fast and fighting a losing battle with the Barriers and I seen him nearly take out Jodie in her beloved Orange E30. Doh! slow down fella, hehe……

On the 5th session the Marsh was back in the Hot seat and the Beamer got a proper Beating! A few minutes into it and as I lost it on the 1st bend I could see JT had T boned Marsh, the side of the E36 was caved in and the window had shattered with glass all over the track. still we carried on!

The 6th session and the E36 was in a sorry state, wasn’t long before I heard the sound of tyres skidding close by as I looked in my mirror I seen Marsh coming towards me backwards & he just clipped the back of my car, what can I say, he is a f`ing maniac, hehe!

After this session every corner on the E36 had been smashed and steam was coming from the front & tyre smoke from a rubbing wheel arch. As for me, I was really getting the hang of things and getting big drifts using all the steering lock I had, Yeehaa haha!

For the 7th and last session Simon jumped in the passenger seat but we were stopped before getting on the track & Simon was removed as I didn’t have a harness or roll cage fitted but you can take passengers out at Kotr without these?

I done really good on this session as well, getting great drifts without spinning apart from the odd one. Now I was trying to do the transition to the other side on the straights, this was a lot more tricky and after a couple full lock drifts just holding it, I needed to calm down because when you lose it doing this you will be hitting the barrier HARD. See Marshes E36!

I still needed more practice for the transitions, otherwise the Beamer would be getting wrecked!

Well that was it and as we went back to the pits, Alan the Yetti told Marsh that he needs to Calm Down, well Yetti that’s the truth!

Now time to drive home! The problem was the E36! Marsh had done a good job wrecking it! We couldn’t get the bonnet open to check the radiator & nobody had a tow rope.

Marsh decided to take a chance & drive it. I would lead & JT would follow Marsh. After 10 mins we had to pull of the M25 the E36 was cooking. JT was going to take Marsh to the garage and get the E36 towed back. As soon as I got to the M11 my Petrol light came on, phew should just have enough juice to get home if I go easy, yes light-footed!…….Got home exhausted but Happy!!! 🙂

As for Marshes E36, well pictures speak louder then words…..

Well it turned out that my Welded Diff was fine Dwayne (Specsavers mate) and as I suspected or knew the rear subframe & trailing arm bushes were knackered. This was causing the back wheels to judder (wheel tramp) when spinning up!

Will be fitting some Powerflex Bushes before the next drift practice on the 25th of Sept for sure……

 

 

 

 

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