
It’s taken a few days of recovery, but I can now finally reflect on the madness of Gatebil’s 2024 Main Event, held at Rudskogen Motorsenter in Rakkestad, Norway.
Going into it, I never know how this annual three-day festival of automotive lunacy will turn out, what sort of photos I’ll come away with, or how much my health will have deteriorated by the end of it. It’s always a mixed bag.

This year I experienced Gatebil at Rudskogen in the wet. And while I had the comfort of shooting the Super 3 practice and qualifying session from the media room window, limiting my photography to that angle wouldn’t make for good coverage.


I feared ruining my gear at Gatebil’s 2024 Summer Festival at Mantorp Park in Sweden a few weeks ago, but this time, I took my chances and headed out. Being up close and personal with cars coming at you sideways is exhilarating. Rain or not, this is the Gatebil I love.

Sure, the cars were drifting slower than usual, but that’s to be expected. The Rudskogen Motorsenter track is like an ice skating rink when the rain falls, and that makes it impossible for teams to go all out. On the flip side, it’s easier for them to stick together.

Like, literally. Here’s ‘Team Professional Children’ doing their best bumper car impression.

Thinking about it days later, all these drivers started sliding either in the rain or on ice. This is Scandinavia and drifting isn’t exclusive to the summer months. Maybe I should attend an ice track event when winter rolls around…
Despite the weather conditions, the Gatebil crowd loved it.

Formula Drift royalty Fredric Aasbø was having a good time as one of the Super 3 judges this year.

Simen Olsen, another Formula D driver, was out drifting in his MkV Toyota Supra. Following his companions, Ole Morten Davanger and Joachim Haugenes in Team Supreme, Simen looked to have everything under control.

After the Super 3 qualifying session, I checked out Rudskogen Motorsenter’s new 1,800sq/m main building, which connects to the old pit garages.

Completed earlier this year, the new building has lifted the profile of the entire facility. It features offices, terraces, jury rooms, pit boxes, and a new media center with a view of the old Würth building where I was sleeping for the weekend.
I also found Formula Drift’s Jacob Getting and Sara Haro from the Netflix series Hyperdrive being interviewed for an upcoming Super 3 documentary being produced by my good friends Samuel Kolsmyr and Linus Johnson. Jacob and Sara had some interesting things to say about their Gatebil experience, so look out for the film.

The paddock is one of the most interesting places to spend time at Gatebil’s Main Event. This magical world of open hoods and insane engine swaps never ceases to amaze me.

It’s where I like to spend Thursday evening at this event, while things are still somewhat organized. I’ll dive deeper into this year’s paddock happenings in another post.

The setting sun was my cue to get out of there and grab some shut-eye ahead of the event kicking off properly the following morning.

Fridays are always a spectacle. It’s the first day all competing cars are let loose on the track in five categories.


Four of these five categories have something to do with different levels of drifting. They are Drift Line Pro, Drift Line Rookie, Open Line, and Straight Line. It’s often hard to distinguish which class is which, but all the cars go sideways regardless.

The only class where drivers don’t want any oversteer action is Gatebil Extreme. These track monsters are designed purely for speed, and the variety is crazy.
Such is Gatebil, that one minute you are watching these time attack weapons cornering with an insane amount of grip…

…and the next minute a Volkswagen Transporter is coming at you sideways.

Where else can you see two Volvo bricks sandwiching a MkIV Toyota Supra? I’m always blown away by what this festival brings.

With so much experimentation in many Gatebil cars, the inevitable often happens.


Which in turn means wrenching in the paddock never stops.

While drivers and fans were preparing for the final Super 3 showdown, I was in a briefing room soaking up some trackside information.

Why, you ask? As I mentioned in my Gatebil Summer Festival coverage, I had never experienced drifting from the passenger seat. I figured the best place to pop this cherry was at Rudskogen. After sitting through a 30-minute presentation on the ins and outs of a Gatebil passenger ride, I received a yellow wristband, which allowed me to ride in any car on the track that had a spare seat going. I did find someone, and I’ll share my experience with you soon, so look out for that.

First up, though, it was Super 3 finals.

What is Super 3 exactly? Simply speaking, it’s a drift competition where teams of three drivers slide their cars as close as physically possible to each other through a judged section.

It really is one of the best things to hit the drifting scene.

After qualifying in the rain on Thursday, Friday’s competition played out in dry conditions – until the skies opened again.

While some teams struggled in the changeable conditions, Team Supreme’s final run with FD driver Simen Olsen in the mix was textbook stuff. The trio left a smoke screen in their wake that completely engulfed Pariskurvan (Paris Corner).

The Gatebil crowd loves tire smoke. Drivers, sometimes not so much.
Minutes after the first raindrops fell, the weather gods decided to pummel Rudskogen with all their might. One of the favorite teams, Sørby Utleie By Samsonas, navigated the wet track with skill, but in the final meters of the section, Andreas Øvergaard hit a dry patch and lost control of his Nissan Skyline R33.

That saw victory go to Team Supreme. Yes, the rain stopped again.


What started as a perfect day ended in a very wet and muddy Rudskogen Motorsenter. The people of Gatebil didn’t seem to mind though; Friday night had arrived and the party animals were ready to cut loose.
Stay tuned for more from Gatebil’s 2024 Main Event.
Alen Haseta
Instagram: hazetaa
Rain pics go so hard
I don't know why but they look so damn good
Maximum anxiety when shooting in the rain
Info on the firebird/trans am?
The info is you’re a mediocre builder who won’t actually put his money where his mouth is and race because you have fish between your legs. Big gaping fish sticks.
You’re a parts washer, nobody cares what you think
You’re scared to race for money. I get it. Gotta save face. You’re just an average man who would get decimated for cash if we ever raced. And I’m down to race. I’ll fly to where ever you and I’d be happy to box after if you want to try and make your money back. But I’m a real man. You’re a weak minded person who can’t actually step up. Just another keyboard warrior. Hiding. Scared.
Can you guys please find another forum to peacock on? Every other article has the comment thread derailed by a pissing contest on who has worked with who, built what, and increasingly cringe worthy "RACE ME BRO" challenges. When you're not spoiling for a fight with other readers you're spoiling for a fight with the editorial staff no matter what the article is. It's just puerile. Get out of here.
Setup an email so he could contact me to run for some $$$ but he never reached out. Continues to insult so if he decides to stop or actually race I’m down but otherwise will keep running my mouth back to him. Cheers.
Do you think that might be because travelling halfway across the country to race someone you've never met, with money on the line, all because they said something you didn't like on an internet comment thread, might be just a little over the top and not a great use of anyone's time? This is a public forum and what you're doing is the equivalent of yelling "COME AT ME" in the middle of polite conversation at a coffee shop. It doesn't look hardcore, it's not defending your honour, it's just confusing.
I love when I can smell fish lips right through the screen Lachlan. You don’t sound like a fighting men. That’s ok.
It would be even more foolish to witness that coffee shop skirmish and step in to voice your opinion. One of my relatives was knifed to death in the 30s for that. Best to keep out of other men’s business in life. And on the internet.
If someone offered me $20,000 to race them and I knew I would win I would fly anywhere in the world. Snatch the bag and be on my way home. The only person who doesn’t take bet is a person who is scared. When another man challenges another man a real man accepts and shows up. Whether it’s “on the internet or not.”
Now, if you’re not man enough to take a bet like that and someone else is you should probably shut your mouth. You don’t have any self respect. Nor does Dave Thomas. You both sound like weak men. I’m not a weak man. I am a fighter and when someone says something about me I am willing to fight them over it.
If you don’t have the testicular fortitude that’s ok but don’t criticize other men for it. I’ve had people travel across the country to race me. I respected them because they acted in a way that was not cowardly.
YoU all sound very scared of actual reprecussions for actions. At the end of the day I don’t care. Someone says something about me let’s run it.
This is the difference between real men and cowards.
A coward is someone hiding behind multiple fake usernames and accolades that can't be verified.
An offer was made to you to race for $10,000 Dave.
Your exact words were "I know I would lose."
Do me a favor and shut the f--- up. Tuck your little tampon in and move along.
I tried to arrange an editorial article where a non-racer (me) would drive in comparison to a 'real racer' you. One would assume that someone with years of racing would beat someone with none.
You then added a 10k bet and a boxing match to the arrangement for unknown reasons. Challenging someone who doesn't race to a 10k wager is like shooting fish in a barrel and proves little.
This is the last thread I will address you in. From here on out I will remove your comments and the site will be all the better for it.
If you can find a taker for that article who isn't a blowhard, sounds like a good read Dave, leave that on the editorial back burner for sure! Maybe Dino can tap Tsuchiya on the shoulder...
I think it's a great idea for the publication as a whole and the idea has not been ruled out.
I was even willing to see past obvious personality differences with Araxona. However, shortly after communication (done through a third party), he added a purse and a boxing match along with a few slurs.
Naturally, SH has declined to give someone like this a platform.
I'm always for new automotive experiences, it's a large part of why I do this. Staff did an Idlers event years ago and it's one of my favourite articles
https://www.speedhunters.com/2015/08/the-speedhunters-go-racing-idlers-12-hour/
By the time you've shipped your vehicle there and back, that's a fair chunk out of 3 months and your hypothetical $20k, but you do you.
If you didn't care, you would not be on here writing paragraphs about how much more of a man you are. Making the conversation about yourself, and threatening people with slurs and violence when they're not suitably impressed, does not a man make. You can throw cheap insults and disparage my masculinity all you want - but the game has moved on.
Money talks. BS walks. "The game has moved on" lmao. Sounds like you're all extremely scared of racing or physical confrontation. Yet you want to lecture me about being a man? HAHAHAHA
If men were like you Normandy would have never happened. You're scared. Nate is scared. I have screen shots of writers here saying they don't want to lose money racing someone talented in DMs. Want me to start posting those? I'm happy to.
Quote: "If men were like you Normandy would have never happened. You're scared. Nate is scared." As a sidenote, I've read and listened to a lot of recollections by veterans of WW2 and Korea (because that's part of my job).* You know what almost all of them talk about? Being scared. Being terrified. Being paralysed with fear. Suffering from panic. Hundreds of thousand of very brave men were scared witless, yet they did it anyway. That is bravery. Clearly, you have not idea what you're talking about. "Not being scared" is not a fundamental element of masculinity. You are just some weird dude on the internet with a very strange view of what "being a man" is, chucking out insults and posturing like someone with deep seated issues.
*And waiting for "My grandfather/great uncle/etc served, so I know..." etc etc etc.
Malcom —
A bunch of guys ran their mouths about my car and its ability. As well as mine. I am simply calling them out man to man to put up or shut up. Sounds like they need to shut up about karting because it’s very clear no one is willing to put up.
Unless they get someone else to do it for them. Now. How manly is it to have your boy step in for you after you talk crap to another guy? Yall sound like soy boys.
You fly here. Plane ticket can't be more than about $1000 anywhere in the world round trip. Race same day. Make $20,000 and fly home.
Oh wait...you're going to lose and go home with your wife super pissed at you and in debt. I will race any of you guys for cash. Willing to organize plane tickets and flights. You're all vaginaaaaaas though.
Spot on analogy Lachlan.
I do my best to moderate it when I see it. However in some occasions (like this) letting the community address it might also prove productive.
It's a tough gig Dave, glad I could help. I've been a reader for a little while and the whole comment thread routine was getting pretty stale.
Thank you, Lachlan, for being a voice of sanity here. I entirely agree that the comment section of this site is just rubbish these days because of a tiny number of people having arguments between each other, doing this tedious hyper-macho nonsense. I like your coffee shop analogy! It's spot on.
Trump just avoided assassination. By divine intervention only. What a time we are living in.
That's got nothing to do with either Speedhuners/Gatebil/Cars in general. What are you on about?