In 2010 drifting reached an ever wider audience thanks to the organisers’ tie up with filmmaker Stephen Brooks, who filmed the action at different rounds of the championship and posted his videos on the internet.
“Stephen Brooks made some great short films of the 2010 Maxxis British Drift Championship, especially the season overview, which give a tremendous flavour of what the sport is all about,” says Maxxis International UK’s managing director Derek McMartin.
“The videos have proved extremely popular with both the drifting community and performance car fans and have played a key part in raising the profile of the sport and, by association, Maxxis and the MA-Z1 Drift product in particular.”
The statistics are impressive: as of November 10 the films had generated 184,000 total plays, representing over two million page views. Excitement surrounding the start of the 2010 season gave rise to 36,000 plays/367,000 page views for the video of round one alone. There were 18,000 plays/270,000 page views for the second round of the semi-pro class film and 52,000 plays/443,000 page views for the video of round two of the pro class event. The films of rounds three and four generated total page views of 395,000 and 320,000 respectively.
The Maxxis British Drift Championship awards ceremony/dinner – held in Coventry on November 6 to celebrate the end of a highly successful season – marked the first viewing of the new compilation video, entitled ‘The Art and Soul of BDC’. Figures available as at November 10 show that the film, which captures the buzz associated with the British drift scene and is available to view www.driftworks.com, had generated 42,000 plays and 225,000 page views.
At Silverstone in September, when Maxxis-sponsored 2009 Formula D champion
Chris Forsberg entertained fans at TRAX, Brooks took full advantage of the opportunity to spend time with him, and Maxxis-sponsored Team Japspeed, and made a short film about the drift star’s experience in the UK.
The four and a half minute film combines an interview with footage from the TRAX Action Arena and can be viewed at vimeo.com Forsberg talks about his introduction to drifting in 2000, when he discovered internet videos of cars sliding around and learnt how to drift by examining the drivers’ actions in the car and then going out and trying to mimic what he had seen in the in-car footage.
Demonstrating his skills in the “very well prepared” Team Japspeed S15, Forsberg says he was delighted to accept the invitation to attend TRAX as he was keen to find out about the European drifting scene and to drive in front of a new crowd. Forsberg advises would-be drift drivers that to acquire the skills “it’s all about seat time” and suggests they get that all important practice by entering local competitions, being dedicated and staying confident.
“Stephen’s videos really capture the spirit of drifting and are an excellent showcase for the 2010 Maxxis British Drift Championship, while the footage of Chris Forsberg at TRAX underlines what an amazing talent Chris has become since entering Formula D competition in 2004,” adds Derek McMartin.
For further information about the Maxxis high performance range and the MA-Z1 Drift tyre
used by Team Japspeed in the 2010 Maxxis British Drift Championship, contact Grouptyre on 01928 706166 or visit Grouptyre or www.maxxis.co.uk
