driftgames – Lwi Edwards

April 23, 2024April 29, 2024

The 2024 Drift Pro Championship starts on the Podium

The first 2 rounds of the MSUK Drift Pro Championship headed for the first time ever to Anglesey in North Wales. Our home track, Trac Mon in Ty Croes, an amazing technical circuit set on the coast of the Island.

Fresh from 6 months of engine rebuild and upgraded safely equipment to FIA spec, after a few hold ups with parts, the BMW E36 LSX was finished the evening before the event with no opportunity to test.

Round 1:

Saturday, with amazing spring sunshine, practice started on the technical layout that had never been drifted before. All the drivers quickly got to grips of the layout and speeds increased towards the end

Qualifying:

Getting to grips with the layout and Lwi put two solid runs in to top qualify with 95.33. Due to some drivers unable to start, Lwi was handed a bye run for the Top 16 battles, so straight into Top 8.

Top 8:

The top 8 battle was to be against Ian ‘Bizz’ Philips, who had been really fast all day. Lwi put on a clean lead for Bizz to chase but unfortunately Bizz fell off the track on the last fast corner due to driveshaft failure. Lwi took the win

Final 4

Final 4 was against a new young driver, Harry Love, a talented name to watch out for in the future, Lwi put on his clinical lead as always, the chase was nice and clean with Harry putting a nice lead. Lwi took the win to move to the final.

Final

The final was against the awesome driver and friend Dave Bastin in his Nissan, the battles are always close and fast and today was not different. Lwi put his perfect lead and Dave was close to his door, but Lwi had the edge. The chase was fast and smokey, Lwi pushed to gain close proximity and disaster.. on the very last bend the differential mount shattered and Lwi straightened. Dave took the deserved win!

Lwi finished the day in second position, a good position to be in the first round of 2024. The team regrouped, replaced the rear differential and prepared the car for round 2, the next day.

Round 2

Another amazing spring day, slightly cooler than the day before, but dry and sunny. The layout was changed slightly from the day before with the start line extended. All the drivers had improved from the day before in practice and it was going to be an even faster layout.

Qualifying:

Once again Lwi put a couple of clinical runs to top qualify with a 97.3 point run. This again allowed him a Bye run in Top 16 so it was though to the Top 8.

Top 8:

Top 8 battle was again against Ian Bizz Philips who was determined to take Lwi down this time but unfortunately on his lead he went far too hot into the final bend and ended up on the grass : Lwi took the win again.

Final 4:

Final 4 battle was to be with another young driver, Zak Parker, who is smooth and accurate in his style, another name to watch out for in the near future. Lwi’s experience shone through and although Zak put up a great fight, Lwi took the win.

Final:

The final battle was to be against Joel Conlan who had been getting faster as the day progressed. This was the first time Lwi had battled Joel but a mistake on his lead sealed the win for Lwi.

Lwi finished first at the end of Round 2 , another fantastic result for the start of the season and puts Lwi 20 points ahead in the championship already, a nice little buffer.

A 2nd and a 1st with two 1st in Qualifying, it was a good weekend, plus, it was a special weekend to win our home circuit in Wales. The first Welsh round won by a Welshman!

Next round is Cadwell Park on 6th May

Thank you to our partners friends and family who make this possible:

Haltech, Bilstein, Race Winning Brands, Allitalia Wrexham, TPW Engineering, Learn2Drift, Billys Speed Shop, Gizfab, and Family and friends

October 14, 2019October 29, 2019

British Drift Championship Rnd 6, Buxton, The Final Battles to a Championship Win : Against the Odds

Lwi Edwards : BDC2019 Round 6 : The Final : 3rd Place finish and Championship win : credit Beasy Media

Round 6 of the British Drift Championship was to take place at Buxton Raceway, high up in the hills so everyone knew that this would be a challenge with unpredictable weather and a tight oval circuit, to make it even more interesting the races would be battled under floodlights late into the night.

This was the final round of the BDC and anyone in the top 4 could take the championship, it couldnt be any closer after some amazing battles all year, and Young Blood, Lwi Edwards had turned out to be the ‘fly in the ointment’ sitting in second position going into this last round. Fresh from his return from the Tullyroan Oval in Ireland, Lwi was confident of a good finish but needed luck to be on his side to take the win, and for once, things went in his favour. Non of us had thought of crunching the numbers to work out where he had to finish, Lwi always looks towards the top step and top qualifying, so we decided to let things pan out by the end of the night.

Lwi Edwards : BDC2019 : Round 6 Buxton Raceway : The Final round

For the last time this season, the trusty BMW M3 was given a clean bill of health by main sponsor Allitalia Ltd, Wrexham and fitted with a few mods such as LED lighting to help when it came to the night battles at Buxton, some fresh race fuel from our recent 2019 supporter Sunoco UK and a mixed stock of tyres to test from Extreme, Westlake and Triace for the changing conditions. Still testing the brands to see which suit the power and Lwi’s driving style. The car was then loaded for the hard slog up the hills to Buxton Raceway on the Thursday night ready for the race day on Friday

Friday morning and torrential rain, horizontal at times, played havoc with practice. Lots of standing water on the circuit in places and for a short while it looked like the whole event could have been a washout. Lwi spent as much time available getting familiar with the circuit after only been here once before to test the BMW earlier in the year, but the grip level was mixed and this could potentially cause problems for all the drivers when competition started officially later in the day. This weekend the extended family had also ventured across to support Lwi at this last round but one special guy, Heath Bamford was missing from the gang after having a serious accident on a motorbike a few days before, a shout out from the judges was a nice gesture.

Qualifying 1 : With darkness starting to fall and the circuit starting to dry it was time for Young Blood, Lwi Edwards to get his game face on and start taking this seriously, all the drivers were given a sighting lap due to the mixed surfaces and Lwi used this to put an almost perfect run before the actual qualifying lap. The usual clinical line from Lwi put the first score of 84 to put him in 3rd position. Well happy with that one, nice and safe

Qualifying 2 : And the floodlights were now changing the atmosphere in the arena, once again, Lwi put a really strong precise run but the judges didnt think it was a top qualifier and he didnt move from his 3rd place finish. Still happy with the result and put him in good place ready for battles.

Lwi Edwards : BDC2019 : Top32 By Run : Facebook video

Top 32 Battle : And this is where lady luck started to take part and Lwi had a by run due to his opponent having problems with the car and unable to start. So one lap of the circuit and back to prepare for the next battle

Top 16 Battle : Lwi Edwards Vs Karl Farrar. All the battles from now on were going to be hard, Karl was very experienced and his 500hp Mazda had been flying all day around the oval. Lwi put his usual clinical lead on the qualifying line but Karl also ran a tidy line, however, it was judged that Lwi took the win by 1 point with even one judge calling one more time… it was so close and some great battle with Karl, Lwi would have been happy to take a one more time, to do it all over again, but through to the Great 8 he went.

Lwi Edwards BDC2019 Round 6 Buxton Great 8 Battle FB video

Great 8 Battle: Lwi Edwards Vs Stu Jones, and lady luck number 2 was on his side again when unfortunately, Stu damaged his car going into the first bend and was unable to repair it in time to start the next battle giving Lwi the path into the Final 4. Things were now looking rather interesting with the championship but we tried not to get distracted by the points and Lwi just continued to take one step at a time.

Final 4 Battle: Lwi Edwards Vs Martin Cowley, the battle that could make or break the championship, Martin was on form all day and you could tell that he was hungry for the win. Lwi struggled to keep proximity on the chase and this was going to go in Martin’s favour but to confirm this, Lwi actually span on the final roundabout finish!! Put down to combination of loss of brakes and grip coming into the bend after having to work so hard to keep up with Martin. Lwi took the defeat and Martin had to work hard for the well deserved win.

Final Battle Playoff: Lwi Edwards Vs Fitzgerald. The final battle for Lwi to take third position and this was another case of ‘giant killer’ mode. Lwi now needed to finish 3rd to have chance to take the championship and Fitzgerald had all the gear and experience to take Lwi down but Lwi switched up a gear to run a perfect line as always and it looked good for Lwi to take the win, however, we would have to wait until the final podium celebrations to find out

The final podium celebrations and results announced! Lwi takes 3rd place finish on the day which was incredible against the odds, but the crucially takes the championship win overall by 1 point … 1 point lead after 6 rounds of the championship in his first ever year of competition .. what a result!!! And still only 17yrs Old!

Huge thanks has to go to everyone who has supported us this year and also to the British Drift Championship team who gave Lwi the chance to qualify at the start of the season and give him the platform to compete, no-one could have predicted the outcome of the championship with Lwi being the underdog all year and now the next challenge is to take a win in the Pro class in 2020, I am sure this will be more difficult and we will be looking for a select amount of companies or individuals who would like to get involved with the team in this new chapter.

Below are selection of videos and images from Buxton 2019

October 2, 2019October 2, 2019

Tullyroan Oval Driftnights 2019 , N Ireland, A young drifters dream event, mixing with the best drivers

Lwi Edwards : Tullyroan Oval Driftnights 2019 : Organised by Kevin Quinn

Hidden away in Northern Ireland is the most immaculate Oval circuit named Tullyroan Oval and once in a while, Kevin Quinn organises the most amazing event called Tullyroan Oval Driftnights. Pulling together some of the best known names in the drift world from around Ireland, Europe and occasionally, the world. All under floodlights with Big prizes at stake

We had been given the heads up by a fellow drifter and, after speaking to the organisers, gained an entry for Lwi into this invitation only event, an amazing chance for him to pitch his driving ability against some top class drivers.

Tullyroan Oval Drift Nights 2019 : Lwi Edwards

The car was checked over again after last round of BDC in Allitalia workshop, some fresh fuel stocked up from new partner Sonoco UK and last minute ferry booking again with Irish Ferries and we, once again headed off to our happy place across the water for the hop from Wrexham to Northern Ireland.

Lwi Edwards Vs David Egan : Tullyroan Oval 2019 : Practice runs

Friday started with practice through the day and the chance to twin with names like David Egan. The weather was mixed with heavy showers and the track was patchy in places so made it quite challenging to run qualifying lines.

Lwi Edwards : Tullyroan Oval 2019 : Qualifying run

Qualifying: As darkness fell and the rain came down hard, the qualifying runs began. Lwi, as always putting his clinical line driving to score an 82 point run to put him just out of the top 10 in 11th place, with only names like Shanahan’s , Quinn , Larner, and McKeever and Drift Games Extreme drivers above him, another great result in the conditions

Saturday: And the weather was mixed again, heavy showers and dry spells and after a short practice during the early afternoon start it was time to run a Superlap which gave the running order for battles.

Lwi Edwards : Tullyroan Oval 2019 : Top 32 Battle : Lwi Vs Harry Kerr

Top 32 Battle: Now the battles were going to get serious and Lwi had been seeded against another hugely talented young driver, Harry Kerr, in pretty identical spec M3 BMW’s. The first run and both drivers made few mistakes and put pretty well identical runs in lead and chase, so much so, it was judged to go OMT (One More Time), a good call and both drivers agreed on the decision with another chance to battle.

Lwi Edwards : Tullyroan Oval 2019 : Top 32 Battle part 2 Lwi Vs Harry Kerr OMT

Top 32 Battle OMT : And another chance to battle Harry Kerr for a place in Top 16, it was close again but Lwi put a better run by a small margin and won! So Lwi was through to the Top 16. The next opponent was going to be interesting…

Lwi Edwards : Tullyroan Oval 2019 : Top 16 Battle : Lwi Vs Conor Shanahan

Top 16 Battle : And this couldn’t get any better, something Young Blood, Lwi Edwards had been praying for all year, the chance to battle arguably one of the best drifters in the world and recent Red Bull athlete, Conor Shanahan. It was a tall order to ever beat Conor but Lwi put up an amazing fight, held proximity and ran his perfect lead line. Conor’s smooth style is very similar to Lwi which gave him confidence to make a dive on his door but Lwi was certainly out car-ed and he was happy to take the defeat. The opportunity to be able to run with Conor was invaluable and has been a great experience for Lwi to prove he can battle with the best even with a inferior car. This sets him in good stead for 2020 when the next step up car is built.

An amazing weekend with some world class drivers, thank you to Kevin Quinn for the Invite, all our partners who help us out including Allitalia Wrexham, Irish Ferries, Sonoco UK fuels, L2D. We are always looking to work with new names, if you would like to get involved with this journey, get in touch ready for 2020. Its going to get exciting!

Check out selection for In-car and images below:

September 16, 2019September 22, 2019

British Drift Championship Round 5 Three Sisters. The Bar was officially raised

Round 5 of the British Drift Championship was to take place at the Three Sisters race circuit in Wigan, a tight and twisty track, using a new layout. Although Lwi had only done a novice day in 3 sisters previously, the new layout helped level the field a little against regular visitors.

The weather forecast was good, warm and dry, unlike previous rounds, this would give Lwi the chance to silence the doubters who think his current position in the championship, 1st, is due to the previous wet conditions favouring the lower power of the M3.

Friday, was a short drive from the Allitalia base in Wrexham after the M3 had been checked over and was spent with free practice and Lwi familiarising himself with the new layout. A very technical line had been set out to challenge the drivers, Lwi inputted the data into his processor type brain, spent some time perfecting the line then called it a day.

Lwi Edwards : BDC2019 Rnd 5 : Qualifying run : Top qualified

Saturday morning and the weather was dry and warm, after a short practice it was time for qualifying. Lwi was the last to run due to his position in championship and was determined to prove a point. His first run was a tidy 94 points and a second run topped this with a 95.6! Top qualified again but always chasing that perfect 100 score

The Battles

Top 32 Battle: The first battle was to be with local drift god Karl Farrar with Lwi putting in his now almost perfect lead line, Karl was able to get up close, physically pushing him over the finish line. Lwi chase was tidy and close enough to win the battle. Advantage Lwi and through to Top 16.

Lwi Edwards : BDC 2019 Rnd 5 : Top 32 Battle Lwi Vs Farrar

Top 16 Battle: Lwi second battle was with Paul Cunnington, another driver who is close in championship, Lwi now has qualifying line dialled in and Cunnington made a few more errors than Lwi. Advantage Lwi and Great 8 beckons

Lwi Edwards : BDC 2019 Rnd 5 : Top 16 Battle : Lwi Vs Cunnington

Great 8 Battle: A battle that Lwi was looking forward to, Martin Cowley, sitting a few points behind Lwi in championship, this was to be a head to head battle, and the conditions were dry, advantage should go to Cowley with his superior powered Nissan. But Lwi drove a clinical lead and an impressive chase which impressed the judges, against the odds he took the win and finally made it into the Final 4, a position that has eluded him a few times this season and achieving this by taking his direct competition out made it a special moment

Lwi Edwards : BDC 2019 Rnd 5 : Great 8 Battle : Lwi Vs Cowley

Final 4 Battle: This was going to be a tall order in the M3, pitched against Andy Frost in the 600hp FastR BMW. Frost had started to gel with the car after spending some time testing and he was driving well. The battles were very close but Frost took the deserved win by a close margin.

Lwi Edwards : BDC 2019 Rnd 5 : Final 4 Battle : Lwi Vs Frost

Final battle : The battle for the final place on the podium was against Minelga, another hard fought battle that Lwi managed to clinch with his precise line driving. 3rd position was in the bag!

Lwi Edwards : BDC 2019 Rnd 5 : Final Play off for Podium : Lwi Vs Minelga

The Pro Class

But it was not over, the top 4 finishers in ProAm had opportunity to race on Sunday in the Pro class

Lwi Edwards : BDC 2019 Rnd 5 : Pro Class : Qualification run 91 point : Qual 2nd in Pros

Qualifying: And Lwi pulled it out of the bag and put a safe first run in with a 78 point then nailed it with a 91 point run. He held the top place in qualifying until knocked down to 2nd by Martin Wonnacott. This put Lwi straight into Top 16 battles and he could sit back and watch the remainder of the field battle it out.

Lwi Edwards : BDC 2019 Rnd 5 : Pro Class ; Top16 Battle : Lwi Vs Simmons

Top 16 Battle: This level of the Pro class was alway going to be difficult and Lwi was to battle Adam Simmons in his LS powered BMW. Another very close battle that Lwi lost by just one point.

Overall a very productive weekend that showed what Young Blood, Lwi Edwards is capable of, wet or dry. The fact that Lwi has only owned a drift car for 18 months, this is the first year in competition and he is still only 17yrs of age. Looking forward to seeing what can be achieved in the Pro class in 2020.

The last round of British Drift Championship is Buxton on Friday 11th October for Pro Ams and a full weekend of competition. Buy your tickets here and support us

https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/bdc-round-6-buxton-raceway-20-discount-tickets-55893921223

Check out the Playlist below to catch action inside and outside the car from round 5

August 26, 2019September 1, 2019

Drift Games National Championship Rnd 4 : The Final, Punchestown, Ireland – race report

Lwi Edwards : Drift Games Rnd 4 : Punchestown Credit: Niall Keating Photography

The final round of the amazing Drift Games National championship took place in Punchestown, Ireland. This horse racing venue was transformed into a purpose made drift venue and incorporated a large classic and modified car show. The Nationals competed on the Saturday and the Extreme class on Sunday, so it was a jam packed weekend for petrol heads.

A few minor repairs to battle scars on the M3 from the previous round of the British Drift Championship carried out by Allitalia Wrexham and comprehensive mechanical check , the Team made its way for the last time across the water from the base in North Wales to the Emerald Isle with the support of Irish Ferries in time for practice day on the Friday.

Young Blood, Lwi Edwards, was sitting in 8th position overall in the championship, so needed to have a good finish at this last round to make his way up the leaderboard. Practice on Friday was invaluable for Lwi to familiarise himself with the purpose built track, a very technical layout with more inner clipping points than previously which created a tight circuit. The weather was warm and dry and we did wonder if it would be more suited for the higher horsepower cars, but this was not the case, and once again, the control tyres that are used helped to level the field a bit.

Lwi Edwards : Drift Games Rd4 : Qualifying 4th

Qualifying : After a short practice session on Saturday morning, Lwi processed his usual qualifying line into his computer type memory and finished the session early to relax. As Lwi was sitting high up in championship, he was one of the last to run and had the pleasure in watching the majority of the field of 70 drivers rack up some high qualifying scores in the 80’s. To get into the top 32, a score of at least 78 was needed, but nobody had broke into the 90’s.. until Lwi went out. He drove clean qualifying line that the judges had specified, and scored a 91 on first run, putting him in 1st position. But Lwi is never content and was still determined to improve on second run, putting in score of 92. Normally this would have been enough to stay at top, but the level of drivers still knocked him down to 4th place which was still a great result. The minimum score to break into top 32 was 79 points, so it was an indication that all the battles were going to be hard.

https://photos.app.goo.gl/d5PyKpUVwBeE7eJE8

Top 32 Battle: Lwi first battle was against Trevor Healy in a Nissan Skyline, which was a little easy due to Healy unfortunately spinning out on his chase of Lwi, this gave Lwi a 10-0 advantage, so he didnt have to push on the chase run and won the battle without too much drama.

https://photos.app.goo.gl/15eYz6rARUNqRhv17

Top 16 Battle: After having a long wait due to the circuit having to be cleaned after a major oil spill, Lwi was to run against Justin Murphy in an identical spec M3 as Lwi, another skilled driver who had beaten Lwi in previous battle at Watergrass Hill after a OMT. Both drivers Lwi and Justin ran a clean line and it was a close call but Lwi took the win as he was judged as having a tidier chase line that Justin.

https://photos.app.goo.gl/kJBDk3mMw7s82qPC9

Great 8 Battle: And this was going to be a tall order, Lwi against Alan Mc Meel in a very light, big horsepower AE86, approx twice HP and half weight of the M3, and he could pedal well . Lwi lead run was perfect as always, and allowed McMeel to sit on his door, but Lwi knew he would be left behind on his chase, so pushed as hard as possible to keep close and had to cut track to keep proximity. The judges marked Lwi down for this and the better car won the battle. Lwi was out-carred again in the Great 8 and McMeel took the win.

https://photos.app.goo.gl/TFFyrpQNCLbFJtey5

Lwi Edwards : Drift Games Nationals : Rnd 4 : Punchestown : Final Positions 6th o/all

The final championship points moved Lwi up to 6th Position overall and he was honoured receive the accolade of the Drift Games Future Talent award for 2019, an incredible achievement for his first season in competition against a field of talented drivers from Ireland and few from the UK

Lwi Edwards : Drift Games National Championship 2019 : Rnd 4 ; Future Talent Award

Next round will see us at Three Sisters for British Drift Championship on 14th September where Lwi will be battling to keep his lead of the Pro Am Championship.

All the In Car footage from qualifying and battles below on playlist showing the smooth precise driving style of young Lwi Edwards

Lwi Edwards Drift Games 2019 Rnd4 In Car Playlist

Thanks again for the people who support us: Allitalia Wrexham, Learn2drift, Irish Ferries, and the Team, Howard Edwards, Danny Madden, Damien Gough and Julie Robinson, they all help make this happen

August 20, 2019August 20, 2019

Drift Games National Championship : Countdown to the Final round at Punchestown Ireland

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 .

July 29, 2019August 15, 2019

British Drift Championship : Round 4 : NEC : Report

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

July 22, 2019July 22, 2019

Countdown to Round 4 British Drift Championship : High Roller, NEC Birmingham

Lwi Edwards : British Drift Championship 2019 : Round 4

Back to the UK for the next round of the British Drift Championship for Young Blood, Lwi Edwards. Round 4 takes place at the NEC Birmingham on purpose built track similar to the previous round of Drift Games in Ireland.

Currently sitting in second place overall in the Pro-Am class of the BDC2019, he is looking to build on this with consistent runs while avoiding the notorious concrete walls that will be lining the circuit.

Half way through the season of the British Championship and Lwi is only 5 points behind the leader. As a team, we didnt expect to be anywhere near this but Lwi’s natural talent is shining through at an incredible speed . So we are all geared up now for a push to move up a level into the Pro class for 2020. Although the M3 is capable of competing in Pro class with some modifcations, a new car Pro spec car is due to be factored into the workload this year in anticipation of him gaining his Pro License in 2019

We are looking for individuals and companies who would like to get involved with the progress of Lwi Edwards, a golden opportunity to support a young driver who, at 17yrs old, is turning out to be a giant killer.

In the meantime, the M3 has just been prepared and checked by Allitalia Wrexham ready for the NEC and Lwi is fresh from a weekend of practice in Instructing with Learn2Drift at Rockingham and Birmingham Wheels to keep his skills honed.

If you would lie to be part of this journey please drop us a line at support@lwiedwards.com or howard@italianspecialist.com

July 8, 2019July 13, 2019

Drift Games Nationals Round 3, Eikon Centre, Lisburn N.Ireland – Report

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.

June 17, 2019July 4, 2019

British Drift Championship-Round 3-Teeside-Report

BDC2019 Round 3 Masterclass – Teeside Autodrome – Lwi Edwards

With a short break from the Drift Games National championship in Ireland, our next round for Young Blood, Lwi Edwards was round 3 of the British Drift Championship which was visiting Teeside for the second time due to problems securing a new venue. However, the circuit was to be run in the traditional direction, with very fast entry into banked circuit, this was a bit of a concern for us due slight shortage of horsepower that the BMW M3 evo suffers from against a field of 450+ hp cars. Currently lying in 5th position in the championship, it is becoming obvious that he has the ability to get impressive results in his first year of competition.

With the van loaded, it was time to hit the road early from the Allitalia World HQ in Wrexham to make the most of practice on Friday and arrive to a mixed bag of typical summer weather, heavy rain showers. Initially spending the morning on a wet setup with the grippy Triace tyres, towards the afternoon, the skies cleared and the track dried and decided to revert back to the Irish control tyre, a road based Westlake tyre which Lwi prefers. One of the last runs of the day, Lwi managed to do a chase run with Pro driver Martin Wonnacott and even the power difference is probably double, still held a reasonable proximity during the chase… admittedly, Martin’s tyres were shot and he lost grip, but it was a chance to run with one of the top drivers in championship without being embarrassed .

Lwi Edwards chasing Martin Wonnacott in practice runs

Qualifying, and due to Lwi Edwards sitting high up in the championship, he was one of the last to set out on his qualifying run. Once again showing that, with his technical smooth style, he can get the most from his relatively low powered M3 engine by putting it exactly where the judges ask, hitting all the clipping points and not dragging the handbrake. Lwi is quickly gaining the new name of ‘Mr Technical’ from the Judges who appreciate his style of driving. Another impressive score of 83.67 was enough to give him 4th position overall at the end of the session. On to the Battles

Top 32, due to his opponent Matt Fountain having car problems, Lwi was given a byrun, and automatically through to the Top 16. Its was a shame as Lwi had battles Matt the last time at Teeside and he was looking forward to a rematch.

Top 16, and Lwi was to battle a driver who has been on point all year, Lee ‘Colgate’ Lawrence in his S14. Lwi to lead and put in his usual perfect qualifying line, Lee had a bit of a moment while following and lost his drift. The chase run, Lwi lost a little proximity due to getting mixed up in the smoke from Lee, but held his line. Advantage went to Lwi and he was through to the Great 8.

Top 16 battles Teeside- Lwi Edwards Vs Lee Colgate Lawrence

Great 8 – Another great battle to come with hugely experienced driver with 10 years behind him, Karl Farrar in his V8 powered RX8, this was going to be a hard fight. Lwi to lead out with a perfect line as always apart from a tiny error on last clip . On his chase, the proximity was slight problem and this was judged as one of the main reasons to favour Karl. It was mentioned again the Lwi was not outclassed, but out ‘carred’, something that will need to be addressed sooner than we expected. So advantage Karl and Lwi failed to make final 4 again!

Great 8 Battles Teeside – Lwi Edwards Vs Karl Farrar

A fantastic result once again for Young Blood, Lwi Edwards, to almost make it into the final 4, consistently in every round, which has now placed him in 2nd position overall on the British Drift Championship leaderboard, and only 5 points behind the top spot. Amazing for a 17yr old on his first attempt of a UK championship and only 15 months in a drift car. The future is going to get interesting with more support and sponsors needed to help his career grow .. more horsepower is needed !

BDC 2019 standings – Lwi Edwards 2nd after round 3 Teeside

Our next round of the British Drift Championship will be at the NEC Birmingham 27th July. Inbetween this we will be sailing back to Ireland for the next round of Drift Games Nationals on 7th July in Northern Ireland where Lwi is currently in 13th position overall.