The 2018 competition season kicked off for Baggsy this past weekend with Round One of the Irish Drift Championship. An action packed motorsport weekend of Drifting and Rallycross all hosted at Mondello Park in Ireland.

Baggsy’s #S13V8 only returned from China two weeks ago, but the team at SB Motorsport had been hard at work making some changes to the car ready for IDC. From the start of the weekend, it was obvious the changes had made a considerable difference to the car.

Baggsy used Fridays practice session to gel with the car and its upgrades, whilst the team made some final set up changes. Blessed with good weather, it was time to dial in the grip and see what the #S13V8 was really capable of at Mondello.

Sundays practice session would see Baggsy run into some issues as he mounted the curb on one of the clips. This resulted in the engines oil filter taking on damage. Fortunately,

Baggsy was able to shut down the car before any internal engine damage was caused. After a quick filter and oil change, the car was back and ready for action. Next up was the Pro qualifying session.

After what can only be described as not the best of luck previously at Mondello Park, Baggsy laid down two solid qualifying runs. This bagged him a score of 87.7 and the 3rd place qualifier.

Qualifying in the top 8 meant Baggsy would receive a bye run and advance straight to the top 16 of the battles. Baggsy would find himself on the start line with Australian drifter Mitch Larner. This was going to be a true battle of the V8’s. After two explosive runs, the judges couldn’t make the call and ordered a ‘One More Time’.

A quick tyre change from both drivers, and it was time for round two. The second battle would see one of the closest battles of the day, with both drivers pushing one another around the track. With crazy speed, initiations and maximum proximity. The judges had a hard time making the call, but after finding only a minor error on Baggsy’s lead run they would hand the win to Larner.

The undefeated Irish streak may still be going, but it has been an amazing start to the 2018 season for Baggsy and a great test for the changes to the #S13V8. For now it’s back to headquarters to finish the PS13 2018 competition car build.

“It was great to be back in Ireland for IDC Round One, and great to be back behind the wheel in competition. The off season has been very busy with, builds, upgrades and planning for 2018. So it was great to get out of the workshop and back to the track. The changes we made to the #S13V8 have made a massive improvement, and have given us a huge amount of knowledge to put into the PS13 competition car build. I was super happy with my 3rd place qualifying result, and my top 16 battles with Mitch Larner were insane!”

“Im really excited for the rest of the 2018 season, and this was a great way to kick it off. Back to the workshop now to finish the PS13 build and get ready for the next event. A massive thank you to all of my team for their hard work to get the car ready for the weekend and during the event. Also a big thank you to all of my sponsors for supplying the parts and support.”