Driftwars north, round 1 as captured from various spots.
The DriftWars north series is taking place in Thessaloniki. Hosted by the Drive Park.
Early in the morning the team was in position and ready for the event’s preparations, Stathis Papargiropoulos is pictured giving directions to the crew.
Communications devices are tested carefully before the event. Good communication is the key to the event’s safety and success.
… Banner placement, something tricky!
This platform was the judge’s “Apartment” and offered the best view in town!
Don’t you agree ?
Given his unmatched familiarity with track Stathis Papargiropoulos also instructed the video crew.
Bizzare stickers had a booth set next to the pit area, where people could buy various cool stuff.
A couple of hours before the event teams started appearing at the track.
And begun to shape up the pit area.
Harkas team found a way to make the best out of their trailer: Car trailer and pit “lounge” all in one!
Creative !
I intruded myself into the briefing room like a ninja. George Sarafis, one of the judges is preparing the drivers briefing. He is an experienced drift-racing driver, and former driftwars champion.
Back on track: I left the preparations for a moment to see Nikos Kouroupi’s upgraded AE86 , which also featured a new livery.
The older version of this SR20Det powered Hachiroku gave Nikos many podium finishes in the past. We wish him to have equal luck with the “blue” one. When I saw the car’s front end I realised that part of the older look was still there…
… Then I read the memo.. Bumper coming soon… Drift boy !!!
most teams found their spot in the pit area…
…and the heat is rising during last minute’s works.
You will notice that a lot of guys racing in the North series are into old school German cars…
Lots of E30 BMWs with different engine layouts.
Yeap ! Proper engine layouts I must say !
And a 190 Merc featuring also the proper cylinder number … 8 that is !
After noticing the slightly large intercooler this Toyota Celica had, I got pretty curious of what the powerplant was…
A 2JZ that is !
“Spiderman is getting ready to fight the monsters” could be this one’s tittle..
Pits got crowded as spectators passed by to have a look at the cars before the event.
A crew sent by Redbull enhanced the event offering music and lots of drinks.
Drinks given by girls off course !
DriftWars is more than a common race. It’s a drifting celebration and what a celebration could take place without music? Spiros from Redbull is giving the the beat.
Meet the voice of DriftWars. Dimitris aka MTS kept everybody entertained with live interviews, story telling, live feeding with the judges for after battle comments.. when the mic is on, an interesting story is about to heard.
Briefing time…
…. The track layout changed this year into a more demanding one, judges were crystal clear of what they wanted to see from the drivers.
Practice is about to begin, this is the first wave…
Judges are ready to do their job. During the practice they realised that it’s going to be a tough day.
Every single detail is written in this log book.
Stathis ready to point the “speed gun”. The monitor on the right shows entry speed to spectators.
Spectators also had quite a view, this place was the battle’s climax.
As the final battle came to an end, the top 3 cars and their teams gathered on the tarmac, waiting for the judges to announce the winner. Since it was a close one, we were pretty anxious to hear from the judges.
Results anounced.. Harkas (black and white suit) took the first place and Tsilimponis the second.
All drivers (despite their result) had quite some fun.
That’s one big steering angle by the way !
Top 3 drivers, back to the briefing room for media interviews.
As the race came to an end and everything went well, the crew is chilling out before packing up.
The smoke settles as the first round of the North series comes to an end. An amazing time for everyone! On Sunday April 29th the DriftWars siren will scream in Athens… and we ‘re looking forward to be there as well !
