The Emerald Isle beckons Lwi Edwards for the final round of the Drift Games National Championship this coming weekend at purpose made circuit in Punchestown, Ireland
Currently sitting in 8th position in a championship mixed with Pro and Pro-Am drivers is an amazing feat for the youngsters first ever season in competition, while making it to the podium is impossible due to the huge lead that fellow UK driver Luke Barker is fighting with Harry Kerr, it is still possible to climb a few places still with a good result this weekend.
The BMW M3 has been repaired after a few wall taps in BDC at Birmingham, checked over and give a bill of good health by Allitalia Wrexham. Then heading off across the water once again with the support of Irish Ferries ready for open practice on Friday morning.
Team support has increased for this last round with ‘Team Manager’ Damien Gough and the legend Pro Drifter Julie Robinson on hand to offer advice to young Lwi as well as the usual mechanical support from Chief Mechanic Dan ‘mad’ Madden and of course, myself, Howard, who has the task pulling it all together.
Its going to be challenging weekend once again against the higher HP cars but with Lwi showing his ability to drive a precise lead line and almost perfect qualifying line which the judges expect, the chance to finish well is always available with the lower power of the M3 engine.
2020 will see another step up competition car build to compete with the top drivers, and hopefully this will be in the Pro class .
Round 4 of the British Drift Championship, High Roller, was to take place on a purpose built track at the NEC in Birmingham. Solid concrete barriers lined the technical layout which would favour the high horsepower cars, unless it rained, which it did, torrentially!
Arriving at the venue on the Friday ready for practice, the Allitalia crew set up their usual camp ready for a half day of practice for Lwi in the M3. Weather was dry and a limited amount of time for the field of drivers meant a rush to get some runs in and familiarise with the new layout. Lwi did his usual and just dialled in the line he needed , inputted the information into his computer type brain and signed off for the day.
Saturday turned out to be a different story, greeted with torrential rain that didnt let up for a lot of the day, this was going to upset the whole field of drivers and also level the playing field for lower horsepower cars, but still didnt make it easy for Lwi. Some extra practice in the morning helped get used to the rain, but it was going to be a lottery for everyone with standing water and slippy painted lines, some uncharacteristic zero scores were ahead.
Qualifying: and Lwi was determined to qualify well now he was 2nd in championship within reach of the top step so kept his cool to run a steady and safe first run, choosing to run the Triace soft tyres to search for grip in the wet surface. His score of 58 was lowest to date but enough for the conditions to keep him in top 10 for a while. The second run was a disaster, something rare for Lwi to ever do, a certain part of the track caught a lot of drivers out, and Lwi included, he span! This meant that his score of 58 was to stand and the long wait to see what position it left him in. Luckily for Lwi, and with lots of zero’s happening, he qualified a reasonable 17th place. The worst position ever but safe to fight in battles.
Top 32 Battle: A David and Goliath battle to be had, Lwi Vs Andy Frost. Lwi in with approx 340hp and Andy with around 700 hp, but the track was still wet and this would help Lwi get the power down. Lwi to chase on first run and he kept it safe and steady in the wet and slippy conditions. His lead run again was steady and accurate, running a nice lead line as always, this was in the bag for Lwi, and his confidence was growing on the day.
Top 16 Battle: and Lwi was facing a newcomer Damien Choppen in his E46 with 1JZ engine fitted. The track had started to dry slightly and this was to become a bit of an issue for Lwi running the sticky Triace tyres, with the mixed surface changes, gripping in areas made for a challenging drive. Lwi lead line was nice and tidy, the chase was on point and advantage to Lwi, so through to great 8.
Great 8 : This was to be an epic battle with William Hanna in his Skyline, almost twice the hp and a track that was drying out quickly. Lwi made some small errors on his lead run due to the grip level changing and not having the horsepower to compensate, but also ran a perfect line on the walls, then Hanna also made few mistakes. So it went to one more time, the best decision the judges could make. By now, the Triaces were grippy and did cause Lwi to shallow slightly on his chase run, but kept proximity and did a few demon dives on the lead car to please the judges. His lead run was an epic start, somehow left Hanna standing off the line but carried too much speed into the same corner that caught him out on qualifying and Lwi span! .. Again… Hanna took the deserved win.
So Lwi didnt make the final 4 again but an amazing result again for the 17yr old youngster in a relatively low powered car on his first ever year of competition
But consulation for the weekend was winning the ‘Hard Charger’ Award for the day knowing that he is now LEADING THE PRO-AM CHAMPIONSHIP!!!!!
Check out the video below from the weekend
Video of the weekend from our media partner Sideways Media.net
Lwi Edwards Drift Games National Championships Round 3 Eikon Centre
After two rounds of the British Drift Championship completed with great results with Lwi sitting in 2nd position overall, it was time for Lwi to make the long trip across the water back to Ireland for the next round of the Drift Games National Championships. This round was to be in the Eikon Centre in Lisburn, Northern Ireland, a custom built circuit set up with one of the biggest car shows in Ireland. This was only a one day event with minimal practice for the whole field. Lwi was 13th in the DGN Championship when he arrived at the event. With only 4 rounds of the Championship, and a field of very talented drivers, he is looking to finish in top 10 at the end of the season. With the car checked and loaded up at the Allitalia base in North Wales, we headed off across the water with Irish Ferries once again, who always offer us an amazing discount on ferry crossing.
Lwi Edwards : Drift Games 2019 Round 3 : Eikon Centre
After limited morning practice for the 70+ field of drivers on the tight, technical circuit it was then time for qualification runs, the weather was warm and dry and competition was fierce. Just the wrong time for the normally extremely reliable BMW M3 to decide to leak brake fluid into the driver footwell. After a frantic time for the team trying to get to the bottom of the problem we found that it could not be repaired in time so decided to run with the leak and keep the fluid localised in the car while just refilling the reservoir in between runs. It was important to not let any fluid escape the confines of the car and contaminate the drift track, so we decided to make this the priority and cross fingers that the clutch would hold out during competition.
Lwi Edwards DGN Round 3 Qualifying Run
Qualification Runs, Lwi’s first run was smooth and precise as always, hitting all clips and running a nice line which gave him a score of 84. Under normal competition, this would be the top score, but in DGN, he was place in 5th place. Not content with this result, Lwi pulled out all the stops to put a near perfect line for his second run, with the judges applauding him and commenting that he had actually blackened the white marker line with his perfect positioning of the rear wheels. He finished with an amazing result of 94 points putting him in 1st position, only to be knocked off the top spot by the Championship leader and very talented Luke Barker at the very end of qualifying, so 2nd position finish was an amazing result again and best to date. Once again, the level of driving in Ireland is very high with 74 being the lowest score in top 32!
On to the battles and after topping up the clutch fluid and mopping out the fluid from the driver footwell, with some extra brake fluid given to us by first battle opponent Paddy O’Kane (just love this sport) it was time to start.
Lwi Edwards Vs Paddy O’Kane : Top 32 Battle
Top 32 Battle and Lwi was pitched against Paddy O’Kane (who kindly donated some brake fluid to help keep Lwi in the competition) with Lwi laying down his usual clinical qualifying line, his opponent held good proximity but had a few moments where he went off line and lost momentum. On the chase run, Lwi was more consistent and closer in places, so Lwi took the win.
Top 16 Battle was cut short after opponent Lee McFadden had a terminal driveshaft failure during the run and couldnt repair it, so Lwi had the ByRun to go through to the great 8. It was a shame as he was looking forward to the battle, but a bonus all the same.
Lwi Edwards Vs Cathal McLaughlin : Great 8 Battle
Great 8 Battle was against a top class driver Cathal McLaughlin, it was going to be a hard battle and Lwi put in his usual clinical lead run, with Cathal hard on his door for the full run. With Cathal leading, Lwi had a slight struggle to keep up with the considerably higher horsepower of his Nissan but help good proximity. However, after the judges took a considerable amount of time to make their decision, the win went to Cathal. It was a close call but justified and Cathal went on to win the event, so obviously the best driver of the day
Another fantastic result for Young Blood, Lwi Edwards, qualifying in 2nd and battling to the Great 8. This has taken him up the championship table and he now sits in 8th position in the Drift Games National Championships with one more round to go in August 24th at Punchestown
Lwi Edwards : Compilation of In-Car videos from Drift Games Round 3
We would like to thank everyone for the support this season that help make this happen, if you would like to get involved or support a young driver competing in two top championships please email us on support@lwiedwards.com for options, we would love to hear from you.
With the dust just settling from an awesome result in the British Drift Championship which puts Lwi in 5th position in championship and his well earned Pro-Am status in the UK, it is now time for Lwi to prepare for round 2 of the Drift Games National championship at Watergrasshill in County Cork, Ireland on 5th May
Another technical track in Kartworld should suit Lwi well with his precise driving style against some high powered machines . The field will be using a Westlake control tyre so this will also be an advantage to lower horsepower cars
Currently sitting in comfortable 19th position overall in Drift Games National standings after making a minor error in the top 32 battle, Lwi is looking to improve on this now he is getting more comfortable in the new M3 powered BMW prepared by Allitalia Ltd, Wrexham, UK. You can click on this link to check out Allitalia
Once again the ferry crossing has been booked with Irish Ferries who always provide support for us with a considerably discounted fare for the car and service vehicles which eases the cost of competing in the Irish Championship.
We need your support
The rest of 2019 is still ahead of us, as well as the two championships, Lwi is already being invited to drift demos and offering passenger rides at high profile events. We are looking for a small selection of companies/indivduals who could benefit from promotion to a wide audience in UK and Ireland. Please get in touch by email to support@lwiedwards.com and see what we can offer you.
Due to the success with Drift Games in Ireland, Lwi was given a bonus opportunity to be able to enter the first round of the British Drift Championship to try and qualify for a place to compete in the 2019 BDC season. A golden opportunity to pitch his driving abilities against some of the best drivers in the UK.
Friday was spent practising the very technical circuit layout, organisers had decided to run the traditional Teeside layout in reverse to spice things up a little and level the playing field. This suited Lwi and the less experienced drivers as it was new to everyone. The car was set up and tyre choices selected by main sponsor Allitalia Ltd with just 1 broken driveshaft changed in record time to keep the M3 Powered BMW out on the track for a long as possible
Saturday was the main event for the Pro-Am and after a morning practice it was straight into qualifying mode. For Lwi, the pressure was on to qualify in the top 32 to gain his BDC Pro-Am status but he didnt let his nerves get the better of him and nailed his first run to put him in top ten, then drove a nice tidy line on second run to a final qualifying score of 73 which placed him in 8th place overall at the end of the session. A pretty incredible result for the young 17yr old in his first competitive season. This result secured his BDC Pro-Am license to compete in the UK but the real competition was just about to begin…
Let The Battles Commence
Top 32 battle started with Matt Fountain in a Soarer, Lwi putting in the usual clinical lead run which seemed to unphase the experienced chase car, and he made a few mistake, running off line and also finishing with a small ‘love tap’ around final bend. The chase run for Lwi saw him being left behind slightly due to the power difference but Lwi managed to make up some proximity and also followed a qualifying line to take the win.
The top 32 Battle to take Lwi into Top 16, Lwi Edwards Vs Matt Fountain
Top 16 battle was against William Hanna in another high powered Nissan Skyline, but this didnt phase Lwi with his technical approach to driving, again the lack of horsepower was compensated by car control , putting the BMW where it needed to be to take the win and move into Great 8!
Great 8, where things really start to get tough,and only one step away from the final battle and chance to go through to next day with Pro class! Unreal that Lwi should be at this level on his first ever attempt of BDC
Great 8 battle for Lwi . Lwi Edwards Vs Josh King
So, the Great 8 battle saw Lwi and Josh King. Both in BMW E36 but one was turbocharged and had twice the horsepower as the other… unfortunately, Lwi was in the M3 engined one, so was about 300 hp short. However, this again didnt phase Lwi, once again he drove a near perfect lead run, following qualifying line, and let the chase car make the mistakes, but he just couldnt make up any proximity on his chase run against the superior power of the lead car, so the battle was lost. Josh King went on to win the ProAm on the day
Expectations officially exceeded
Lwi went into this competition just to qualify in top 32 to gain his BDC ProAm license but once again, as in Drift Games license day, he has shown his incredible talent to both qualify in top ten and take a relatively under powered car up to top 8. He was officially the youngest driver in the lowest power car to get into top 8 on the day, a pretty decent result.
Alltalia support Lwi Edwards
Next event will see us back in Ireland for round 2 of Drift Games Natonals 4/5 May
It was never going to be easy with the class of drivers in the championship but Lwi pulled out all the stops with his smooth precise driving style to qualify 1st in the first session and finally finished an impressive 6th overall out of 75 drivers after the second session. This meant Lwi had officially made it into top 32 and ready for battles
Things went a little pear shaped during his first battle, carrying a little too much speed into the first corner he stepped off the track causing the chase car to follow therefore getting penalised, his chase run was clean but the damage was done and he lost the battle. It was the first time all weekend that Lwi made a mistake and he paid the price.
But a lot of positives to take away from the weekend, an incredible result considering Lwi is still just 17, has only been Drifting for around 12 months in a car that he has only driven twice before arriving at Mondello in a championship that has a mix of experienced pro and Pro-Am drivers.
The car prepared by Allitalia Ltd ran faultlessly all weekend and the service crew was on point.
The Drift Games championship is new for 2019, very slick and professional and fast turning out to be the best drift championships to be a part of. The opportunity to compete against top class drivers in this environment is invaluable at his age and we are confident Lwi will shine during the season.
Next stop will be Teeside this coming weekend where Lwi now has opportunity to qualify for British Drift Championship as well!
It was a warm and sunny in Mondello Park today but young blood kept his cool
The image captures the level of competition that young Lwi Edwards will be facing on race day tomorrow. Practice on the track today was quite challenging against some experienced and talented drivers in cars with sometimes twice the horsepower but this incredible championship has been carefully engineered to help encourage more talented drivers with lower hp cars and create a more level playing field by using a control tyre.
This suits Lwi well, being a very tidy and precise driver he will be in a position to battle with more powerful cars without losing out to hp gains.
Faultless driving today with his confidence in the new car growing every minute, Lwi will be looking for a good result tomorrow.
