“Return to Driftenberg” premiered at the finale of the “Gymkhana GRiD” championship in Warsaw.
The leading role in “Return to Driftenberg” will once again be played by Monster and ST suspensions drifter, Steve “Baggsy” Biagioni, and his 1200 hp Nissan GT-R.
The backdrop is the Swabian community of Fichtenberg, the headquarters of the KW automotive group, which once again transforms into the village of “Driftenberg” for the film.
Supporting roles include tuning girl Mareike Fox, singer Shane Lynch of the Irish boy band Boyzone, and the two World Rally Cross racers Liam Doran and Andreas Bakkerud as well as Roland Miola, Mayor of Fichtenberg.
“With ‘Return to Driftenberg’ our drivers Baggsy and the two rallycross drivers Liam Doran and Ken Block’s former rally driver colleague, Andreas Bakkerud, show drifting at the highest level,” says ST suspension’s Brand Manager Christina Gabriel.
“In contrast to many other drift films out on social media, we’re happy that we were able to shoot the drift action in the middle of Fichtenberg as compared to most of which are set on racetracks or industrial sites. We would like to take this opportunity to express our sincere thanks to all those involved as well as to the District Office and the community for their energetic support”.
With “Return to Driftenberg”, the US energy beverage manufacturer, Monster Beverage, and the suspension brand, ST suspensions, are appealing not only to fans of drifting but also to a wider audience. “Basically, Baggsy is drifting through Driftenberg and one or two cameo appearances will make you smile.”
Even the mayor of Fichtenberg, Roland Miola, will perform in a cameo role, as well as tuning girl Mareike Fox. The Boyzone singer and racing driver, Shane Lynch, who is visiting Driftenberg and many others are also part of the action loaded Drift Party…
Besides the spectacular scenes at the limits of driving physics with the numerous spectators, Baggsy’s Nissan GT-R caused a lot of excitement during the video shooting. Instead of the BiTurbo V6 engine, a 7.4-liter US V8 engine with retrofitted Honeywell Garrett GTX4718R turbocharger with more than 1,200 hp was used in the driveline under the hood of the brute drift car.
“Enough power to drift at the limit in and around Fichtenberg”, says the Brit Steve “Baggsy” Biagioni who has already won several drift championships, competed several times at the Goodwood Festival of Speed and the Monza Rally Show, and proved his exceptional driving talent in various YouTube drift videos.
“I’ve already drifted to the limit at several locations, but these beautiful, winding and steep forest roads in the Fichtenberg area were something very special. No room for mistakes, madness. It’s also madness how heartily the people here in Fichtenberg welcomed us.”
The two World Rally Cross racers Liam Doran and Andreas Bakkerud, who felt at home in Fichtenberg, were also enthusiastic about the locations and the roads closed for filming. “When Baggsy called and asked us if we wanted to drift a bit on a small film, we immediately agreed. After all, we said among ourselves that we played the most important role in ‘Return to Driftenberg’,” says Andreas Bakkerud.
“The movie has some nice surprises and not only for everyone who knows us.” In autumn a “Making of” for the shooting will be released, which will take the audience back to the several-day video shoot.
