Can you tell us how you got into drifting and how old you were at the time?

When I left school, I worked as an apprentice for Nissan and this is where I first became interested in Japanese cars. I had a couple of Japanese cars that I used to play around in and go to some track days. But things didn’t really get serious for me until I had a Nissan 350Z and I went to Japfest, and I was hammering it down the drag strip and I noticed a drift session going on, and realised that this thing that I do for a laugh, is actually a real sport. I decided to look online, found where the next BDC event was (Donington 2010), jumped in the car 

This is your first full season competing in the BDC and you also got the chance to compete in the King of Europe Drift at Lydden Hill recently. How do you compare the two?

Obviously I’m very new to both, in practice with my class at the BDC, its quite hard, you’re trying to read and remember what other drivers driving styles are like so you know whether you can get on their door during practise and twin with them, or whether they’re going to make a mistake and potentially cost you that round. At the KOE I felt that I could just twin with anyone because the skill level was that high, you could get onto someone’s door even if you haven’t seen them drift before because you know that to be there, they’ve got that skill, they’ve got that level to be there.

What are you hoping to achieve from this year’s BDC?

I am hoping that this year’s BDC will really push me, put me up in people’s faces, and make a statement saying ‘hello this is me, this is what I do’ and people will start seeing what I’m capable of. With practise days, you’re neither here or there, a names a name at a practise day. Its only when your name gets called out on a tannoy when you’re competing against someone and going hard, that’s when people know who you are. I want to push hard this season, follow in Christian’s footsteps and progress into pro-class at least this season, to see me being able to compete in the BDC next year. My only goal this season is to advance up into pro-class.

Who do you think are your strongest competitors this year?

Everyone in the semi-pro class because they want to be pro-class, just like I do.

And how are you planning on making sure your performance transcends theirs?

I know I can drive like that and I know the car can drive like that and I know Teesside, so those 3 things together, can only lead to good things. There won’t be the getting to know the track situation that I’ve been in for every other round, I’ll be able to go there, what was home turf, set the car up to how I remember, get out there in practice and start putting in some solid laps.

Finally, How does the Maxxis MAZ1 Drift tyres compare to any other tyre you’ve used for drifting in the past?

When I started drifting, I used part-worns and I used to soak them in tyre softener 3 weeks before an event to try and soften them up and to try and get the grip that I needed. Sometimes it worked, sometimes it didn’t, and it’s just the inconsistency. Then we got involved with Maxxis and it’s just crazy. I’m used to running 10, 12 PSI in tyres to try and get a decent grip out of them. But when I went up to Teesside for a practise day with the MAZ1’s, it’s amazing, it’s like running 30 PSI tyre pressure and their just biting and as they get warmer, they get better and better. I used to loose no end of bumpers to tyres falling apart and Maxxis don’t do that, I take them down to the wire now and they stay intact. They’re consistent all the way down to the wire and you can feel it when they get there as well.

Images courtesy of Car Scene UK Magazine & Dan Fegent for Fueltopia