Major Project: The Drifter: An Essex Boy's Story

The Drifter: An Essex Boy’s Story

Aidan is 30. He has a job as a mechanic at a garage in Essex and has done since he left school. However, one of the motorsport events held at Arena Essex grabs his attention a lot more than the others: drifting. There is a problem with this though. 10 years ago, when he was just 20 and his brother John was 22, John was killed in a banger racing event when the Ford Granada he was driving suffered a head on collision with a wall at the Arena Essex raceway. Since this tragic accident, Aidan’s dad Ted has made him promise that he will not take part in any form of motorsport, as he doesn’t want to lose both his sons to the danger of motor racing.

However, Aidan, like his late brother, has had an interest in motorsport from an early age, and so it was inevitable that one day he would follow in his brothers footsteps. After being away from the track for 10 years, he attends a drift day as a spectator with a couple of his friends and his dad. His dad is very apprehensive about attending as this will be the first motorsport event he has attended since the death of his eldest son a decade ago. The day is a success, as both Aidan and Ted can see immediately that drifting is a far less dangerous form of motorsport than banger racing is, as there is strictly no contact between vehicles, and as such this already makes it a lot safer than banger racing. After much soul searching, including talking with his wife (Aidan’s mother) Ted gives his blessing and agrees to help in any way he can to get Aidan involved in drifting.

All is not as at seems though, as seemingly unbeknown to Aidan, Ted had a crash in a banger racing event when he was the age that Aidan is now, but he does not tell Aidan this as he does not want it to stand in the way of his dreams. This is shown at the beginning of the story as flashbacks during the drifting event that Aidan attends with Ted, as it reminds him of the crash. However, Aidan has overheard his parents talking about it, and so is aware of the events that unfolded, but does not mention anything about it to his father.

From here on in, the family experiences a rollercoaster of events, as the seller of the BMW 328i that Aidan wants to buy is the very same bloke that sold his 2.8i Granada to John to go banger racing in. He recognises Aidan, and they chew the fat and discuss how and why Aidan wants to get back into motorsport, but drifting instead of banger racing. Aidan explains that he went to watch the fifth round of King of the Ring at Arena Essex, and has his dads blessing to start drifting. Once he has bought the BMW, he decides that before he attends a drifting event, he needs to learn the basics. He could practice on the roads, and decides to do this as it gives him more of a buzz. The preparation of the BMW is fairly straightforward. Strip out the interior to save weight, weld the rear diff so that both wheels turn together constantly, and fit a hydraulic handbrake that will lock up the rear wheels to facilitate a drift.

Once the car is drift ready, Aidan gets round to practicing on the road. Roundabouts are a good starting point for this, as they provide a constant corner in order to keep the car sideways as long as one has the nerve to. However, this proves to be Aidan’s undoing as he over does it on one particular roundabout and ends up spinning out and crashing backwards into a lamp post, writing his car off in the process.

However, despite writing off his first drift car and his dad’s shock and anger at the news due to his own crash many years ago, Aidan elects to carry on with drifting, and sets about finding another car, ideally another 3 series BMW. After another couple of months searching, he finds another car that he considers suitable for the role. This time it is a 325i, so slightly less powerful, but still a very capable drift car nonetheless. This time though, after his crash in the 328, his dad is much less supportive, and very opposed to him going back to the sport so soon after having such a serious crash. However, Aidan maintains that he is capable of drifting, and simply requires more practice.

As time goes on, Aidan gets to a point where he wants to take drifting seriously and so he attends his first drift day event at Lydden Hill Racing Circuit. He gets a huge thrill out of this, and decides that he will definitely make it a regular thing, and will practice as much as he can. Ted is still not entirely convinced after his crash, but is still willing to support Aidan in any way he can.

The story moves forwards to a year later, where Aidan is taking part in an event that him and his father have helped to organise, a memorial event in memory of his late brother. The story comes full circle at the end, as Aidan puts his all into the event, and is successful in winning, thus proving to his dad and most of all to himself once and for all that motorsport is a safe and incredibly rewarding sport to take part in. It is when Aidan wins the trophy that he goes to his father and presents it to him, revealing that he overheard the conversation between his mother and father and that he knew about the crash all along, but didn’t tell his father at the time as he didn’t want to upset him. When Aidan presents the trophy to his father, he makes it clear that he is the true rightful recipient of it, as he has done a superb job of raising and supporting Aidan in everything he does, and, had he not had the crash, he would have most probably won the race as well.

Elevator Pitch

Standing in the way of Aidan’s goal to become the ultimate drifter is his dad. He is opposed to motorsport after Aidan’s older brother John was killed in a banger racing accident. Aidan is faced with a dilemma: does he follow his dream and risk his life on the track, or does he follow his dad’s wishes and play it safe?