Hello Speedhunters, my name is Micke Svensson and I drive an E36 BMW M3 in the Nordic Drift Series. Here is a report from the NDS season finale held recently at Sturup raceway.

Before we start – here's some info about myself.

Name: Micke Svensson, 38 years old
Location: Norrkoping, Sweden
Career Path: Drifter, Product development, Composite and plastic
Previous Career Paths: Projectleader, racecar builder
Notable Projects/Wins: 3rd place in Nordic drifting series 2007, 5th place 2009.
Cars: Bmw 320 4d with 3.2 engine, Nissan 240SX 402 hp.
Fav Past Cars: Bmw Z3 M coupe 3.2 l.
Next Car: 135 coupe, single turbo monster engine ..
Car Passions: Designing and building BMW race cars, drift cars, and drag cars.

The day started with nice weather, but only a few miles from home we saw big black clouds in the horizon, not so good. It was then rain, rain and more rain. After our 6 hour drive it still rained. What a race weekend we had in front of us! We came to Sturup raceway in the late evening and the rain actually stopped for a moment, but the wind was incredible strong. We unloaded the car and put it under the tent for the night but it didn´t last long before the tent was destroyed by a huge wind gust and parts from the tent were pounding the BMW on the roof. Big dents ….

In the morning we prepared the car for tricky conditions on the track. Some places were dry, others were wet. Not so easy to know how much you could push the car…

The track at Sturup is awsome! Starting with a blind crest, the speed is aprox 80 mph when you start the drift and then you come down from the hill and it turns almost 90 degrees to the right. After that it goes into a lefthanded “ horseshoe”.
My spotter was standing in the judge tower and told me that I had to get more angle earlier, so in the next round I hit the clipping point very hard! The rear bumper broke into three peaces …only plastic. But there were a big dent in the rear panel also. Luckily the season is almost over! In the following test rounds I was trying to get as near the clipping points as possible all the time. Suddenly it happened again! I hit the last cliping point with the front bumper and the left corner was gone. Into the pit to let the crew take away the last plastic parts from the car..

Next up was qualification. The rain had stopped a few hours ago, but there were dark clouds in the skies. The track was still tricky. The first qualifying round was quite good, near the clipping points, but not near enough! I needed more speed over the crest! My engine is almost stock, so 280 hp on the wheels is not enough to smoke the tires long before the crest. On the seond run I put my shoe in the engine bay and kicked the clutch aggressivley! The car was going quite well and then I hit the clipping point again – but just so it tipped gently this time!
I felt that the gearbox was strange, but when I pushed in 3rd gear I realized it wouldn't be long until it was broken! I qualified at the 6th place out of 22 cars so I was pleased!

On Saturday the car was repaired and it was quite nice with all the stitches on the bumpers. In the first rounds I got to meet another BMW E36, but Carlo Rashid had 650 hp in the car so I had really needed more power. I was the leader car in the first round and I didn't do so well. I missed the 3:rd gear after the second clipping point, and straightened out a bit … 5-5 in points, even! I saw the starter and he showed 5-5 and I knew I had to shadow Carlo very close to get my points. He started quite fast but slowed down just before the crest and then he just accelerated fast again. He played a trick on me because he knew that I had to come with a high entry speed to maintain the drift with the lack of power in my car.  He managed to take some distance, but as before.. I had my foot in the engine bay! I caught up with him and he braked. I pulled the handbrake, took the inner line and kept my car beside him through the last corner. 6-4 to me.. sweet!

Next on my list was Fredric Aasbo. Yeah right .. so what would you have done? Race against an awesome driver with a 700 hp Supra? Yep, you are right. Put down the foot in the engine bay once more and drive like you stole it…
Now I was chasing him and he went quite fast into the crest, but then he disappeared from me a bit. Damn how fast his Supra is! I tried to go as fast as I could, but I spun in the last entry -10-0 to Fredric. Then I felt that it was over, but you never know. I was going quite fast over the crest but then the 3:d gear broke. I tried to get it in gear again but the gearbox was broken… 3-7 to Fredric.

My race weekend was not as good as it should have been, but I´m satisfied with the points that I earned in the championship of Nordic Drifting Series. I ended up in the 5th place just 20 points from a 3rd place. Not so bad for a stock Bmw M3 3.2 engine with 321 hp!
Next year I will drive the same car but with a turbo engine, and improved steering angle. I promise you that it lack of power won't be a problem.

This weekend I’m invited to Gatebil in Rudskogen / Norway. It’s a nice track for time attack and also drifting, so stay tuned for a report from Norway!

Thanks Speedhunters for publishing my blog!

It´s better to burnout than fade away !

Micke Svensson / Sweden