EUROPEAN ROAD TRIP PT.2

Hey all, my name is James Deane, driver of the “Low Brain Drifters, Rockstar Energy PS13” here writing my first blog for the awesome new “Low Brain Drifters” web page. This is following on from Round 3 of the “European Drift All Stars Series” in Malta the weekend before, were we walked away with our 5^th podium of 2011……

After the success we had in Malta, the cars were then transported over to Switzerland for the amazing “Wheels Fest Show” at the Lignieres Racetrack. The “European Drift AllStars” had teamed up with “Wheels Fest” for a series of drift demonstrations. Never before had Switzerland seen professional drift demos being performed in front of such immense crowds. So it was a complete honour to be apart of this .

The event had such an amazing atmosphere, what with its mixture of Drifting, FMX, Skate and Music attracting thousands of people from all over.

There was also a collection of RC drifters showing off there skills..

What I love about these demos is the fact that we can put on a great show off drifting to the many thousands of fans that have turned up and have some fun out on track instead of the seriousness of competing, so it was a nice break for the team.

It all started when I flew into Geneva on the Friday of the event from Ireland, with fellow Irish drifter Nigel Colfer. Our first stop was at the track, to see what was going to be our home for the next couple of days and most importantly check over the cars and get them ready for our first demo on Saturday morning.

LBD Team Boss Julian and crew chief Jordan arrived on Friday evening after their long drive from the UK to support me, bringing some mechanical spares for the car and more merchandise for the shop after almost selling out in Malta!

The first day, Saturday, of the Wheels Fest Show consisted of three to four demonstrations lasting 15 minutes each. The track was very wet for the first demonstration, which I personally prefer because it’s mechanically easier on the car and keeps the tyre damage to a minimum. Although for the spectators it’s much more exciting to watch when it’s dry as your speed is faster and you get more smoke off the tyres. The track was awesome consisting of 7 bends and a few straights, and with the right line and speed you could link the whole track

Our first demo went very well and the crowds gave us an amazing reception which was brilliant seeing as it was the first time that all the drivers had drove this track. Later on in the day during another demo, my hand brake cylinder failed, which made things very interesting when chasing the other cars

By Saturday evening, the weather had changed and it was now completely dry and we were demonstrating a great show for the spectators. Myself, Julian Smith, Walton Smith, and Nigel Colfer were having too much fun, following each other so close on track that we were door to door around the big 3rd gear sweeper blinding each other with “Nankang NS2” Tire Smoke!

After our demos, we were involved in the world famous “Fuel Girls” show. Were our cars were one of the main features of their show. Julian Smith & I had our cars up on stage creating a lot of smoke, whilst the crowds were going crazy. It was an awesome end to the day.

Waking up Sunday morning and the weather was looking much better and this showed by the huge crowds already turning up for today’s show. It was shaping up to be another great day at “Wheels Fest”

The first demo went amazingly well again and for the second demo we were given 30 minutes instead of the usual 15 minutes. So with this in mind, the drivers and I decided to hold a mini Gymkana. The organisers decided this was also a great idea and proceeded to set the track up for us. It consisted of 2 chicanes, a doughnut around a barrel, drifting a few smallish bends and then doughnuts around a Fuel Girl. Each driver got to have a go and the crowds thoroughly enjoyed it!

When we finished the last demo on Sunday evening, the crowds were giving us such an amazing reception and all of us left on a complete high after such a great weekend. I can’t thank “Wheels Fest 2011” & “European Drift Allstars” enough for organising this.

Next stop: “European Drift Allstars Round 4” at the Anneau du Rhin Circuit in France, stay tuned for the next part of my journey……

BE SURE TO CHECK OUT WWW.JDMALLSTARS.COM AND WWW.WHEELSFEST.COM

PART THREE COMING SOON. 

THANKS FOR READING.

LBD part 1 european tour, first stop malta.

First leg of our tour starts in Malta for round 3 of drift Allstars. The cars were sent out on a transporter a week before the event which took place on 10,11,12 of June.. James flew out from Dublin On the Thursday before the event which was held on the Saturday and Sunday I arrived on the Friday lunch time after setting off from home at 2 am. So pretty tired by then. Arrived at the hotel to find James sun bathing by the pool With no sun block which is very silly as he has only seen the sun a handful of times in his life, as he comes from the wettest part of Ireland. And I know his legs had definatley not seen the sun since he was about 6 years old haha. He was out in the sun for around 5 hrs every thing looked ok but then his legs got pink then red then full on 3rd degree burns poor lad was in pain and he had to suffer in a race suit all weekend. He wont make that mistake again.

 We decided to go out that evening to try and kill the pain by drinking as many jaeger bombs as possible which was all started by Kimi box also the other usual suspects were Julian smith ,Richard Clarke, freddy driftmonkey, james deane, niall gunn and shane!  We party’d to the max in Malta arriving back At the hotel at 6 am after being awake for 48 hrs 3 hrs sleep would not be enough as we had to get up at 8 to go on a bus trip of the island. James could hardly walk from sun burn and I was shattered so took a rain check on that one. So we arrived at the track around lunch time to sort the car out and get ready for practice which went well, the car was going ok apart from a slight misfire at high revs so we turned the limited down from 8000 rpm down to 7000 rpm we lost a thousand revs from our already short usable rev range but at least it did not misfire Any more. We got Tyres from the organiser which were federal and I must say they were shocking! absolutly no grip what so ever but as usual James does his best with what he has.Qualifies for the event in first place with an amazing run rubbing every wall perfectly. Now up for top 16 James v frank van heren of holland but due to franks crash during qualifying James gets a by Top 8. james draws another Dutchman, Paul vlasblom very formidable aponant with more twin battle experience than anyone else in Europe, so it was a big relief when James eliminated him.

Next up was rival Nigel colfer Unfortunatly for us with his better Tyres and good gearing James just could not keep up ,and Nigel go’s through. we are up for 3rd place battle against brad lightning m’cqueen very good battle and we do enough to take 3rd place.. Walton smith in the jpp Subaru gets 2nd.. and Nigel colfer in the chambers performance/spec cluth s13.5 gets 1st place and takes the lead of the championship from us by 4 points. Now it’s time to get serious… The next time we see Nigel it will be at wheels fest Switzerland for a demo so a relaxed affair blog to follow..

how is the general????

Hello and welcome to my second blog

While the rest of the team were out in malta competing in the jdmallstars malta round 3,i was back in the not so sunny uk in south london working on the general sorting out its new boots (alloys).Which i recently bought secondhand off driftworks forum. ROTA GTRs 17″x9.5 et12s x4  they were in good condition but 3 were one colour white but 1 was a different kind of white,also julian barnes team boss has lent me a set of rota torques 17×10 et10s x2 that are a little grubby and a bit pinky white ,so they needed a refresh and paint.

pics below

So i bought a litre of 2k brilliant white paint,hardener,thinners an assortment of wet and dry sandpaper sheets and set about cleaning them up,after four hours of rubbing working from an 800 grit to a 1000 grit then a 1200 they were keyed for painting after a good wash with fairy washing up liquid/sponge and a good hose down with the garden hose,in the rain i might add it was time to put them in the garage till the next day to dry off. And in the meantime watch the live test stream for jdmallstars for the top 16 battles,which all the drivers looked amazin out there congratulations to Nigel Colfer getting 1st place Walton Smith of JAPPERFORMANCEPARTS/GARAGE-D and our man James Deane coming in at 3rd place with a missfire issue which was only cured by turning down the rev limiter thus loosing power,so welldone to you James.

pics below after grafting for four hours

The next day consisted of work from 8am-4:30pm replacing gas mains in south london a quick hour down the gym 5;30 till 6;30 then protein shake home coffee then garage for 7,phew!!! i fired up the little 25 ltr compressor i bought off ebay for 30 pound,mixed the brilliant white 2k paint which cost 31 pound,wiped the wheels over with thinners which cost 10 pound for 5 ltrs and i was ready 2 rock a quick blow over with the air line i loaded my gravity fed machine  gun which cost 29 pounds with the 2:1 ratio mix,applied my face mask and started putting the colour on.

An hour later and all six wheels were drapped in brilliant white and put in the garage to harden over night,this was the outcome.

pics below

I know the tyres are still on some of the wheels but they were scrap and will be removed with new rubbers put in there place,they were a total DIY job but have come out factory finish,so u dont need loads of money to get a nice finish on wheels just a bit of time and effort and you will get there,its all about the prep!!!!!! total grass roots in a small garage with little or no money,my efforts have now proved to me you dont need big budgets……

Thank you for taking the time to read my blog next week how i painted the general as i now have purchased the colour and done all the prep.

Take care, till next time keep drifting fun and avaliable to all that want to get involved in the community, Grass roots people!!!!!

LOW BRAIN ONE THE PODIUM! MALTAxJDM ALLSTARS.

LOW BRAIN DRIFTERS DRIVER JAMES DEANE DROVE THE LIL BASTARD TO THE THIRD PLACE SPOT ON THE WEEKEND AT ROUND 3 OF JDM DRIFT ALLSTARS.

full write up coming soon.

matt chiappas first blog!!!!!!

Hello and wellcome to my first ever blog, so here goes.

As you all know by now i’m the second driver of LBD,i live in london and LBD HQ is some distance away in wales, so hooking up with the team out of competition is very hard and costly,owning a shogun as a tow vehicle/daily that isn’t diesel friendly,work commitments and so on………

Anyway me and the lads are in constant touch with eachother via the phone and of course the ever reliable FB. Team boss Julian Barnes/James Deane /Jordan chan Lanchbury we like to call him/Ash from ASHFAB/Lionel Puddle 360 motorsport/Nick Harding BBC NICK and Dan Joyce the voice.

Recently due to unforescene circumstances the General isn’t well and am doing major works to it,Bodywork wheels and engine mods and diff etc etc etc……..Recent updates will follow and  how its doing and when its coming out to smoke em again with some of the best competition in europe.

In the mean time ive been a very busy boy doing the car tossing up work commitments and so on,So a good mate of mine who has backed me up since day dot Jamie Bray, bought the ever delicious green and black retro PS13 off Julian Barnes back in the begining of the 2010 JDMALLSTARS  series,It was forsale at round 1 manchester city centre he instantly fell in love with it and within weeks it was sitting on his drive after being delivered by the Low Brain team julian, Shaun,Jordan,Luke Fink his mrss,you wouldn’t get that from any dealer!!!!!!!! In my eyes this car deserves some respect.

So jamie Bray has owned and loved the car ever since and check this its his first car ever.No shady fords (no offence ford lovers) on jamies drive,The car has been faultless and flew through its recent MOT and last weekend we gave it a fullblown service diff oil/gearoil/engine oil/filter set of spark plugs. We took our time doing it because i didn’t want to scratch a thing and as i looked around the car it just got cleaner, it never gets driven in the rain but it would be a crime to.But don’t fear fellow drifters she has been sideways on private land and the N/A sr20 de on full song is just awesome,so yeah shes mint but rolls with the punches when it needs to.

I serviced the car for jamie because he’s a real good mate and come to every event to help me in some way or another and as you all know, whether you compete or just go to mallory park you know the greif and time it takes with having time off work, travelling miles, expensive services and so on so big yourself up jay enjoy the pics………..

James Deane wins round 2 of Drift Allstars!!!!!

The boys move on the Round 2 at the Nissan Factory plant in Sunderland , and prepare themselfs for the big battle ahead.

After a bad tyre setup , James Deane still ran an astonishing drift run and qualified in 5th position , ready for the final battle to secure a podium win. James then completed the qualifying ,  went back to the shed to fine tune some settings and fix the tyre issues , then got back out onto the track and smoked all the competition in the final runs , becoming the final winner of round 2 of Drift Allstars , congratulations James!

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Drift Allstars Teesside Post Race Interview

A post race interview from the Drift Allstars 2011 series, Round 1 at the Teesside Autodrome.

1st – Martin Ffrench : Wexican Motorsport : Sr20′d Altezza
2nd – Nigel Colfer : Evicted Clothing / Spec Clutch : 1JZ S13.5
3rd – James Deane : Low Brain Drifters / Rockstar Energy : PS13

Finally , a blog! yO craP!

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Welcome to Low Brain Drifters blog site.
Created for Julian Barnes of LBD , UK.