Maxxis tyre supplied Japspeed take 2012 BDC honours

The Maxxis-sponsored and -supplied Team Japspeed won an emphatic victory in the 2012 Maxxis British Drift Championship, clinching both the drivers’ and constructors’ titles. The six-round series, which attracted drivers from all the home nations as well as Ireland, Holland, Germany, Portugal, Belgium and Norway, reached a thrilling climax at Knockhill in Dunfermline, as Paul “Smokey” Smith was crowned British Drift Champion 2012. With all four Maxxis-sponsored Team Japspeed drivers finishing in the top ten – Shane O’Sullivan was third while Stephen “Baggsy” Biagioni and Shane Lynch ended their campaigns in fifth and seventh place respectively – it came as no surprise that Team Japspeed were convincing winners of the constructors title.

“2012 has been tremendously exciting for British drifting, staging events at some of the finest venues across the UK and attracting a record driver entry list plus thousands of enthusiastic motorsport fans, and as official partner of the British Championship we are delighted to have played our part in its success,” said Maxxis International UK’s managing director Derek McMartin.

“We congratulate Team Japspeed and SATS Motorsport on their excellent results and thank them for reinforcing the credentials of Maxxis high performance tyres, particularly our purpose-designed drift tyre, in the only way they know how – by delivering superb performances and winning the top honours.”

In qualifying at Knockhill Paul Smith ended up using Shane Lynch’s car as his own S15 was suffering from mechanical gremlins, and both made it through to the Top 16 and then into the ‘Great Eight’. The luck of the draw saw the Team Japspeed duo paired together so, with only one car available, Smith chose to withdraw from the competition, handing his teammate a clear path into the semi-finals. Lynch overcame Team Falken’s Matt Carter to take the final spot on the podium.

Thrilled with his team’s achievements, Team Japspeed boss Paul McCallum commented: “It’s been a rollercoaster ride at times but all the hard work has most definitely paid off.  Maxxis did us proud with the MAZ1 Drift tyre, enabling us to develop a package that regularly outperformed the opposition and enabled us to achieve our goal of reclaiming the drivers’ and team championships.” 

Other Maxxis runners in the BDC included SATS Motorsport, which also fitted the MAZ1 Drift, finishing second in the constructors’ competition. The tyre is a street legal competition version of the company’s MAZ1, manufactured from a specially developed high temperature silicone rubber compound for longer life and superior grip. With SATS Motorsport driver Steve Moore claiming second in the hotly contested Super Professional class and team mates Mark Luney and Wayne Keeber finishing fourth and tenth respectively, Maxxis can justifiably claim a measure of dominance in the series as tyre supplier to seven out of the top ten drivers.