JDM ALL-STARS // ROUND THREE @ WEMBLEY STADIUM

For the second year running, the roar of engines, the sounds of tyres screeching and the smell of rubber rocks Wembley as Round Three of the JDM Allstars takes center stage in the car parks surrounding Wembley Stadium in London. Following on from Round Two at Lydden Hill sees Remmo Niezen looking poised to add yet another win to an already successful performance in the JDM Allstars series so far. With two wins under his belt, a third would pretty much seal his victory within the Triple Crown series. But as always with drifting, it can go either way... [read more]

Whilst Round Two at Lydden Hill was a circuit based drift course, Wembley is a much different beast. Situated in one of the car parks surrounding the infamous Wembley Stadium, the course for Round Three sees drivers tackling high entry speeds and negotiating technical turns on a smooth tarmac surface, originally intended for stationary vehicles.  

And yet to spice things up the surface isn’t perfectly level, with a slight raised area in the tarmac that happens to be where the drivers make their transition into the final hairpin. For the inexperienced, that slight airtime which drivers face may make or break their run, but all the more exciting for the spectators. 

If the sight of high speed machines jumping sideways wasn’t enough, a certain concrete wall stood between the fans and circuit, posing another challenge to the drivers. Drifting as close to the wall would be great, but rubbing the wall would be even better. A fair share of drivers had their time with the wall, with some more dramatic than others.  
 
There was a fair share of drama during the day, such as Dean Kearney in his Nissan S13 just kissing the wall slightly and ripping his rear light off. Brad McQueen also had a date with the wall during his tandem run, resulting in his rear bumper being ripped off altogether. Naturally the drivers were all in good spirit about it, with the likes of Lennard Wander and Mark Luney taping drinks cans to their rear left bumper as a measure of grazing the wall. 
 
Mechanical issues were abound as well, with Daniel Eyles steering lock sheering during the practice session, a part which was especially shipped from Japan with replacements not easy to come by. Fortunately being a drifting event, there were able to borrow the part from another Nissan Silvia S15 owner and get back into the action. The 13-year old drifting sensation Dwain McKeever in his white Nissan Silvia PS13 also unfortunately ran into a bit of bad luck with a spot of engine trouble and ultimately had to pull out even after a great performance on the day. 

But as 32 became 16, and 16 became 8, and 8 eventually turned into 4, the cream of the crop showed their true colours within the final stages of the round. Pete Barber, winner of Round 2 of the European Drift Championship saw him and his Mazda RX7 go up against Dan Chapman in his newly built blue Nissan Silvia S13. The other battle was an all Dutch, all BMW affair with Paul Vlasblom in his BMW Touring go up against the mighty Remmo Niezen in his Falken BMW M3 V8. 

Chapman showed he had what it takes and saw off Pete Barber to progress into the finals, his new car definitely proving its worth. However in the other semi-final it was a very close call, with Niezen and Vlasblom both putting in outstanding runs. After a lengthy judging decision it was indeed Vlasblom who was the better Dutchman, knocking Niezen out of the fight for the top spot. But it wasn’t all bad news as the Falken BMW driver had done well enough to take third place. 

Which leaves Chapman and Vlasblom to do battle. After some truly epic runs with both drivers sticking to each other like glue, taking impressive angles and kicking up serious amounts of smoke, there could only be one winner and that was Dan Chapman. He had performed consistently throughout the day and deserved to take the top spot. Upon hearing the announcement he was pretty stunned to take the win, and was promptly completely and utterly soaked in champagne by fellow podium sitters Niezen and Vlasblom! 

And so another year and another successful event at Wembley passes by. The JDM Allstars Triple Crown series now moves on to Silverstone as part of the TRAX 2009 Car Show in September, which will see the UK’s most infamous racing circuit acting as the battlegrounds for the final round of the series. Be sure to check back for coverage of the final round right here on ColdTrackDays!

Photo/Editorial: Calvin Chu