Infinity and AMD Win Big at British Drift Championship

The British Drift Championship continues to build in excitement and Infinity Tyres, in partnership with Acorn Motorsport Division (AMD), reached new heights during the third round of the British Drift Championship (BDC), held at the Teeside Autodrome.

The AMD team arrived at the track under typically adverse weather conditions after having extensively tested both competition cars earlier in the week at Santa Pod. According to Scott Brandon, AMD’s Team Manager, they had “a feeling the cars would go well”.

Practice started with the AMD cars looking good with drivers Ian Waddington and Mark Lappage at the helm. Both drift classes were at capacity with 32 registered cars and drivers fighting for the top 16 qualification spots. According to Scott Brandon, Infinity and AMD: “had a big challenge on their hands”. At the end of the first day, Waddington had gained a very creditable 5th place with Lappage storming to a first place with three bonus championship points earned.

Mark Lappage went on to sat that: “Even with constantly changing track temperatures and conditions, Infinity’s tyres performed brilliantly and gave consistent feedback allowing us to be extremely committed into every corner and braking zone”.

The next competition day initially saw drier weather and two further morning practice sessions, where, in the professional class, Mark Lappage qualified in first place.

In the day’s subsequent battles, Lappage swept aside all comers and progressed into the final. Here he faced Christian Lewis in the Pro Class where, with Infinity tyre gripping superbly in combination with the lightweight construction of the hand-built S13, Mark held off the challenge to cap an impressive weekend’s drift racing.

“To get my first ever win under my belt is truly inspiring. It’s given me the confidence to know the car is good enough to beat everyone so I will keep pushing to match these results in the future”, said Mark in reference to his victory.

Teammate Ian Waddington was not too far behind. Following tough battles in the earlier rounds, he also made it successfully through to the semis. Here he faced Owen Taylor who is currently riding high in the championship standings. The first two races were too close to call but in “Sudden Death” Ian missed out by the narrowest of margins and would fight on to gain 3rd place with the crowd showing their appreciation for some fantastic driving.

Waddington said “I’m truly overjoyed at my first ever podium finish. It’s testament to the whole team’s dedication and support that I was able to pull this off for us all. I cannot wait for Round 4 so I can try and progress further”.
At the end of this action-packed competition day, Ian Waddington now stands 3rd in the Semi-Pro standings with 2 rounds to go whilst Mark Lappage improves to 2nd place in the Pro Class.

For Scott Brandon, these results were “the culmination of months of hard work away from the track. We left no stone unturned in pursuit of trophies and, on this occasion, it paid off. We now move on to Round 4 of The British Drift Championship at Lydden Hill Race Circuit in Kent on 12th/13th August with high hopes of making yet more progress”. He continued: “Without the support of Infinity Tyres and our other partners these successes would be nearly impossible so we cannot thank them enough for the ongoing support they provide”.

Mr. Clive Mansfield, Infinity Europe Sales Manager, said that these results “are continued proof of the high level cooperation and professionalism of both the AMD team and Infinity Tyres. We could not be more pleased for the AMD team and go into the remaining championship stages full of confidence”.