Its a new season for drifting, a new name, new cars and new people. On Juicebox we are going to try and get more people on board, something that was the original plan but with more and more photographers popping up each event we would like to get some people together to help out on the website. This time we have the shutterspeed eye through the lens on the event, things should get interesting. On another note, Brian Egans car is amazing!
I’m finally glad this feature happened. This has been a long time in the making. Many of you should know this car by now or its original look which Adrian brought out for to play last year in Prodrift. I’ve always had such a soft spot for this car ever since it came in from Japan rocking the Shino Kouba stickers and fat Watanabes. This year Adrian has revamped the car in Team Hankook livery and holy shit does it look good.
I almost forgot these pictures were on the harddrive… I was asked to come shoot a video for the Bavaria in the city, so it would have been a shame not to bring the picture camera also to get some snaps. The day itself had massive potential, its just this Quality Irish summer which made it somewhat of a misery. Julian Smiths Mac tools 34 was over for the weekend for a drift display which was going to be happening on the streets of Dublin, a very rare opportunity for the Prodrift guys.
The second round of Prodrift took place at Punchestown. This year all of the elements were very un-Irish. The track was long and fast as hell, and the heat was definitely borrowed from Spain or somewhere warm for the weekend. Getting scorched in the unfamiliar sun was something you couldn’t really complain about as cars did one or two laps of a set of tires. It was a nice sight to behold indeed.
After a somewhat silent winter it was nice to see the crowds and drivers arrive at Ennis. We all know what the recession is doing to the car scene, every Evo, skybus and Silvia has been replaced by TDI power, which in ways has brought some interesting stuff as people explore new car platforms but the fuel prices and Tax has and loss of jobs has crippled pretty much a mega chunk of the Irish scene. This is why I have to give the utmost respect to any driver competing this year….
Sunday the 15th of January saw another drift practise day at Mondello park. The best thing about these drift days is pretty much any type of contraption can be seen on the track along with skill level.Pretty much anyone with a rear wheel drive car can enjoy an open pit all day and a tyre changing service. With the rising cost of tax, petrol and pretty much everything else in Ireland, we are seeing more and more cars hitting the track never to return to the road again.
So its a new year, and weve taken a little sort of break from the website, mainly because life got a little hectic. What better way to start the new year with a bit of drift action. We trucked down towards Watergrass hill for the driftfest which has been gaining some serious steam each time this event. It makes for an exciting watch as pretty much any type of rear wheel drive car can be seen tearing it up with a driver of any skill level.
I unfortunately never had the opportunity of Meeting Casey Furlong myself, but from what I have been told from close friends he was the center of attention, a person who brought drifting and fun to a farm yard just outside of Tullow in County Carlow. This was the second memorial day held for him, the yard itself runs a drag and drift day almost every second week for people to let loose on each other or themselves with whatever type of car they feel. What I love about this place is the freedom, its almost like the last little slice of chaos this country has to to offer without things being too out of hand. Every decent day that is held in the yard has never dissapointed and this second year event to remember a close friend of the organisers went down a treat.
Its hard to think that another year of Prodrift has passed us so quickly. To be fair we were off to a fantastic start with Ennis weather wise. The typical Irish early good weather which results in a summer of rain as punishment, this didnt stop competition and even though Juicebox didnt make it to two of the events the finale in Mondello more than made up for it.
It has to be said that Japfest 2011 was such a good day, not because team need for speed came to town… which don’t get me wrong was a good part of it too, the amount of people and cars that showed up was really something. It just goes to show that the scene is still holding it down regardless of this economic bullshit. Everyone should give themselves a pat on the back for effort. The car park usually has just as much interesting machines as the show your attending, that’s why here at Juicebox we love lurking the car park to see what the people are driving.
So since there is a nice gap in between the next Prodrift event, Mondello had another track day for drift practice, owners could pay 140 euros to drive on the track all day in pretty much whatever they choose. These days are just as if not more interesting then some of the professional events down to the fact that the track is a mix of Decent and learner driver’s so things can be very unpredictable. Most cars come home with at least one love tap or maybe two…
The weather looked gloomy all day, and many feared rain. Somehow or another nature decided not to be horrible as usual leave drifting alone for the day in Fermoy. The gloom and dull weather didn’t stop some epic battles taking place which in turn made the crowd forget about the dullness and greyness. Instead drifting put a smile on peoples faces and that’s what its all about.
This year the weather was looking super dodgy, we didn’t get a chance to make it down on Saturday but on Sunday morning as we hit the road it was already looking to be a shit day. Somehow the rain staid in the clouds and it turned out to be another awesome day in Cork. The Drift Ireland guys basically had the entire “show and shine” type of area from last year to themselves apart from one accord. Nickys Trueno is out of this world sexy and was hidden in between Pete’s GS pimp wagon and that beautiful 180 we should do a feature on.
