‘It’s been raining for 10 days straight here’ said Cian Leonard, General Manager of Drift Games.
Well, it looks like we’ve had the luck of the Irish with each visit to Ireland, this time round it’s for the first Bash this year. We land at Dublin Airport and head straight to Mondello Park with some sun and clouds for the whole weekend.
The Drift Games x Tire Streets Spring Bash is all about the drivers. There’s unlimited seat time all weekend to either get your testing/shakedown underway or if they’re already dialled in, simply to get your groove on with a choice of 3 tracks.
The Irish drifters are chaos, and we love it
10 car drift trains? Backies on your out lap? Ultimate smoke show in the box? Anything and everything is fair game at the Spring Bash. Drivers are put into 2 Classes; HERO or PRO. While they symbolise the choice and level of driving, some think mixing the 2 classes would result in endless chaos – but it works here!
Tire Streets offered drivers a choice of tyres to run at the Spring Bash and we saw a good number of drivers either testing them out for the first time or are very welcome to see the tyres they know and love ready for them at the track.
Signature smoke emitted from Mondello, with the Accelera 651 Sport, Sport XTRA, 351 Sport GD, PHI and the Zeetex HP2000 VFM giving drivers consistency, precision and performance with their runs. The biggest vibe we got from the drivers? The tyres gave them the most seat time ever.
Drivers vibin’ with the tyres
With all 3 track layouts being reversed on Sunday, drivers who attended the full weekend experienced 6 layouts and boy oh boy was Sunday fun – and FAST. Some of these drivers are completely unhinged behind the wheel (Dave included), defying the laws of physics like James Deane and Jack Shanahan. Animals.
The Drift Games crew rolled out with Dave in the newly acquired S14, Josh in his MX-5 and Conor Falvey in the Solstice, completing 400km+ over the weekend! There was a load of BMWs, Nissan 350Zs, MX-5s, S-Chassis, drift missiles and the like. From the out and out beasts like the RTR Mustang, to the weird and wonderful (we’re looking at the Drift Games Skid Merc), even a couple of vintage Fords, there was something for everyone out there.
We caught up with local hero drivers Jack Kelly and Evan Conlon to chat about the event and the tyres used:
‘I’m using the Accelera 651 Sport XTRA and I cannot complain, there’s plenty of grip and last super long. I’ve found when I heat cycle the tyres through 2-3 laps and then cool down, the tyres have cooled down and give more life. I highly recommend then, the wear is great, grip is great, the smoke is good. Running 15 PSI in the tyres and having 670HP in the JZX90 I had zero problems - it made for a great weekend!’
Jack Kelly, Toyota Mark II JZX90
‘When I was driving with my current road tyres it wasn’t confidence inspiring. Whereas now with the Accelera 651 Sport XTRA, once warmed up and the coating wore off, I started to feel confidence I had never felt before, it went from washy on track to feeling on rails! I was able to rip it wherever I want and to be honest, it’s helped me find the limit of my angle kit! I’ve recommended it to the boys on my team.’
Evan Conlon, Nissan 350Z
Not only did we get the chance to speak to the drivers, we headed around the paddock and chatted with their crews, other teams, spectators, marshals and events staff. They all had one thing in common: The Bash is the best.
So there we have it, the first Bash of the year under our belts. No rain, no complaints, just pure vibes and epic seat time. We’ve had a blast!
With more Drift Games x Tire Streets Bash events lined up this year, we can’t wait to head back to Mondello Park. By then, perhaps the Drift Games Sportsland will be ready for you...
[Words & Photos: Keyfobandgob for Tire Streets.]