British Drift Championship Round 2 : Three Sister Circuit: Full Report

Lwi Edwards : British Drift Championship Flier : Round 2 Three Sisters Circuit 2020

Round 2 of the British Drift Championship at Three Sisters circuit in Wigan, 12 months to the day when Lwi made the podium for the first time in the ProAms and almost qualified top in the Pro class, so he was looking forward to a good result now competing in the Pro class for 2020.

Practice day was booked for the Thursday prior to the event but a minor scare saw main sponsor Allitalia stripping the gearbox out of the car on Wednesday evening after a noise developed in the transmission while moving the car ready to load on the trailer. After checking the clutch and flywheel, the gearbox was replaced for the spare to avoid any failures on race day. The BMW LSV8 was given a clean bill of health and loaded ready for a later start on practice day.

Lwi Edwards : BDC 2020 : Three Sisters Circuit : Paddock setup with Panda tyre support : Accelera 651 sport

Practice day ran smoothly and gave Lwi a chance to get used to the new Accelera 651 sport Xtra 100 TW softer compound semi slicks supplied by partner for 2020 Tirestreets UK now mounted to some new 1 Form 18 inch rear wheels. We dialled in some different settings to gain some more grip and tried some different tyre pressures. Some new cooling fans fitted after the problem in previous round turned out to be much more efficient and kept the temperatures down by about 20 degrees to around 90c, even when driven hard which was a relief. The car ran faultlessly until it suddenly cut out while waiting in line at the start. After being towed back to the paddock it turned out to be the main kill switch, brand new this year, which had failed! After searching the paddock, Luke Barker’s team came to the rescue with a new one, all fitted and ready to go in under 30 mins. The rest of the day was uneventful, Lwi just cleaning up the qualifying line ready for race day

After chilling out watching the Pro2 class it was time to get the race face on for the Pro day on Saturday. Fuel up with Sunoco race fuel, new Accelera 651 rear tyres and morning practice, the weather was good with a damp start but forecast was dry so it was going to be fast and furious all day for sure.

Qualifying Runs:

First qualifying run and Lwi was on it from the start, a nice clean line hitting all the clips and gaining a score of 94,holding top spot for a while but finished finished 2nd

Qualifying Run 2:

Never happy with his run and always chasing that perfect score, Lwi was advised by judges he needed to put more flare in his style, so this run was more smoke, speed and pushed out to the clipping points. Something was amiss this time though and a lesser score of 92. Back to the drawing board to chase the perfect score. However, Lwi did finish the qualifying in 3rd position which is pretty amazing for his first year in Pro’s

Top 16 Battles:

Due to Lwi high qualifying score he advanced through to the top 16 and his fist battle was to be with one of the most experienced drivers on the grid Martin Wonnacott in his awesome high spec Toyota Chaser, this was going to be a good one. Lwi pushed hard and put his usual flawless lead run which may have caught Martin on the hop but he caught up quickly on the chase run. Turning around and Lwi made a few mistakes on the first few clips so the judges voted for a OMT (One More Time) to give a chance for a cleaner run from both drivers.

Top 16 Battle OMT:

Lwi pushed hard on this battle, it was close and entertaining until Martin was forced into a mistake on the last few clips, running off the track and allowing Lwi to take the win and advance into great 8

Great 8 Battle:

After battling Martin, the great 8 battle should be more even with young irish driver Dylan Kehoe who had advanced through from Pro2 with a very nice spec Nissan with similar power to Lwi. It was very close and tidy battle which Lwi took the win to advance through to Final 4

Final 4 Battle:

Well, this was going to be a mission, Lwi was now up against the experienced and fellow welshman Ollie Evans in a much higher spec Nissan who was determined to win the championship. Lwi pushed as hard as he could, it was close and fast with Ollie losing his bumper on transitions but Lwi just couldnt beat Evans and the lost the battle.

Third Place Playoff:

Lwi had one final chance to make the 3rd place podium and his opponent was the young driver Max Cotton, who had stormed the field of Pro2 to this position in the Pro class. The battle again was close with both Lwi and Max rubbing doors but the win went to Max, so Lwi just missed out on a podium place. Well done Max!

Lwi finished the weekend with a 4th place o/all finish and although disappointed in not getting another podium at Three Sisters it was a great result after some hard battles. Currently sitting in 5th place in the Pro championship, once again it it a great result for the first year in the Pro Class

Lwi Edwards : BDC 2020 : Final Position after Round 2

Always looking for consistency like last year in Pro2, if Lwi can stay in top 5 for this season it will be a great achievement, but who knows what happens, with so few rounds of the championship, things can change quickly.

Huge thanks to everyone involved with the team from sponsors Accelera tyres, tirestreets UK, haltech, Sunoco fuels, Driven Oils, Learn2Drift, 1Form Wheels and bank of Nana and John, as well as all the Team Driftfam who all make this possible.

Always looking for support on this journey, please get in touch if you can help out in any way at support@lwiedwards.com

British Drift Championship Round 5 Three Sisters. The Bar was officially raised

Lwi Edwards BDC2019 round 5

Round 5 of the British Drift Championship was to take place at the Three Sisters race circuit in Wigan, a tight and twisty track, using a new layout. Although Lwi had only done a novice day in 3 sisters previously, the new layout helped level the field a little against regular visitors.

The weather forecast was good, warm and dry, unlike previous rounds, this would give Lwi the chance to silence the doubters who think his current position in the championship, 1st, is due to the previous wet conditions favouring the lower power of the M3.

Friday, was a short drive from the Allitalia base in Wrexham after the M3 had been checked over and was spent with free practice and Lwi familiarising himself with the new layout. A very technical line had been set out to challenge the drivers, Lwi inputted the data into his processor type brain, spent some time perfecting the line then called it a day.

Lwi Edwards : BDC2019 Rnd 5 : Qualifying run : Top qualified

Saturday morning and the weather was dry and warm, after a short practice it was time for qualifying. Lwi was the last to run due to his position in championship and was determined to prove a point. His first run was a tidy 94 points and a second run topped this with a 95.6! Top qualified again but always chasing that perfect 100 score

The Battles

Top 32 Battle: The first battle was to be with local drift god Karl Farrar with Lwi putting in his now almost perfect lead line, Karl was able to get up close, physically pushing him over the finish line. Lwi chase was tidy and close enough to win the battle. Advantage Lwi and through to Top 16.

Lwi Edwards : BDC 2019 Rnd 5 : Top 32 Battle Lwi Vs Farrar

Top 16 Battle: Lwi second battle was with Paul Cunnington, another driver who is close in championship, Lwi now has qualifying line dialled in and Cunnington made a few more errors than Lwi. Advantage Lwi and Great 8 beckons

Lwi Edwards : BDC 2019 Rnd 5 : Top 16 Battle : Lwi Vs Cunnington

Great 8 Battle: A battle that Lwi was looking forward to, Martin Cowley, sitting a few points behind Lwi in championship, this was to be a head to head battle, and the conditions were dry, advantage should go to Cowley with his superior powered Nissan. But Lwi drove a clinical lead and an impressive chase which impressed the judges, against the odds he took the win and finally made it into the Final 4, a position that has eluded him a few times this season and achieving this by taking his direct competition out made it a special moment

Lwi Edwards : BDC 2019 Rnd 5 : Great 8 Battle : Lwi Vs Cowley

Final 4 Battle: This was going to be a tall order in the M3, pitched against Andy Frost in the 600hp FastR BMW. Frost had started to gel with the car after spending some time testing and he was driving well. The battles were very close but Frost took the deserved win by a close margin.

Lwi Edwards : BDC 2019 Rnd 5 : Final 4 Battle : Lwi Vs Frost

Final battle : The battle for the final place on the podium was against Minelga, another hard fought battle that Lwi managed to clinch with his precise line driving. 3rd position was in the bag!

Lwi Edwards : BDC 2019 Rnd 5 : Final Play off for Podium : Lwi Vs Minelga

The Pro Class

But it was not over, the top 4 finishers in ProAm had opportunity to race on Sunday in the Pro class

Lwi Edwards : BDC 2019 Rnd 5 : Pro Class : Qualification run 91 point : Qual 2nd in Pros

Qualifying: And Lwi pulled it out of the bag and put a safe first run in with a 78 point then nailed it with a 91 point run. He held the top place in qualifying until knocked down to 2nd by Martin Wonnacott. This put Lwi straight into Top 16 battles and he could sit back and watch the remainder of the field battle it out.

Lwi Edwards : BDC 2019 Rnd 5 : Pro Class ; Top16 Battle : Lwi Vs Simmons

Top 16 Battle: This level of the Pro class was alway going to be difficult and Lwi was to battle Adam Simmons in his LS powered BMW. Another very close battle that Lwi lost by just one point.

Overall a very productive weekend that showed what Young Blood, Lwi Edwards is capable of, wet or dry. The fact that Lwi has only owned a drift car for 18 months, this is the first year in competition and he is still only 17yrs of age. Looking forward to seeing what can be achieved in the Pro class in 2020.

The last round of British Drift Championship is Buxton on Friday 11th October for Pro Ams and a full weekend of competition. Buy your tickets here and support us

https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/bdc-round-6-buxton-raceway-20-discount-tickets-55893921223

Check out the Playlist below to catch action inside and outside the car from round 5