Infinity-backed AMD achieves Pro Class British Drifting victory

Acorn Motorsport Division (AMD), backed by Infinity Tyres has claimed victory in the Pro Class of the Maxxis Tyres British Drift Championship at the Teesside Autodrome. Mark Lappage secured the top step of the podium in mixed weather conditions over the weekend. “To get my first ever win under my belt is truly inspiring. It’s given me the confidence to know the car is good enough to beat everyone so I will keep pushing to match these results in the future,” said Lappage in reference to his victory.

Practice started with the AMD cars looking good with drivers Ian Waddington and Lappage at the helm. Both drift classes were at capacity with 32 registered cars and drivers fighting for the top 16 qualification spots. According to AMD team manager Scott Brandon, Infinity and AMD “had a big challenge on their hands”. At the end of the first day, Waddington had gained fifth place with Lappage storming to a first place with three bonus championship points earned.

Lappage said: “Even with constantly changing track temperatures and conditions, Infinity’s tyres performed brilliantly and gave consistent feedback allowing us to be extremely committed into every corner and braking zone”.

The next competition day initially saw drier weather and two further morning practice sessions, where, in the Pro Class, Lappage qualified in first place. In the day’s subsequent battles, Lappage swept aside all comers and progressed into the final. Here he faced Christian Lewis in the Pro Class where he held off the challenge to cap an impressive weekend’s drift racing.

Teammate Waddington was not too far behind. Following tough battles in the earlier rounds, he also made it successfully through to the semis. Here he faced Owen Taylor who is currently riding high in the championship standings. The first two races were too close to call but in sudden death Ian missed out by the narrowest of margins and would fight on to gain third place.

Waddington said: “I’m truly overjoyed at my first ever podium finish. It’s testament to the whole team’s dedication and support that I was able to pull this off for us all. I cannot wait for Round 4 so I can try and progress further”.

Waddington now stands third in the Semi-Pro standings with two rounds to go whilst Lappage improves to second place in the Pro Class.

For Scott Brandon, these results were: “the culmination of months of hard work away from the track. We left no stone unturned in pursuit of trophies and, on this occasion, it paid off. We now move on to Round 4 of The British Drift Championship at Lydden Hill Race Circuit in Kent on 12th/13th August with high hopes of making yet more progress.” He continued: “Without the support of Infinity Tyres and our other partners these successes would be nearly impossible so we cannot thank them enough for the ongoing support they provide.”

Clive Mansfield, Infinity Europe sales manager, said that these results: “are continued proof of the high level cooperation and professionalism of both the AMD team and Infinity Tyres. We could not be more pleased for the AMD team and go into the remaining championship stages full of confidence.”