Round 3 : With temperatures in the high 20’s it was going to be a hard event on the car and tyres, 100+ mph entries, not to mention the temperatures in the 40’s in the car that Lwi had to contend with.
Lwi Edwards Driftpro Championship Brands Hatch
After a practice session it was time to qualify. Putting in a safe run first to test the grip, Lwi then pushed the boundaries a little to qualify P3.
Lwi Edwards Qualifying DriftPro Championship
Top16 battle was with Matt Roberts, a fellow Welshman, BMW E36 driver and a newcomer to the Championship. He put up a good attempt but made a mistake that took him into the gravel trap, Lwi took the win easily.
Top 8 battle was against Dave Bastin in his amazing Nissan AE86 who was pushing hard as always. A small mistake on Lwi’s lead meant Dave took the win. So our day was over.
Round 4 : Another hot day and all the drivers had upped their game after having the practice the day before.
Qualifying was close, with a lot of drivers scoring in high 80’s and Lwi pulled out the stops to qualify P2, only to be beaten by Josh King who was on a mission.
Lwi Edwards Qualifying DriftPro Championship
Top 16 battle and unfortunately for Matt Roberts, he had Lwi again, Matt had improved a lot since previous day but Lwi took the win easily.
Top 8 battle and it was against the hugely experienced Martin Richards again, Lwi has battled him quite a few times in the Championship in the past with success but this weekend Martin was looking determined to win. Lwi had to push the limits to the max to take the win. So much so that Lwi won a prize for the “best chase of the day”
Lwi Edwards Vs Martin Richards DriftPro Championship Brands Hatch
Final 4 battle was against another hugely talented driver Ollie Evans so Lwi had to turn the screw up again to stand a chance and took the win again in style.
Lwi Edwards Vs Ollie Evans Drift Pro Championship Brands Hatch
Podium battle was against Axel Hildebrand who had been on form all day, luckily Lwi had the legs on him so took the win.
Round 4 Lwi finished on the podium in P1, the second win already this year so far and hopefully one of many. The level of driving in this championship is on a different scale this year so there is a challenge ahead.
Lwi Edwards Round 4 winner DriftPro Championship
Huge thank you to our partners who help make this happen. Bilstein, Haltech, Allitalia, TPW Engineering, Billy’s Speed shop, Learn2Drift and all the crew that keep the cogs turning over the weekend Dan, Jules, Damo, Howard as well as Kaylee, Mason and Alayla.
Check our the In Car footage below on our YouTube channel below 👇👇
Lwi Edwards : Pro Driver : UK Drift Championship 2021
After a short and difficult 2020 season due to Covid, we are now looking forward to 2021 being closer to some normality if it is possible.
The good news is the dawning of a brand new championship to the UK, The UK Drift Championship to keep everyone entertained. Every round will be streamed live on social media and the circuits are challenging and fast.
Young Lwi has taken up the invitation to compete in the Pro class against some big names from the past and future .
This season is going to be busy making up for lost time last year, competing in both Pro Class of the British Drift Championship and the New UK Drift Championship.
The British Drift Championship season starts in May and Lwi will be looking to improve on his 6th place overall finish in the Pro Class in 2021.
The weapon of choice will be the BMW E36 LSV8 for most of this season while the new build is going through the motions, hopefully this should be out in an event before the end of the season ready for a full 2022 season.
Lwi Edwards : UK Pro Driver : UK Drift Championship : 3 Sisters Circuit
The season kicks off at Three Sisters Circuit this coming weekend 17/18th April with the UK Drift Championship first round, look out for the livestream and check back here for a full report very soon.
Round 3 of the British Drift Championship took place at Teeside Autodrome, an awesome venue for drifting which Lwi had experience of in 2019, but this year saw a completely new layout never tried before which turned out to be challenging for all the drivers but rewarding when the line was mastered.
With Covid restrictions in mind the event was being carefully organised with social distancing rules in place and limited spectators so extra precautions had to be taken into account in preparation such as face masks and anti bacterial sprays as well as the normal event equipment and spares supplied by main sponsor Allitalia Ltd
Lwi Edwards : BDC 2020 : Allitalia paddock
Friday was practice day for all classes, weather was dry and mild so Lwi spent some time familiarising himself with the new layout, getting to grips with the track conditions and playing with a few setting on the BMW. It was apparent that the layout was going to be fast and technical but initial practice is all about finding the line, speed comes later.
Lwi Edwards : BDC 2020 Rnd 3 Teeside
Saturday was the Pro 2 day and the heavens opened, torrential rain for majority of the day made it interesting for the drivers to say the least. It also gave Lwi to get a short practice in the wet conditions inbetween the Pro 2 competition.
Sunday and Pro day. The weather sorted itself out with the track drying quickly so a few hours of practice before Lwi had to get his game face on. He started to dial in the line with some speed needed to push put to the clips. Running the softer Tirestreets UK supplied Accelera 651 sport Extra on the 18 inch 1 form wheels to gain extra grip was a must plus dialling a bit more mechanical grip into the suspension in anticipation that the pro class was going to be on fire this weekend. So on to qualifying!
Qualifying: Run 1 : And things didn’t go to plan, Lwi started with a nice line but pushed a little to hard, always trying to get that perfect score but the grip level was a bit sketchy in places and he span… we could count on one hand the amount of times Lwi had span in his career but he span all the same giving him a big zero for his first run.
Qualifying : Run 2 : And for the first time ever this was to be a safe one, usually Lwi will push harder on the second run to improve score, but no chances could be taken so he decided to push 80% for safety. A nice clean run with a decent score of 85 just put him out of the top 8 qualifiers which go through to top 16, so he would have to battle from top 24
Top 24 Battle : The first battle was to be against Nathan Chivers in his 700 hp Nissan, Lwi put down the almost perfect lead to follow and managed to put a good chase to win the battle. So Lwi advanced to the top 16
Top 16 Battle: And this was going to get hard, Lwi now had Oliver Silcock in another very quick Nissan, equal 5th in the champonship and he had battled him earlier in the year so knew what a worthy opponent he was. Lwi put down a very clean lead line as usual and pushed hard on his chase. It as a close decision which we though should be one more time to decide but Ollie took the win. So Lwi was out of competition.
All in all a good weekend, the car ran faultless, and Lwi has only dropped a few points on the leaderboard to 6th place overall, still an amazing achievement for his first year in the top Pro class surrounded by some big names in drifting.
Follow the link below for more images on online album
We would like to thank all the sponsors who help us on this journey, Haltech, Tirestreets UK, Accelera Tyres, Learn2drift, Sunoco fuels, Driven oils, 1form Wheels
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
