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We’ve all been there, staring down a tiny little telephone display screen (normally while on the bathroom) watching a modified automotive video on YouTube.
These movies have been, and nonetheless are to this present day, among the most fascinating methods to get sucked into our automotive group. I beloved the extra cinematic, movie-esque stuff most. Mike Koziel’s 2014 H2Oi movie immediately springs to thoughts as one thing that helped me get hooked on the better world of low, modified vehicles.
Inside this area of interest style of automotive content material sat the drifting movies. A style inside a style, once more taking a cinematic, arty perspective on the drift automotive or occasion it was specializing in. After I was 15 years outdated, I bear in mind discovering Norbefilm’s The Ugly Duckling, which centred on the barely redundant wanting, but infinitely cool on the time E36 that Norbertas Daunoravičius discovered to float in.
Right here’s a man that turned his passion of studying to drift in his outdated BMW into a movie – wonderful. There have been many, many movies like the 2 talked about on the market and, naturally, the extra I dug round YouTube the extra I’d discover.
Someday in 2018, I discovered certainly one of my all-time favourites. Nevertheless, this wasn’t a movie, however a trailer for a movie.
Once you clicked the thumbnail you have been greeted by the timeless, iconic excessive synths of Mannie Recent’s ‘Actual Massive’. I immediately discovered myself singing “Home actual huge, vehicles actual huge…” because the nostalgia of mid-’00s PlayStation 2 video games struck my coronary heart like a thunderbolt thrown by Zeus himself.
And on the display screen? A busy, overloaded montage of what was to return, opening up with the textual content ‘NEXT LEVEL’ actually on hearth. A online game turned actual life was taking place proper in entrance of my eyes.
A large-body, purple E46 M3 sporting the widest Weds Kranze Cerberus II wheels the world has ever seen, evening observe antics, and the bottom drift vehicles on observe, all of which fitted with quantity plates. These weren’t race vehicles constructed for the observe; these have been road vehicles constructed for the observe, styled with a mixture of influences stretching from archival ’90s footage of Japanese touge motion to the ‘Actual Massive’ music video itself.
The 42-second-long visible overdose – which you’ll be able to watch above – captured my creativeness. I wanted to be taught extra about this occasion, and about Subsequent Degree Drift. Most significantly although, I wanted to become involved myself. I needed to be a part of no matter was occurring right here.
The Subsequent Degree Drift title emerged in 2016, with the staff’s first huge occasion, merely titled ‘Worldwide’, taking place in 2018. It took me 5 years to finish my aim, however a few weekends again I lastly made the journey to Poland for a Subsequent Degree Drift Worldwide occasion.
On arrival I used to be welcomed with open arms by the organisers. I used to be fast to clock onto the truth that everybody right here is aware of one another, and what’s a big drift occasion internet hosting drivers from throughout Europe (and additional afield) can be naturally a detailed group of nice buddies operating an occasion for his or her buddies. A possibility to get collectively and share a likeminded tackle drifting, which I’ll get into somewhat later.
Filip Fiji is the principle helmsman behind the Subsequent Degree staff. He’s the one you see right here on the mic doing the driving force briefing.
This 12 months’s occasion passed off at Autodrom Jastrzab, a big race observe positioned within the Polish midlands with one fairly distinctive function – a hill going straight right into a hairpin. I might quickly be taught that this a part of the observe would see 70, 80 even 90mph reverse entries over a blind crest from vehicles hovering actually millimetres above the floor.
On Filip’s proper (your left) is Jacek, who owns the Lexus IS the blokes are leaning towards. Being one of many gents liable for the occasion, I personally see his IS as one of many poster vehicles of Subsequent Degree Drift. Jacek was that man with the walkie-talkie and a pickup truck, managing the automotive circulation of the entire day.
The one draw back of proudly owning the roles Filip and Jacek do, is that they’re too busy being managers to get any seat time themselves. Filip’s E36 and Jacek’s IS have been due to this fact lacking from the observe enjoyable, however that is the place the opposite pair liable for the occasion are available. Jakub and Arek Tatara are two brothers additionally concerned with the day-to-day organisation and operating of Subsequent Degree Drift, however they acquired the prospect to get out on observe themselves.
Arek’s purple S14 appears to be like like one thing straight out of a Japanese automotive journal, and may generally be seen being trailered by Jakub’s E38 BMW 740i. Yup, that E38, seen right here shredding it out on observe, is definitely a tow rig.
Jakub, generally generally known as Don Musk, towed certainly one of his drift vehicles to the occasion with the 7 Sequence. His yellow E36 has been with him via thick and skinny now for what looks like 15 years, and has seen quite a few appears to be like over that point. Sadly, proper firstly of the Saturday, the M54 engine that powers the E36 kicked up a basic M54 downside and determined to delete its oil pump, alas, retiring the automotive for the entire weekend earlier than it even began. When the drift automotive breaks, naturally you get the tow rig out on observe, proper?
It’s this kind of decided drive, angle and pretty laid again choice making that helped the Subsequent Degree Drift staff earn their status. It went hand in hand with their collective ethos for constructing and styling drift vehicles.
“We began Subsequent Degree Drift kind of underneath the Raceism (now Ultrace) wing,” Filip explains to me. “We beloved drifting low vehicles, and we needed to take the usual of present vehicles you’d see on the present and apply it to float vehicles. We needed to take it to the following stage, which is the place the title got here from.”
“The stanced-out present vehicles are cool, certain, however merely parking them is somewhat boring for us. We needed to indicate the plenty right here in Europe that drift vehicles can look good with wonderful wheel fitment in addition to the practical modifications.”
“After all, we’re influenced by the massive drift scene in Japan, their approach of styling and group, and we blended that with our personal road drifting scene right here in Poland. For me, it’s the proper mixture. It helped us to give you Subsequent Degree Drift, and make it an occasion that we might love to observe as spectators as a lot as we might like to drive at.”
The world seen, and worldwide friends began to have a presence on the Subsequent Degree Drift occasions. This 12 months, Formulation D drivers joined to drive alongside the acquainted faces who attended the occasion in 2018, who have been now additionally driving alongside fashionable automotive YouTubers and media personalities.
Filip, Jacek, Jakub and Arek actually did assist to raise the Polish road drifting group to the following stage. Their aim is of their title, and so they’re proper on observe to attain it.
I requested Filip what’s subsequent in retailer for the way forward for Subsequent Degree. “Loads!” he answered immediately. “There’s much more media work deliberate for subsequent 12 months.” That is fairly thrilling for me, as that one trailer is essentially the rationale I’m writing this text. “We have to someway make our desires come true too. We have to push them to the following stage. We have to take the staff to Japan and drift on the market, that’s the dream. Let’s see what the longer term holds.”
Till then, I’ll go away you with certainly one of my chunky picture galleries to flick via. See you on the subsequent one.
Michał Fidowicz
Instagram: candyshowroom
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