Spring Drift Matsuri – Report
Well, that was some weekend wasn’t it?
After months of meticulous planning, numerous sun dances, we saw YOU the drivers and your teams prep for a weekend of unlimited seat time. Some took the preparation time to the extreme, leaving the set-up day to button up any last minute tuning, installation – and even livery touches!
With the Drift Matsuri events being hosted at the picturesque Anglesey Circuit / Trac Môn for some time now, we knew the risk of the cold windy and typically wet nature of its surroundings – but do you remember Spring Drift Matsuri 2025? We had an unprecedented Welsh heatwave!
However, when we arrived on Saturday evening for the set-up, we erm… well, it was raining sideways. This didn’t stop the drivers from setting up their respective areas!
Images: @keyfobandgob
Rich Newton (@chunk46) kept everyone safe with his team at the scrutineering bay ensuring everyone’s cars are all up to code. Drift Matsuri made a few changes to the car rules last year to create a platform for everyone to work towards having a drift vehicle that not only works for Matsuri events, but builds on the drivers’ futures with other events and venues.
Images: @michaelcolliermedia
Saturday was the set-up. Sunday we drift. And boy, did these pilots drift.
Image: @_prismmedia
The magic of Spring Drift Matsuri; sunshine gracing the achingly stunning Anglesey Circuit with drivers navigating their way through a choice of 3 drift tracks:
- National – For those who love the ultimate thrill. Fast sweeping bends and a banking to give spectators the ultimate view.
- Touge – Initiating uphill, drivers drift through a tight and technical route to finish back downhill. It’s like being in Japan with incredible trains!
- The Hairpin – Where drivers can test their skill doing backwards entries!
All 3 tracks were insanely popular with drivers queueing to do lap after lap all day, the only stoppage was for lunch where people would refuel themselves and their cars. A small part of the island of Anglesey became a drift festival with tyres being burned off, outrageous angles being thrown and smiles on everyone’s faces.
Images: @candid_connor
When lunch came, the track fell silent. Marshals, track officials, drivers, pit crews, everyone was on Recharge Mode fuelling themselves up for another huge session of sideways-and-smiling action. As this happened, the Drift Matsuri media team led by @keyfobandgob took to the track along with 4 cars chosen for a special shoot.
Images: @paddygphotography
Lunch ends, track opens, drivers pour out and slide everything, everywhere, all at once! Exceptional sunshine overlooking the circuit while the track temperature slowly increased. The drivers were locked and loaded, you could see they were pushing harder out on track. Some moved to tandems while others opted to run the tracks solo. Some even pushed the boat out with 360s!
As the afternoon session drew to a close, Mark Buckle (a.k.a Sweeps) lined up the evening entertainment with a friendly team drifting exhibition, teams battled it out and judged on angle, proximity and style down at the National track banking. Teams would fly over Turn 1, transitioning into manjis down to the Banking where they’ll set an angle and pin it all the way round.
Images: @jm_motorsport_photography
Golden Hour descended on the team drift exhibition, drivers had such an epic time throwing in some outrageous lines and provided spectators with one helluva show. The crowds played their part with huge cheers for mega runs, huge gasps for the… not so mega runs and a rapturous cheer for the winners. Spectators never had it so good, it was a jaw-dropping experience to have been right up beside the track seeing everyone battle it out so closely!
Images: @danknightautomotive
As for the winners, 4 Mazda MX-5s proved that you don’t need horsepower to have fun. The GrippedUP! boys took home the Spring Drift Matsuri Team Drift trophy, their matching liveries, angles and style wowed spectators and judges. They were so surprised they won, their cars gave up at the end!
Images: @michaelcolliermedia
Some quotes from the GrippedUP! boys:
Ryan: “We were so happy to hear Sweeps was doing team battles for the evening demos!“
Bryn: “None of us expected to win it, especially with the calibre of drivers there was there!“
Finn: “We just decided to stick to the same order, and keep trying to go closer and closer each run.“
Dan: “We just kept driving until we were told not to.“
Images: @gripped.up
Huge fun, huge laughs. That’s what the Drift Matsuri events are all about. Leave all your stresses and egos at the door, we drift and we party. Everyone partied after the awards session or were wrenching into the night to get ready for day 2!
Images: @jm_motorsport_photography
Day 2 brought more heat and sunshine over Anglesey Circuit / Trac Môn, making an already idyllic automotive paradise even more picturesque. Spectators could either stare into the beautiful scenery or watch their favourite drivers slay.
An ungodly amount of laps were completed on National, Touge and the Hairpin, many tyres were sacrificed in the name of the perfect lap. It was just the perfect way to spend the Easter weekend, meeting up with your mates and having the best time out on track.
Drift Matsuri events bring the best people together, we’re sure of it. Car broken? Let’s fix it. The legendary Bing Bong announcements echoed around the paddock in search of specific parts to help drivers out. Hungry? BBQs lit in the evening for the ultimate dinner. Running low? Tyres getting changed in almost every pit garage.
Images: @_prismmedia
Image: @paddygphotography
Our thanks go to Anglesey Circuit / Trac Môn, their officials, the marshals, caterers, and security teams. To every driver and your crews, we salute you. And to YOU the spectators at the weekend or online, THANK YOU. Your contribution to this community is otherworldly and it’s why we do what do.
We’ll be seeing you at the next Drift Matsuri – the ultimate drift weekender.
Drift Matsuri, proudly supported by:
Auto Finesse | Garage-D | Gravity Performance
