King Of The Ring The Final Chapter at Arena Essex, October the 5th. This would be the final King of the Ring for 2013! I got here early for this one. Arrived at 4.30 with my sister Caroline. Sambo followed me down with Amber. The queue to get in was pretty long…..but soon everyone was in!
Got to the gate, signed in and headed down to the pits to tape up the lights on the Beamer. I was surprised that there wasn’t more cars here but I’m sure that more would be coming!!!
The time was now 5pm, this would be Caroline’s 1st time out for a passenger ride & she was looking really forward to it!! We drove up to the non members lane that was still empty, time to get out there and do some drifting!!
During the week I had been playing about with how stiff the rear BC Coil overs were on the Beamer, I was trying to get rid of the bad Wheel Tramping (wheel hop as the yanks call it) it had been suffering.
Making the shocks stiffer seemed to make the tramping even worse so made the rear shocks softer by 6 clicks and this improved things a lot but had not eliminated the damn tramping. It would need stiffer rear springs for sure but the Beamer felt good, a lot better then it had done. 😉
The 1st run was fairly good, although the Ring felt more slippery then usual? I had a few spins and I would just slam the Beamer into reverse and do half a J turn to get out of the way and get going as quick as I could, I was getting the hang of the J turn, well half a J turn 😉
Caz wasn’t prepared for all this change in direction and at the end of the 1st run she said it felt like she had whiplash! heehee too funny! Good job the track wasn’t dry as there would of been a lot more G forces involved…..
On the 2nd run My Brother John the Photographer & Karen arrived. Here are links to his photos: Previous pictures from King of The Ring pics Here! Pictures from this event at Arena Essex The Final Chapter of King of the Ring!
As I lined up Behind a Ratty looking Volvo 340, Caz was prepping her iPhone to film the run. The Volvo looked quite good and the drifter was pretty damned good. I tried keeping with him and was hanging with him until the 4th lap!!
Coming onto the straight I came out of the bend a little too fast & sideways. The Beamer then gripped and before I knew it we ended up on the dirt heading for the clipping point, 3 big red tractor tyres.
The big red tyres were like a magnet and I was going straight for them! I remember thinking, hope they aren’t filled with concrete or anything??
Well I just rammed them head on sending them flying all over the place, couldn’t help but chuckle away and just carried on but ended up spinning! Then a white Nissan S13 came mighty close to losing his rear bumper but just skimmed by…..
Checked for any damage after that run. The bottom valance had been pushed in & the number plate cracked, nothing to worry about, the show must go on!! 🙂
Onto my 3rd run, this was great, still no queues and now I was starting to get the feel of it. Getting some transitions onto the straights and getting a little better at linking some of the drifts together. Wasn’t really near the clipping points but getting better holding the drifts and getting some good angle. Sister was loving it as well……
View from the Drift GHOST HD Action Camera
On my 4th run and still not much waiting about, WooHoo! We were getting out on the ring within 10 to 15mins, which was great! I though this wont last long as more people would be coming but I was hopeful. After every run I would join the back of the line straight away….The 4th run was a pretty good run, little by little I was getting into the Groove, bit by bit!
On the 5th run the sun was setting and I was losing my rhythm. Pulled up to the start line and one of the marshal’s came up to me and said they made the tyres heavier for the next time I rammed them! Hahaha, funny man, hmmm felt like hitting them tyres again just for the fun of it, but maybe not…. 😉
To tell the truth my 5th run was a pretty shite run!! Not to worry it was still early days. I had another action cam, as well as the GoPro. This cam was appropriately named the `Drift GHOST HD`! I strapped it to the drivers door, giving a unique view of the drivers wheel in action!!!
On the 6th run Caz was still in the hot seat having another passenger ride. The sun was fading fast…… On this run everyone else seemed to be drifting a lot better & going for the clipping points! My run was a better then the previous one but everyone seemed to of stepped it up a level. Time to Go Big or Go Home 😉
Returning to the pits and got a call from Stella. Stel and Alex had arrived but Thalia couldn’t make it this time, couldn’t get time of work! Met them in the pits and I could see Alex was looking forward to this. Caz passed the Helmet over to Al and he jumped in for the 7th run.
It was beginning to get dark now, the sun had nearly gone now. We drifted up to the start line and looking around I could see that the other cars were the usual crowd, the good drifters and a few of the Pros had joined the back, giving passenger rides! At the front was the Green Scooby driven by the Dengie Boys and this bloke always does well!!!
We were not doing very good and I had quite a few spins and then we hit the big metal barriers in the same place I had hit it when I done my 1st ever drift practice back in July. I bent the same O/s quarter panel again……Damn it!!!
Alex loved it, got back to the pits, checked the damage, another broken light unit, bumper pushed up, more dents and creases in the quarter panel. Well, going to need a new panel for sure as it was beyond panel beating, well, maybe I will try and beat it out some more! 😉
Another run with Alex, my 8th run and this was a qualifying run as far as I knew? Although there had been no drivers briefing? One of the officials asked me if I knew were the clipping points were as we lined up for this run! I just said yes I do? So I’m guessing this was the beginning of the judged runs….
This run was a little better but had far too many spins for my liking & this wouldn’t be good enough to get me into the Final 16…….
My Cousin Jason had now arrived with Sarah, although they weren’t up for a passenger ride yet, preferring to be spectators for the time begin. I think they may also be catching the drifting bug and it wont be long before they are in the Hot seat for some passenger rides. Lee and his mate had also come along for The Final Chapter.
Marsh didn’t get another car & didn’t come, he said drifting wasn’t for him after wrecking a Mercedes SLK & a BMW E36 328i on his previous attempts, the tosser 😉 Marsh would be more suited to banger racing!!
Jt had been revved up all week, getting his BMW 520 ready but couldn’t come either as his Mum had to be rushed to hospital when he was on his way to Kotr…. Simon was going to take an old Taxi he was going to scrap but thought better of it & went camping??….Looks like my Drifting team was dwindling away, fast & furiously…….
It was now Stella’s turn in the Hot seat for my 9th run! Couldn’t give her a ride at the last Kotr as I had to retire with a suspected broken diff and Stel had just bought a passenger ride wrist band 🙁 and she only got 1 run with Marsh & that wasn’t too good!!!
Only had the `Drift Ghost HD` action cam running now as the GoPro Hero 3 Black
had run out of juice. The `Drift GHOST` although it wasn’t in the best position and the sound was pretty poor, had done a great job catching the action & was water proof out of the box & very user friendly with the LED Remote control!!!
Stel was well revved up for this one, I’m glad she made it as she wasn’t too sure if she could come. Stel wanted me to do really good and was getting me all revved up! Yelling, you can do it, lets have it Hell boy, Ahhaha! Great stuff…….
We were 1st out onto the ring and as we ripped up to the start line, one of the Marshall’s was motioning at me to slow down, wtf, ahhaha, we couldn’t stop laughing! Around the 2nd lap the Tractor tyres were working there magic again, pulling me in towards them!
I had to take some evasive action and swerved onto the infield getting pretty close to some of the BDC pros who had there cars parked there! It did make me wonder why they park there Drift machines so close to the track? Could very well end in tears one day……..
It wasn’t a great run but it was great Fun and an improvement on the previous runs, had to get my act together if I was gonna get through to the top 16……
Now ready for the 10th run, the cars in front went to line up at the gate, I turned the key and the beast barley turned over??? Bollocks, with all the chatting and laughing with Stel, Al and Sambo, I had left the lights and the Rad fan turned on!!! Turned everything of and slowly turned the key, the engine lazily burst into life, Phew….close call 😉
Anyhow We were off and lined up at the gate! We tore onto the Ring sideways and transitioned onto the straight. Stel was taking this run seriously, coaching me, telling me I had to do better and encouraging me to concentrate and not Fuck it Up! Groovy…..
The red flag waved and we were of. We done a great run, My best run so far for sure!!! Done pretty damned good. Stel was loving it and giving me encouraging tips and advice, haha it was a great laugh, as they say, “keep drifting fun”, never a truer saying!!!
Unfortunately this run was over in 2 f`ing laps, wtf, stel was more mystified then me? I needed to keep this form for the next few qualifying laps if I was to make it to the top 16, Oh yeah!!!
Alex was back for more for the 11th Run which wasn’t too bad but not as good as my previous run, the 10th run……
After that run Sambo was waiting, he still hadn’t had a run yet and he was in the hot seat for the last 2 passenger rides! He was loving it. The last King of the Ring I took him for a run but spun on nearly every corner and we only got 2 laps!!! This time I was doing much better, Sambo loved it and filmed the run with his Moby.
I had done so much better at this event, definitely my best King of the Ring! I was really pleased with my self and everyone who came to watch said I had done sooo much better then my previous King of the Ring events! Result!!!
I knew in my heart that I had not been good enough to qualify for the top 16, I just wasn’t quite there yet. Still I’m very happy with my progress and cant wait for future drifting events at Arena Essex.
Next year want to also do some drifting events at Norfolk Arena, Lydden Hill & other places like the Drift Matsuri on the Anglesey race Circuit in Wales over looking the Irish Sea and Snowdonia Mountain!!! This looks amazing…..
I would really like to join the Retro Drift Championship next year as well. This is for Older cars, pre 1990s and the costs are kept down as you don’t have to spend a fortune to compete and this would suit me & my Beamer. I want to at least compete in a couple rounds, only time will tell….;)
Anyhow it was that time for a the drivers briefing, they would announce who qualified for the top 16. As every one huddled around in anticipation, I could see Stel was looking intensely at the announcer, ready to run up to him and knock him out as he was flapping about, heehee…
I told Stel to take it easy and we just burst out in laughter, the announcer was been a bit of a knob though 😉 As he called the names out, there were some funny comments flying around and Stel was getting a bit vocal towards the end.
What do you know judges, Hell boy should be in it, ahhhaha it was funny but all in good humor 😉
The qualifiers all paired of to do some Twinning, door to door drifting for the finals to claim the crown for King of the Ring! They all headed for the center of the Ring.
I parked the Beamer up and met Jason and Sarah who were with my bruv John (The Photographer), Karen and Caz. We watched the Finals to around 11pm before leaving.
I was feeling really knackered now and aching all over quite a bit. Got on the M11 and the beamer began to splutter and I could feel the power surging!!!! Hmmm, It seems like the petrol pump was giving up, damn it……fingers crossed as I eased her home. Got home, result!
Wanted to go to the Drifting Festival at Lydden hill on Sunday but wouldn’t be going now as the Beamer wouldn’t make it with the petrol pump playing up 🙁 Will have to change the pump during the week……..
Well had a wicked time at The Final Chapter of King of the Ring but Im going to have to settle for the Drift Practice days on Wednesdays at Essex Arena to sharpen my drifting skills for the rest of the year…….
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