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| Race report by Nikita Perevezentsev |
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After competing in drift cups since 2008 and winning many competitions in Russia, I would be competing in only my second international competition at the 2012 European Drift Championship.
The competition was held over the span of four days (one day of practice, two days of qualifying and one day of finals). |
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I decided to use the practice day to build a T3 2012 for the track. After spending nearly 7 hours building and preparing the car, my practice time was limited.
On the first qualifying day, I felt confident that my preparations would put me in a strong position. This proved to be true as I finished the day in 2nd position with 96 points out of a possible 100, trailing only one Japanese competitor.
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I was unable to improve on this performance during the second day of qualifying, but my result still stood strong and I would enter the finals seeded in the second position.
The finals would be contested amongst the top 16 qualifiers.
My first run of the day proved to be my most difficult, as strong competition from an Austrian competitor pushed me to my limits. After successfully passing this test, I felt confident and reassured. Wins in the next two rounds allowed me to proceed into the competition final, where I would be head-to-head with a competitor from Holland.
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| In preparation for this important final, I used my Hudy set-up station to verify my carâ™s settings, freshened up my shocks, strapped in a freshly charged pack and then proceeded to the track. The race was a back and forth battle. When I was following, I would apply pressure to the other driver, while ensuring I was following my correct line. When I held the lead position, my focus remained on maintaining a clean line, driving as fast as I could, and ignoring the pressure that the other driver was attempting to apply. |
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When the dust settled, I was the winner and new 2012 European Drift Champion. This was, for me, an unbelievable result, as it was also made me the first Russian to achieve such a result in an event like this.
Thank you to my brother Evgeniy and to Team XRAY for all the support. |
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