Horseless Carriage Sliding – SATS Cosworth at round 3 of the British Drift Championship from Ciaran Smith on Vimeo.

Team SATS Cosworth were at Teesside Autodrome on the weekend of 2/3 July for round 3 of the Maxxis Tyres British Drift Championship

Having suffered some engine issues at the previous round, the team worked hard over the course of the past few weeks to have the car ready for the event. Team Mechanic Simon Edwards told us,
“The engine was taken back out, checked, and we found a couple of things wrong. It was nothing major, just stuff that needed to be addressed. So while we were there, we took the time to rebuild and refresh it, and made sure that it was built to the same tolerances as the last engine.”

So with the car ready to go, Mark went out on his qualifying runs, and pulled off some awesome displays, staying within inches of the clipping points. However, he was marked down heavily for using the handbrake too much on the straight; something he didn’t know would be an issue until speaking to the judges afterwards. He qualified in 9th place.

The team put the result behind them, and got the car ready for competition the following day. His first opponent was to be Simon Perry in his Nissan Skyline.

In the first run, Mark was chasing, with Perry leading. Both drivers almost had their cars backwards exiting the first corner such was the angles they were pulling. At one point, Mark straightened slightly, as he had to brake to avoid a collision with Perry. However, this was the least of his worries.

With so much smoke emanating from Perry’s tyres, Mark lost sight of the track and clipped the tyre wall with the rear of the car, ripping off the bumper in the process. As a result, Perry scored 10-0.

Knowing that his chances at progressing to the next stage of the competition were slim, Mark went out anyway on his leading run, and put on a show for the crowds, driving possibly one of the best runs of the day, leaving his opponent Perry in the distance.

Afterwards, Mark told us,
“Qualifying wasn’t as we expected. 9th place just wasn’t what we were looking for. It seemed that even though we had fast, consistent runs, it wasn’t the lines that the judges wanted.”

On his drive against Perry, he said,
“We knew we had the worst draw in the top 16, up against Simon Perry. We went out and gave it everything we had on the first run, but just got it slightly wrong on the last corner, ran wide, and caught the tyre wall. It’s caused quite substantial damage to the back of the car. Even though we beat Simon on the second run, it wasn’t enough to beat his 10-0”.

With the work performed on the engine since the last round, Mark was full of praise for the car,
“Mechanically, the car was fantastic. The new Cosworth engine fitted to it ran really good. The car was brilliant all weekend, but it just wasn’t to be.”

So a disappointing result for the team, but you can be sure they will be back, and raring to go, and one of Mark’s old stomping grounds, Knockhill.

-Release and Media prepared by SATS Cosworth

SATS Cosworth at Round 1 of the British Drift Championship from Ciaran Smith on Vimeo.

Check out this video of the SATS Cosworth Supra, along with its sponsors, including Titan Motorsports, tearing it up during round 1 of the British Drift Championships. The team has been working really hard to get the car prepared this season, and so far, the car is looking very strong. Below is the press release of the events prepared by SATS Cosworth:

The weekend of the 22nd and 23rd April saw the SATS Cosworth Supra sponsored by Titan Motorsports make its competitive debut at the Maxxis British Drift Championship, which was held at Donington Park.

The pressure was definitely on for the team after months of development work on the car, and with huge build up and publicity campaign for the car’s first outing, the team didn’t want to disappoint and they didn’t, the whole team delivered with a magnificent performance, coming 1st in the qualification on the Saturday Morning with a score of 93 points.

In the Afternoon it was on to the main Top 16 competition and after some hard fought battles against some of the country’s best drivers and machinery Mark Luney and Team SATS Cosworth went on to take top spot on the podium and go top of the Super Pro class in the Championship.

This was helped massively by the all the SATS Cosworth sponsors and partners who have been behind the team all winter helping develop the car to what it is today and without their constant support the win would not have been possible.

Speaking afterwards, team driver Mark Luney said,
“For the past six months, the team and I have been working on, and developing, the car alongside Cosworth, Maxxis and our many partners, the pressure was definitely on to take a top 3 spot. To take top spot in both qualifying and the competition is an endorsement of all that effort.”

“Last year, we used Maxxis Tyres at all of the events, and they helped us immensely to get to the podium on several occasions and now with Maxxis behind us as a partner supplying us with their MAZ1 Drift Tyre we have repeated last year’s success at the Donnigton Track. However, it was the first competitive event where we were using our new Meister-R brakes suspension and brake setup, Titan Motorsports stage 4 Head setup, as well as the VP Racing Fuel, so I am sure you can imagine the team and I were slightly tentative. After our first run though, all of our worries went out of the window, as the car delivered everything we expected, plus more!”

He continued,
“We’re not going to stop here though, and will continue to put 100% into the car in preparation for round 2 of the championship, where once again we will be aiming for the podium spot.”

What’s all the commotion about at the 2011 Autosport International show?

Everyone was excited for the unvieling of the new Titan Sponsored Maxxis/Cosworth Supra.

The Maxxis Babes may have had something to do with the crowd as well…

Look for the Supra to be tearing up the European Drift scene in 2011.

Engine
Cosworth 2JZGTE
Titan Motorsport Cylinder Head
HKS Step-4 Cams
HKS T51 R KAI SPL Turbo
HKS 80mm Wastegate
Sard 1000cc injector’s
HKS Fuel Rail
Aeromotive Fuel System
Custom oil cooler setup
Exedy Triple Plate Clutch
Apexi Front Mount Intercooler with custom piping
Koyo Radiator
Custom Fan setup for cooling

Interior
Custom Cage to EDC / FIA spec
Cobra Suzuka Carbon Seats X 2
FIA spec fire system

Suspension & Brakes
MeisterR Zeta II coilover system
MeisterR 8 piston 356mm brake setup Front and Rear
Custom steering setup
SATS Motorsport Toe and camber rods rear

Wheel (brand, model, size F/R)
9×18 Volk GTC Front ET +2
10.5×18 Volk GTC Rear ET – 15
Custom steering setup

ECU & Electronics
Autronic SM4
AIM Digital Dashboard

Exterior
BN sports Blister kit
Custom made carbon Doors
Custom made carbon boot lid
Custom made carbon bonnet

Click HERE for more info on the Team

SATS Cosworth Supra Launch Video from Ciaran Smith on Vimeo.