Well after round one I mentioned in my blog that we were busting for a podium position at round 2. Positive thinking paid off with a strong 3rd place at the wonderfully challenging (read crazy) Knockhill circuit.
I’ll start off with a few words from resident Used Cars NI journo, Graham Curry:
“Sunday 15th May saw the ReallyMeanSounds Nissan S14a of Belfast lad Andy Cooper, supported by UsedCarsNI and Nutt Travel, head to the Scottish race circuit of Knockhill for round two of the European Drift Championship (EDC).
Knockhill circuit in Fife is a big attraction for the drift fraternity and thanks to its seriously fast blind-crest entry is one of the best venues to watch drifting. It’s a seriously tough course to master with the perfect balance of speed and angle needed to transition from the entry downwards into a tight right hander, but that’s what the EDC is all about.
Getting the perfect entry is the trickiest part with speeds in excess of 100mph, pretty daunting in itself, but when you can’t see the track in front of you until you’re sideways you really need to keep your nerve to avoid ending up in the gravel.”
However, I was still in Belfast whilst team spanners, Robert, was making his way over from the port of Cairnryan. I was at my brothers wedding, and with little sleep flew over to Edinburgh the next morning. Needless to say I wasn’t feeling at the top of my game, but there is nothing like the arctic winds of Knockhill and some Pirelli smoke to clear the head!
Back to the qualifying, and I was enjoying our new vertical hydraulic handbrake which Robert had fabricated earlier in the week (although for the first few runs I couldn’t find it!) And I needed it – to get sideways over 50m from the corner at the ton, it was really a great job.
On to the top 8 and I was battling against Vince Noot in his Toyota powered Nissan PS13. Vince was very quick and we were both flat into the first corner, but I kept a cool head and I think Vince didn’t just keep as tight a line and I got through to the top 4. My next battle was with EDC veteran Declan Hicks in his huge Toyota Cresta. Declan was very quick and on our second run I lost momentum into the second corner and the small correction cost be the battle.
I was then up against Brett Castle in the Nismo S15 in the battle of the Nissan 4 cylinders. Brett had put me out at Round 1 (Oulton) and I was determined to put in a good run against the one time EDC champ. I was as quick as I dared in the first run and managed to clear some distance on my first run scoring a 6-4 to RMS. Brett went hard on the second run to even the scales but didn’t make it through the corner.
And there we have it, our first podium position in EDC. Next up is the equally fast and challenging Brand’s Hatch on a special 2-day event (25/26 June) and I intend to be spraying the champagne all over again!
From Left to Right: 3rd – Andy Cooper, 1st – Paul Conlan, 2nd – Declan Hicks
What a circuit – just built for not only teaching people how to control a rear wheel drive car but for sheer fun, however myself not perhaps being their typical punter had David fearing for the gearbox and clutch of his beloved BMW. He did tell me that Kris Meeke had been out in their 350z and managed to link the whole track (in the wet), so I hope to bring down my S14 in the future to do the same… in the dry!
