King Of The Ring

Saturday, 12 October 2013 20:45

Last Saturday I went to a drift competition called King of the Ring (KOTR). Drivers were judged on speed, angle and how close they get to the marked clipping points on the track. The event also features a car show called Show and Shine and some kinda audio competition to see who has the loudest sound system in their car. I was told about the event just over a week before at the first drift practice I’ve been too since March. New rules require cars to have a roll cage and harness to carry passengers but this rule doesn’t apply to KOTR (for some reason). So I borrowed a helmet from a guy at work and headed down as one of the drivers said he’d take me out. Turns out being a passenger in the drift practice also gets you into the event before the public.

I got taken out about eight times in four different cars and meet the family of one of the guys who often takes me out. The cars were a mix; a BMW 328i (E36), Volvo 940 Estate which looked like it got in a fight with a forklift truck and is lots of fun, Volvo 300 which has been set up for drifting and a Ford Sierra with a SR20DET engine from a Nissan 200SX. It was great being taken out by the guys with their different cars and drifting styles. The BMW was smooth, the 940 was man-handled and the Sierra was fast. I got some nice videos from my little camera that I stuck on the inside of the windscreens.

I talked to various people at the event about their cars and what they’d done to them and any futures plans that had. Some cars where awesome, like friends who had a Ford Sierra P100 pickup with a Cosworth conversion and Ford Granada 2.8 in matching green. A group of friends had come down to watch the event and ended up on show. A couple there both had VW Lupos and I ended up hanging out with them during the main competition.