FEATURE – SMOKING UP THE RING; A DRIFT DEMO WITH TEAM FALKEN
July 1, 2011 by Mathieu van den Oever
Filed under Circuit Racing, Drift, Drifting, Events, Latest Articles
The whole week running up to the 24 hour race at the Nurburgring is one big automotive festival. With parades in the streets of Adenau, Porsche Carrera Worldcup races and plenty of other support races on the track, drifting could not be left out to complete the party. The Mullenbachschleife on the Grandprix section of the Nurburgring turned into a smoking piece of Eiffel when the cars started sliding and the roar of the fans became louder than the cars itself.
When I arrived at the Nurburgring at Friday afternoon I had planned to go and see the drifting. It had been a while since I had visited a drift event and I was in need of a serious fix. After a short conversation on the phone it turned out that some of my friends of the Falken drift team were all here as well. I grabbed my gear together and left to the campsite to go and say hello. When I got there the rain just disappeared and the Falken cars greeted me in the sunlight.
After exchanging a few quick hello’s the drivers started to get ready for the upcoming demo. They all camped out trackside, as many of their family and friends had joined them as well, it felt instantly like I was on a drift holiday. The atmosphere around these guys is always very relaxed.
A few minutes later the cars were leaving the campsite to start the demo at the Mullenbachschleife. Here is the brutal S14 of Lennard Wander passing my camera. I have always been a sucker for S chassis’ but this one just tops it of!
The team offered me a lift in their support car to get on to the track. As we made our way to the drift arena the cars in front were already starting to put some heat in to their tires. From this area you also get a good view of the track in the surrounding Eiffel area.
As the crowd practiced on their waves to salute the drivers, the show got started. With all the grandstands as packed as this one it turned out to be a good night for both the fans and the drivers.
The Falken team got joined by several other teams during the demo. Carola Mecan from Austria in her S14 is warming up the fans at the beginning of the event.
The majority of the drift field was made up by cars from BMW and Nissan. This is Alex Graff in his great M3 drifter.
Another BMW who was putting up a great show was this car from Rohan van Riel.
The S15 of Matt Carter provided some great angles.
Paul Cheshire is making his way through the smoke. As all the cars were sliding by in a rapid pace it sometimes got very hard to even see the cars.
Former JDM Allstars Champion Remmo Niezen set the entire night on fire along with his Falken friends. Here is an image of his mighty car just before it shot of for it’s first run.
It didn’t take long before the tandem runs got the crowds of their seats. Lennard Wander and Remmo Niezen showed exactly why they are among the top of the drifters in the world.
Another shot of Carola Mecan making her way around the track.
In between runs the drivers got to work on the cars and suck in the atmosphere. In the green S14 is Danielle Murphy from Ireland waiting for her next run.
In my opinion the BMW E30 is with out a doubt the European version of the AE86. I love to see these things drift.
The guys of Team Falken must have gotten bored by the dual tandem runs so they decided to double up!
At the end of the evening the sun decided to make a come back. Here is the Irmscher 4.0L V8 powered Opel Commodore flashing through the sunbeams.
As a final goodbye to the fans the Falken guys treated the fans on some delicious donuts.
Because the enthusiastic reactions from the crowd most drivers could not get enough. While some cars were all ready of the track others were still burning rubber to please the spectators.
After the demo was over the drivers headed to the autograph session. I have never seen such an amount of fans waiting to greet the drivers and to catch a glimpse of the cars. This sure was an amazing night.
My thanks go out to Team Falken’s Remmo Niezen and his crew for their support and another great experience! For video’s and other info on Remmo Niezen and his drift team see Remmo Autosport
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Words and Photos – Mathieu Van Den Oever
