2017 saw return of an event which had undeniably wowed visitors of all ages at its premiere event in 2016 year. Maxxis sponsored Team Japspeed were proud to be invited back to tear up the streets of Glasgow and smoke more than a few Maxxis VR1 tyres. Aiming to build on an exhilarating performance the year before; Team Japspeed descended on Glasgow with 4 cars and 3 drivers - Paul Smith, Matt Carter and guest driver Steven Donnelly.
With drift demos proving immensely popular at the inaugural Ignition Festival it was clear from the outset that we would have our work cut-out to put on a performance bigger and better than the last.
However, this year there was to be a slight twist. The Monster Energy drift team were also in attendance, represented by not one but two Japspeed sponsored drivers – Steve “Baggsy” Biagioni and Rick Van Goethem. Seeking to put on the best show possible a weekend long Japspeed vs Monster Energy drift battle would ensue where at the end of each of the 6 battles, the crowd would decide the winner!
On the first show the weather was dry, one of the few that would be. All the cars entered the arena with pace and put on a 3 car drift train to the amazement of the gathered crowd. At that point the differential in Steve Donnelly’s car broke and put his RX7 out of action for the remainder of the first show.
Next up saw Maxxis driver Paul Smith go head to head against Baggsy on the closed streets of the city centre of Glasgow! Keen to keep the action going Matt Carter then took the arena to face off with Rick Van Goethem on the same street circuit. With two great battles complete it was time for the crowd to decide a winner!
Majority vote awarded Team Japspeed as the victors! To complete the spectacle Paul Smith, Matt Carter, Steven Donnelly, Steve Biagioni and Rick Van Goethem joined forces to put on a 5 car drift train to end the display.
This format was repeated for the remaining 5 shows of the weekend much to the enjoyment of the crowd. Between shows we were able to see the indoor displays including many supercars, tuned cars and the 70 years of Ferrari exhibition. We also enjoyed watching the R/C drift cars which were some serious bits of kit.
6 demonstrations later, all the drivers had put on a great show in all weathers from glorious Sunshine to torrential rain – truly testing for both cars and drivers. With the crowd voting for the winners in the drift battle face off Team Japspeed claimed a 5-1 victory over the Monster Energy drift team.