Round 3 : With temperatures in the high 20’s it was going to be a hard event on the car and tyres, 100+ mph entries, not to mention the temperatures in the 40’s in the car that Lwi had to contend with.
Lwi Edwards Driftpro Championship Brands Hatch
After a practice session it was time to qualify. Putting in a safe run first to test the grip, Lwi then pushed the boundaries a little to qualify P3.
Lwi Edwards Qualifying DriftPro Championship
Top16 battle was with Matt Roberts, a fellow Welshman, BMW E36 driver and a newcomer to the Championship. He put up a good attempt but made a mistake that took him into the gravel trap, Lwi took the win easily.
Top 8 battle was against Dave Bastin in his amazing Nissan AE86 who was pushing hard as always. A small mistake on Lwi’s lead meant Dave took the win. So our day was over.
Round 4 : Another hot day and all the drivers had upped their game after having the practice the day before.
Qualifying was close, with a lot of drivers scoring in high 80’s and Lwi pulled out the stops to qualify P2, only to be beaten by Josh King who was on a mission.
Lwi Edwards Qualifying DriftPro Championship
Top 16 battle and unfortunately for Matt Roberts, he had Lwi again, Matt had improved a lot since previous day but Lwi took the win easily.
Top 8 battle and it was against the hugely experienced Martin Richards again, Lwi has battled him quite a few times in the Championship in the past with success but this weekend Martin was looking determined to win. Lwi had to push the limits to the max to take the win. So much so that Lwi won a prize for the “best chase of the day”
Lwi Edwards Vs Martin Richards DriftPro Championship Brands Hatch
Final 4 battle was against another hugely talented driver Ollie Evans so Lwi had to turn the screw up again to stand a chance and took the win again in style.
Lwi Edwards Vs Ollie Evans Drift Pro Championship Brands Hatch
Podium battle was against Axel Hildebrand who had been on form all day, luckily Lwi had the legs on him so took the win.
Round 4 Lwi finished on the podium in P1, the second win already this year so far and hopefully one of many. The level of driving in this championship is on a different scale this year so there is a challenge ahead.
Lwi Edwards Round 4 winner DriftPro Championship
Huge thank you to our partners who help make this happen. Bilstein, Haltech, Allitalia, TPW Engineering, Billy’s Speed shop, Learn2Drift and all the crew that keep the cogs turning over the weekend Dan, Jules, Damo, Howard as well as Kaylee, Mason and Alayla.
Check our the In Car footage below on our YouTube channel below 👇👇
We will soon be starting the long trek from Wrexham to Ballykelly in Northern Ireland for the first round of the Irish Drift Championship.
Lwi’s competitive drifting career started in Ireland in 2019 competing in the Drift Games Nationals championship so it will be good to get back to the Emerald Isle and compete with some familiar names from the season.
Difference this year will be competing in the Pro class and although still the same trust E36 M3, now fitted with much more powerful LSXV8 engine and more than double the horsepower!
Thank you to all our partners who help make this happen, we are proud to be promoting the brands to a new market in Ireland.
Round 3 of the British Drift Championship took place at Teeside Autodrome, an awesome venue for drifting which Lwi had experience of in 2019, but this year saw a completely new layout never tried before which turned out to be challenging for all the drivers but rewarding when the line was mastered.
With Covid restrictions in mind the event was being carefully organised with social distancing rules in place and limited spectators so extra precautions had to be taken into account in preparation such as face masks and anti bacterial sprays as well as the normal event equipment and spares supplied by main sponsor Allitalia Ltd
Lwi Edwards : BDC 2020 : Allitalia paddock
Friday was practice day for all classes, weather was dry and mild so Lwi spent some time familiarising himself with the new layout, getting to grips with the track conditions and playing with a few setting on the BMW. It was apparent that the layout was going to be fast and technical but initial practice is all about finding the line, speed comes later.
Lwi Edwards : BDC 2020 Rnd 3 Teeside
Saturday was the Pro 2 day and the heavens opened, torrential rain for majority of the day made it interesting for the drivers to say the least. It also gave Lwi to get a short practice in the wet conditions inbetween the Pro 2 competition.
Sunday and Pro day. The weather sorted itself out with the track drying quickly so a few hours of practice before Lwi had to get his game face on. He started to dial in the line with some speed needed to push put to the clips. Running the softer Tirestreets UK supplied Accelera 651 sport Extra on the 18 inch 1 form wheels to gain extra grip was a must plus dialling a bit more mechanical grip into the suspension in anticipation that the pro class was going to be on fire this weekend. So on to qualifying!
Qualifying: Run 1 : And things didn’t go to plan, Lwi started with a nice line but pushed a little to hard, always trying to get that perfect score but the grip level was a bit sketchy in places and he span… we could count on one hand the amount of times Lwi had span in his career but he span all the same giving him a big zero for his first run.
Qualifying : Run 2 : And for the first time ever this was to be a safe one, usually Lwi will push harder on the second run to improve score, but no chances could be taken so he decided to push 80% for safety. A nice clean run with a decent score of 85 just put him out of the top 8 qualifiers which go through to top 16, so he would have to battle from top 24
Top 24 Battle : The first battle was to be against Nathan Chivers in his 700 hp Nissan, Lwi put down the almost perfect lead to follow and managed to put a good chase to win the battle. So Lwi advanced to the top 16
Top 16 Battle: And this was going to get hard, Lwi now had Oliver Silcock in another very quick Nissan, equal 5th in the champonship and he had battled him earlier in the year so knew what a worthy opponent he was. Lwi put down a very clean lead line as usual and pushed hard on his chase. It as a close decision which we though should be one more time to decide but Ollie took the win. So Lwi was out of competition.
All in all a good weekend, the car ran faultless, and Lwi has only dropped a few points on the leaderboard to 6th place overall, still an amazing achievement for his first year in the top Pro class surrounded by some big names in drifting.
Follow the link below for more images on online album
We would like to thank all the sponsors who help us on this journey, Haltech, Tirestreets UK, Accelera Tyres, Learn2drift, Sunoco fuels, Driven oils, 1form Wheels
BDC2020 Driftland Round 1 : Lwi Edwards : Pro Drifter
After a long break due to the Covid 19, the British Drift Championship managed to pull everything together and run a shortened championship for 2020. This started with the first round at the legendary purpose built drift track at Driftland in Scotland
After winning the 2019 Pro Am Championship (Now called Pro 2) in the UK and also finishing 6th in the 2019 Drift Games Nationals, Lwi was promoted to Pro level for both UK and Ireland for 2020
The trusty BMW E36 M3 has had a major upgrade while the new Pro drift car is being built from scratch. Out with the M3 Evo engine and transplanted by Allitalia Ltd with a modified LS2 engine with full Haltech custom ecu pushing approx 500 bhp to keep competitive.
BDC 2020 Driftland : Lwi Edwards : Pro Drifter
The long trek to sunny Scotland started on a Thursday ready to spend a Friday practice day in the new upgraded BMW, and things didnt go to plan at the start, the weather was very warm and still, which caused the temps to rise in the engine bay, then a brand new cooling fan decided to fail, luckily Lwi always keeps a close eye on data, so the practice was aborted until the problem could be fixed. A search around the paddock found a new fan, although slightly smaller than original it kept the temps down.
Practice day was spent dialing in the grip level, running a mix of tyre brands to test before committing to one brand. Extreme tyres that Lwi was awarded as part of championship win and a newcomer on the block, Accelera. At the start of the day Lwi felt he had too much grip but by the end he was using more of the huge V8 grunt to push the grip level to the max on 17 inch rims, this was something that was going to become apparent on race day.
Lwi Edwards : BDC2020 : Drift
Sunday and Pro race day, Lwi had 2 hours practice honing his qualifying line, which was faultless as always, but it became apparent that he was struggling to hold proximity with the top driver due to loss of grip. With the help of the drift fam as quick change up to 18 inch rear wheels and some new Accelera tyres transformed the BMW allowing Lwi to push harder on chase runs.
Qualifying: Lwi has gained the reputation of being a line driver in both UK and Ireland and he hadn’t lost his skill in the down time since last season. First run and score of 91.5 was not enough for Lwi so he pushed the envelope for the second run and improved the score to 95 points holding top qualifying until Luke Barker and Mckeever knocked him off the top spot, can’t grumble too much. The grip level was improved with the 18 inch rims and new Accelera.
Top 16 Battle :
This was Lwi’s first battle in the Pro class this year and Oliver Silcock was a worthy opponent. Lwi laying down the perfect lead line once again allowing a good chase that the judges ask for but the chase run for Lwi was a little harder, still learning the grip he was judged as shallowing the track to gain proximity. Maybe should have been OMT to fight it out but it wasn’t to be. So Lwi lost the battle.
A successful weekend with a lot of positives, the LS conversion is reliable and the handling of the chassis remains unchanged with the extra power. We will now be running 18 inch rims with the bigger 265 Accelera tyres. Some extra cooling needs to be addressed although autumn will soon be here for remainder of rounds and sure the weather will be cooler.
Thank you to everyone who supports the Team from family and friends to sponsors and companies. If you would like to be part of this amazing journey please get in touch with us at support@lwiedwards.com
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
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!
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
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.
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.
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.
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.
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
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 !
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.
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.
