The Best Built Drift Cars In The World?
Welcome To HGK

HGK Motorsport is not just a name on the side of drift cars competing on two separate continents. Whilst it might be its first season in Formula D, the Latvian outfit is far from being new to the motorsport either. Further to this, HGK didn’t get involved in drifting for any old reason, it came to prove a point.

What makes HGK Motorsport so special is not only that it prepare its own cars, but how the cars are prepared.

LARY5888

Anyone following Formula Drift this season will likely be familiar with the name Kristaps Bluss, HGK’s lead driver and the ‘K’ in the company name. Whilst he’s a newcomer to the FD ranks, Kristaps has being blowing away the competition in Europe and Russia for a few years now. Once he gets to grips with driving in the US series, I genuinely think he will be a future title contender.

LARY4164

Anyone who has taken the time to check over Kristap’s 800hp E46 in the paddock will likely attest to the quality of the build. I’ve not yet had the pleasure of covering a Formula D event, so I can only compare to what I’ve seen myself, but the HGK-prepared cars are head and shoulders above anything else I’ve ever come across.

CHEN4111

I’m not saying this for the sake of reaching a particular word count, but whilst I’ve seen some great drift builds over the years, the HGK cars are closer in quality to the likes of top-end GT cars and are probably the best prepared drift cars in the world. It’s no wonder then that HGK is in such demand to create customer cars for clients all around the globe.

2015 HGK Motorsport PMcG EXTRA-1-2

Having had the pleasure of examining a couple of HGK’s cars over the past few years (including one of its most recent builds at Gatebil, feature coming soon), when I discovered that the workshop is based at the Bikernieki circuit in Latvia, where Drift Allstars was recently held, I made it my business to get inside its doors.

So, on the Sunday after the main event in Riga, that’s exactly what I did.

Behind Closed Doors
2015 HGK Motorsport Paddy McGrath-1

I don’t think this is what I was expecting, if I’m honest.

Behind the grandstands at Bikernieki, resides a small industrial area surrounded by a high fence. The yard, which is divided, is home to some containers, scrapped shells and other vehicles hiding under covers. The grey skies that day only emphasised the gloom over this particular part of the city. The large flat-roofed building itself is divided and shared with other unknown tenants. There is no expensive signage, and in fact, if you were given precise directions to HGK Motorsport, you would think someone was playing a practical joke.

2015 HGK Motorsport Paddy McGrath-3

It’s only when you get closer that things start to add up. With covers removed, some familiar faces make an appearance.

2015 HGK Motorsport Paddy McGrath-39

Some familiar names too. You might remember Larry featuring this E46 ‘kit-car’ from Gatebil a couple of years back. The custom tube-chassis car featured an LS3 and some crazy engineering. Kristaps reckons that it was this car, despite being completely illegal, that put HGK on the map.

“It kind of opened the gates to the world for us back in 2012. At that time it was a pretty crazy idea, because technical rules in EU weren’t as strict as now, so Harijs decided to build a tubular chassis real race car. Many people heard about us and saw our potential and start showing interest in our builds,” Kristaps tells me.

This is my personal predominant memory of the car, being one of the first victims of the now famous Gatebil dirt-drop entry.

2015 HGK Motorsport Paddy McGrath-11

Whilst this E46 might have introduced HGK to the drifting world, the company actually goes back much further than this to 2005 when Harijs – the creative engineer, and is HGK’s very own guardian of quality – and Kristaps founded HGK Motorsport. Originally, drifting wasn’t even on the pair’s radar. Instead, they were focused on building primarily BMW race cars for sprint and endurance races.

2015 HGK Motorsport Paddy McGrath-12

Inside the doors, a simple layout greeted me. This was the day after the Drift Allstars event, so the workshop had yet to be tidied after a week of hard-graft preparing and repairing cars. It’s something that I feel Kristaps was a little bit embarrassed by, but something that I love. For me, a workshop is the equivalent of an artist’s studio. It should have character and a soul, not be a pristine and sterile environment.

2015 HGK Motorsport Paddy McGrath-27

What the workshop lacks in size, it more than makes up for in potential. Everything – except a paint booth – is here to build the perfect car from scratch. From chassis preparation to custom engineering solutions to final assembly. Everything is done on site.

2015 HGK Motorsport PMcG EXTRA-1

Opposite the car bays, you will find two main rooms. One is host to an office where all of your typical administration tasks take place…

2015 HGK Motorsport Paddy McGrath-33

Whilst the other is home to HGK’s CNC machine, where Janis – another of HGK’s staff – designs and creates hundreds of one off parts for the company.

2015 HGK Motorsport Paddy McGrath-32

Next to the CNC room, is another small corner office where more technical work takes place, including assembly of HGK’s own – and pretty bad-ass – handbrake levers.

2015 HGK Motorsport Paddy McGrath-30

The levers, which start life looking a little something like this, are items which evolved from HGK’s complete car builds and are just one of countless details which set the company’s builds apart. Speaking of which…

Building The Best
2015 HGK Motorsport Paddy McGrath-8

As a photographer/creative sort, I always feel both incredibly envious and in equal measures inadequate when I see what certain people can create from basic raw materials. I’m struggling to put into words then just how extraordinarily inadequate I felt whilst looking around two of HGK’s current builds, which both were at a similar stage.

2015 HGK Motorsport Paddy McGrath-24

HGK might have an affinity towards BMW, but it’s not the only car the company will prepare. In saying that, the two chassis present when I visited were an E46 and E92.

2015 HGK Motorsport Paddy McGrath-16

Kristaps estimates that HGK spends around two to three months on chassis preparation alone. It’s this chassis preparation and the obsessive detail that goes into each build, that makes the final product so impressive. Everything just fits together so well.

2015 HGK Motorsport Paddy McGrath-15

With the panels removed HGK set about welding the chassis and sealing any holes to ensure no smoke enters the cabin while drifting. This last detail I believe could become a mandatory requirement for all professional drift cars in the future, but that’s a discussion for another day…

2015 HGK Motorsport Paddy McGrath-23

I’m certainly no expert, but I’ve never seen welds as smooth as this on any build previously. It’s this quality of craftsmanship and HGK’s attention to detail that leaves me so impressed. Kristaps clearly has a lot of pride in his two welders, Eugene and Maris, who he believes to be the best in Latvia.

2015 HGK Motorsport Paddy McGrath-25

Take the door bars for instance. Because of their outward design, most just cut the inside of the door and leave it the door hollow, maybe throwing some paint on there for good measure. HGK will create a custom composite panel to cover that gaping door hole, which whilst a small detail is just one of those things that makes you nod and think ‘why doesn’t everyone do that?’

2015 HGK Motorsport Paddy McGrath-22

With the chassis finished, it’s then sent out to paint before returning for final assembly – a process which can take another three or four months. That’s a total of six to seven months to build one car, but Kristaps reckons that the chassis will remain competitive for five years without requiring any major rebuilds provided it’s not crashed.

If it’s a brand new car, one that HGK has never prepared before, the build could take up to a year.

LARY3055

Representing HGK and Evil Empire in Formula D Pro2 is Sergei Kabargin, in the 800hp HGK Corvette. The Corvette is a car that HGK only recently finished, but I think that an attraction has already taken hold. Kristaps believes that with every part ready to go on the shelf, HGK could build a fully-prepared Corvette in just three months or half the time a similar-spec BMW would take, including the completely custom front suspension and extra-lock setup. Why? “It’s already a race car,” he says with a smile.

2015 HGK Motorsport Paddy McGrath-9

HGK Motorsport is a small operation with a huge heart. The eight staff (two mechanics Jurgis and Aigars, two welders Eugene and Maris, main engineer Janis, manager Valdis and both Harijs and Kristaps) are making huge waves from their humble workshop in eastern Europe. They’ve got an amazing attitude too. They haven’t come into the sport shouting from the roof tops, instead they’ve kept their heads down and are working hard to earn their success, much the same as how they’ve built their business.

CHEN7588

HGK’s ambition doesn’t end here however, it recently started work on developing BMW’s new F22 (2 Series) which Kristaps believes will be a huge success. The team is also already looking forward to their second season in Formula D, where they feel that can do much, much better.

I believe them too.

Paddy McGrath
Instagram: pmcgphotos
Twitter: pmcgphotos
paddy@speedhunters.com

Additional Photography by Larry Chen

2015 HGK Motorsport PMcG EXTRA-2
CHEN4163
2015 HGK Motorsport Paddy McGrath-2
2015 HGK Motorsport Paddy McGrath-4
2015 HGK Motorsport Paddy McGrath-5
2015 HGK Motorsport Paddy McGrath-6
2015 HGK Motorsport Paddy McGrath-7
2015 HGK Motorsport Paddy McGrath-10
2015 HGK Motorsport Paddy McGrath-13
2015 HGK Motorsport Paddy McGrath-14
2015 HGK Motorsport Paddy McGrath-17
2015 HGK Motorsport Paddy McGrath-19
2015 HGK Motorsport Paddy McGrath-20
2015 HGK Motorsport Paddy McGrath-21
2015 HGK Motorsport Paddy McGrath-26
2015 HGK Motorsport Paddy McGrath-28
2015 HGK Motorsport Paddy McGrath-31
2015 HGK Motorsport Paddy McGrath-34
2015 HGK Motorsport Paddy McGrath-35
2015 HGK Motorsport Paddy McGrath-36
2015 HGK Motorsport Paddy McGrath-37
2015 HGK Motorsport Paddy McGrath-38
2015 HGK Motorsport Paddy McGrath-40
ADVERTISEMENT

Comments



Comments are closed.

51 comments

by Oldest
by Best by Newest by Oldest
1

Those welds!

2

@Kenny Yeah! Never seen such particular welds!

3

@Kenny My thoughts exactly, they look like factory welds that are performed by robots.

4
jbfromsiliconvalley

This just proves my theory: There are only 3 things to do during a Norwegian winter.
1) Shovel snow
2) TIG
3) get naked with your girlfriend

5

Those are well done MIG welds not TIG...

6

Those are well done MIG welds not TIG...

7

Those are well done MIG welds not TIG...

8

So proud  to build composite parts for this teams BMW E46, Corvette, Supra and Scion, great team with great attitude to their job!

9

So proud  to build composite parts for this teams BMW E46, Corvette, Supra and Scion, great team with great attitude to their job!

10

So proud  to build composite parts for this teams BMW E46, Corvette, Supra and Scion, great team with great attitude to their job!

11

Thank You Paddy for the great article!
So proud of or Latvian team! :)

12

Thank You Paddy for the great article!
So proud of or Latvian team! :)

13
Chris 'Haffy' Hafner

Stories like this should be more regular, just a little tour of the smaller shops is what Speedhunting is all about.
Oh and that bar work, absolutely awesome. Wish I could weld like that!

14

Beautiful!

15
ADimitriRoumeliotis

jbfromsiliconvalley

CSAlltrac  


CSAlltrac 

They're MIG welds, not TIG. which is why they look different.. They are excellent MIG welds.

16

i dont know much about welding but my brother welded in the navy and he couldn't believe a human did those

17

"Kristaps clearly has a lot of pride in his two welders, Eugene and Maris, who he believes to be the best in Latvia."
Think we could shorten this comment a little bit, "Simply the best", dont think any of the genuine car guy's on here would disagree.......

18

"Kristaps clearly has a lot of pride in his two welders, Eugene and Maris, who he believes to be the best in Latvia."
Think we could shorten this comment a little bit, "Simply the best", dont think any of the genuine car guy's on here would disagree.......

19

ADimitriRoumeliotis are you sure they are MIG welds? Normally MIG seems to spatter, whilst TIG is much cleaner - I'm not saying you are wrong, but this looks far too clean to achieve with MIG.

There's no reason to do the 'stack of dimes' with TIG, it just looks pretty and is what most people expect; instead of dabbing the rod if you leave it at the edge of the pool continuously you end up with a straight bead like this.

(I'm no expect, but I do own a TIG and started to learn before things got a bit busy with carbon prepreg..)

20

man i dnt know why but seeing those welds make me feel safe

21

man i dnt know why but seeing those welds make me feel safe

22

Scon Like all great craftsmen, they are quite a humble bunch. I would agree with your sentiment.

23

Its MIG. If You use quality gas, you can do it. There were a cylinder of shielding gas mixture from AGA/Linde.

24

elertsmartins Proud you should be, they're great ambassadors for Latvia.

25

elertsmartins Proud you should be, they're great ambassadors for Latvia.

26

Mikus Krastins Sweet! The finish on the doors on the new PS13 you guys finished blew me away, one of my favourite details.

27

Mikus Krastins Sweet! The finish on the doors on the new PS13 you guys finished blew me away, one of my favourite details.

28

AbdHadieHR It's incredible craftsmanship.

29

AbdHadieHR It's incredible craftsmanship.

30

DRiFTaddict Kristaps assures me that Eugene & Maris are indeed human.

31

DRiFTaddict Kristaps assures me that Eugene & Maris are indeed human.

32

Chris 'Haffy' Hafner Yeah, it's always tricky to find these places and then arrange to get inside, especially if you only have a few hours to spare. All credit to HGK for opening their doors to us on their one day off that week. Awesome people.

33

Chris 'Haffy' Hafner Yeah, it's always tricky to find these places and then arrange to get inside, especially if you only have a few hours to spare. All credit to HGK for opening their doors to us on their one day off that week. Awesome people.

34

They have lost the spirit of drift.

35

They have lost the spirit of drift.

36

AbdHadieHR So beautiful they belong in an art gallery somewhere.

37

AbdHadieHR So beautiful they belong in an art gallery somewhere.

38

Yup, def mig.
Which interestingly enough stands for "maybe it's good" and those, look pretty exceptional, so they're probably good, probably.

39

Yup, def mig.
Which interestingly enough stands for "maybe it's good" and those, look pretty exceptional, so they're probably good, probably.

40

Yup, def mig.
Which interestingly enough stands for "maybe it's good" and those, look pretty exceptional, so they're probably good, probably.

41

@Lame There's no time for sentimentality in competition. If you're not there to win, why bother showing up?

43
ADimitriRoumeliotis

JonathanW ADimitriRoumeliotis

As others have echoed, 100% its mig. Just with exceptional heat control, especially considering its not a bench welded job. I'd say it's actually more impressive because it is a mig job. This photo shows the welds are not just pretty either.

http://www.speedhunters.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/09/2015-HGK-Motorsport-Paddy-McGrath-20.jpg

44

Paddy McGrath elertsmartins
Together with Drive eO they have achieved unbelievable results. I have been following both companies since the beginnings, and I can't wait for the next year with HGK developing the BMW 2er and Drive eO hopefully returning to Pikes Peak.

45

I live in Riga myself. And I know about HGK. But I would've never guessed the size and place of their shop. With the builds they're rolling out, I was thinking that their shop would be at least twice as big. Now I'm amazed on a whole different level.

46

Only one of they welders have a real talent - Eugene . I personaly known him . He weld from when he was 17 years old , now he have a good fame in our country . Trust me - that seams welded by hands !

47

Only one of they welders have a real talent - Eugene . I personaly known him . He weld from when he was 17 years old , now he have a good fame in our country . Trust me - that seams welded by hands !

48

Only one of they welders have a real talent - Eugene . I personaly known him . He weld from when he was 17 years old , now he have a good fame in our country . Trust me - that seams welded by hands !

49

THOSE WELDS. WTF???

Im 1st degree welder in Ohio with 15 years experience under the belt. I cant weld like this. Thats i humanely impossible. Just wow.

This guy should get hired by STi or some huge WRC team, im sure they dont weld like this either. By the looks its technically filling and extremely durable weld as it pronounces outside, creating additional material to hold everything together.

These welds are from a Subaru WRC car. Judge yourself.

50

Maybe it was welded by a robot welder after all?

51
MadMaxRockatansky

Really great write up about an inspiring garage. Thanks for putting this out there, just 8 guys, building the best cars in competition. That's impressive.

OFFICIAL SPEEDHUNTERS SUPPLIERS