Lydden Hill played host to the second round of the JDM Allstars Triple Crown drifting series, in conjunction with the BHP Performance Car Show. With four rounds taking place across the UK, participating drivers can take the worst of their results and drop it, taking their best three scores forward to decide their final standing – hence the ‘Triple Crown’. With drifters welcome from far and wide track action would be nothing short of spectacular... [read more]
During the build up towards the main competition, the drifters provided demos for the large crowds of Lydden Hill. Whether it was to show off or take it as extra practice the drifters put on a great show and played to the large crowds, with some demos ending up more fruitful than others.
Perhaps a little too eager to get sideways in the morning, Sebastien Lepert in his Mazda RX7 ploughed deep into the gravel trap at the first turn, with it stopping just short of the tyre wall.
And in quick succession, Round 1 winner Remmo Niezen entered into the gravel with his BMW M3 V8 as well.
However the main drama wasn’t until later in the afternoon when Tom Yates and his Nissan PS13 took a trip into the gravel at turn 1 as a result of a rogue bumper, kicking up a lot of dust in an already smoky environment. Amidst the ruckus, Jon Beezy in his Mazda FC followed suit and slammed side-on into Yates at high speed. It was neither driver’s fault, and both took it in their stride. Yates even continued drifting in his damaged state before finally taking it in! Sid Crowfoot in his Toyota JCX 90 also had a little embarrassing moment when his tow ring snapped off during the recovery of his car out of the gravel!
Despite these minor blips on the radar, the competition began with the top 16 battling it out. Dan Chapman in his Driftworks Nissan PS13 took the first win over Sid Crowfoot with superior speed. Paul Vlasblom in his BMW Touring was able to close in on Brad McQueen, and in the second run saw McQueen straightening out giving Vlasblom the win. Kawabata-san straightened out on both runs and gave Declan Hicks the advantage, as well as causing damage to both his front and rear bumpers after a brush with the gravel. Round 1 winner Remmo Niezen faced Jon Stevens in his Lexus IS200. Stevens did his best to keep up with the screaming BMW, but when it was his turn to lead Remmo stayed glued to his rear to take the win.
The top 8 kicked off with Paul Vlasblom making short work of Dan Chapman. Chapman made a good effort keeping Vlasblom when leading, but Vlasbloom’s exceptional speed ensured him the win. Anthony Scott in his Ultralite Nissan S13 also kept up the fast pace against Dave Monahan in his Nissan R32 Skyline, who suffered a front puncture leading to a withdrawal. Frank Van Heeren cruised to victory in his BMW 3-series despite kissing the gravel at the start, and despite making an error on his second run Remmo Niezen beat Declan Hicks to progress to the semi-finals.
Starting first in the semi-finals was Paul Vlasblom and Anthony Scott. Scott, whilst had a lot of pace just couldn’t keep up with Vlasblom when chasing. And when it was his turn to lead he made an error at the first turn which caused Vlassblom to come within inches of his rear bumper. Nevertheless, Vlassblom kept the drift going and made his move at the final sweeper and overtook Scott to seal his spot in the final. Frank Van Heeren, as great as he was just was no match for the mighty Remmo Niezen and couldn’t break away from the BMW M3. And when Niezen took his turn to lead, the white BMW 3-series struggled to keep up and could only watch the M3 in Falken colours speed off away from him.
So the final was decided. An all Dutch, all BMW drift battle between Remmo Niezen and Paul Vlasblom. But before the top two could duel, third place had to be settled between Anthony Scott and Frank Van Heeren. Van Heeren had good speed and kept up with Scott through the first bend, but this wasn’t enough. Scott had a better drift angle, and went off to leave Van Heeren behind at the final turn. Third place was decided and it went to Anthony Scott!
Which only left the two Dutchmen to battle it out. Vlassblom was first to lead, and not surprisingly Niezen did not let off and stayed no more than a few feet away from his rear. Come Niezen’s turn to lead, Vlassblom gave no quarter and did exactly the same staying glued to his fellow Dutchman’s rear bumper. It was too close for the Judges to call, so it had to go to ‘One More Time’. Again Vlassblom and Niezen took their turns to lead and chase, but still their drift angle, speed and smoke were indistinguishable and neither looked like they would give in. Finally, with another ‘One More Time’, cracks started to appear in Vlassblom’s technique, and he could not keep up with Niezen’s angle and speed consistency.
After what can only be described as an epic finale between the two Dutch Drift Kings in their BMWs, the end result was winner Remmo Niezen. His Falken BMW M3 V8 performed perfectly throughout the day with no hiccups, even with the slight trip to the gravel during the morning’s drift demos. Nevertheless, Niezen takes another crown, and goes into Round 3 with two wins under his belt.
JDM Allstars now gears up for Round 3 which will take place at Wembley in August 15/16. Stay tuned for more coverage of the JDM Allstars series here at ColdTrackDays.
JDM Allstars Standings:
1. Remmo Niezen
2. Paul Vlasblom
3. Anthony Scott
4. Frank Van Heeren
5. Declan Hicks
6. Dan Chapman
7. Ban Broke-Smith
8. Dave Monahan
9. Kawabata
10. Jon Stevens
11. Matt Chiappa
12. Brad McQueen
13. Sid Crowfoot
14. Jon Bartholemew
15. Ben Horne
16. Tom Yates
Photo/Editorial: Calvin Chu
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