Lots of our drivers take part in a wide variety of motorsport - gymkhana is fairly special in that it encompasses a range of skills and techniques from all disciplines, from drag to drift, circuit to sprints. Matt (or Drift Smurf as he is affectionately known) is no exception. We spoke to him about his experiences to date and how drifting has accelerated his learning curve in gymkhana, but also how skills honed competing in Formula G have added value to his drifting, too.

`Matt’s first foray in to gymkhana saw him having to make a big adjustment from big smoky drifts to tight, precise turns`

John Birrell: Thanks for talking to us today Matt! It was an absolute pleasure to watch you progress last season, ultimately taking third overall in a very competitive class.

First of all,tell us a little bit about your background - how did you get into drifting?

Matt Holder: One of my friends used to do a lot of drifting at our local, Norfolk Arena, and I went along with him as a passenger for probably two years, watching it and thinking, “I really wanna have a go at this.” As soon as I turned 17, I got myself a car. It was an E36 Compact that my friend and I had built in his garage, but his dad wanted to sell it, so I snapped it up. And, funnily enough, that's the blue Compact you see me drive today - it's been through a few forms since then.

So after I got the car, I just did local events at Norfolk Arena for a couple of years and then I branched out and went to Rockingham. There I found out I actually really liked the big tracks, so I signed up for Drift League so that I could just explore the big tracks alongside drivers that would push me and help me progress.

Competing has taken me all around the UK and, since then, I've just been going from strength to strength with it. In 2020 I was invited to compete in BDC as a wild card, and came eighth overall in my first year in Pro 2. And then last year I got my Pro license, just before it came to an end.

“I feel like I’m faster now I've done a bit of gymkhana. I can get a little bit more grip where before I might not have…”

JB: A fantastic journey! Could you tell us a bit more about the E36 and how you’ve developed it over the years?

MH: It started life with a 2.5L in it, with about 170 horsepower. The rear springs were from a Reliant Scimitar. Well, spring really - it was one spring chopped in half - half went in one side and half went in the other! So it was literally one spring across the back. eBay coilovers at the front, it had a handbrake, a welded diff, and that was about it! It's been through the wars since then. It wasn't always blue, either, it’s been black, and then it was purple before it went to blue.

About four years ago, I went for 1UZ power. I’d had an M3 engine, and it was just too unreliable - I got fed up with the cost too. An oil pump was a thousand pounds! A 1UZ could be had for half that, there were a few people using them and getting reliable power, and if it broke then a replacement wasn’t too expensive, but that engine has not missed a beat since it's been in the car.

Then at the start of last year we put the turbo on and it got ridiculous. When I went into BDC I found you needed 500 odd horsepower to keep up, so we put the turbo on, bigger tires, and it does keep up. It's a phenomenally quick car. And it spools up so fast, it feels like it's N/A.

JB: So last year you gave Formula G a go, pitching yourself up against a field of extremely talented and experienced gymkhana drivers as well as a number of up and coming novices, ultimately taking third in the championship. Did you have fun?!

MH: Oh, I had the most fun ever. It was brilliant because I could drive my car and not worry about crashing it too badly. And I only did one driveshaft in the whole year. And last year I did a lot of driveshafts drifting! But one thing I've noticed is that everyone's there for fun. Even if you get knocked out of the battles, you can still have a laugh with everyone for the rest of the day. No one gets moody when they get beaten, which is nice.

JB: Gymkhana is quite different to drifting, which you’ve done a fair bit of in the past! How did you find the transition to gymkhana?

MH: Oh, I genuinely think the drifting has helped me massively because when the car slides, I don't panic. I've learnt to know what the car's doing through drifting so I can make it oversteer. I can make it understeer. I can predict what's going to happen. And if, say, you hit a wet patch, I'm not gonna completely spin. I can catch it before it happens, which is all down to driving like an idiot for so many years.

JB: So did you find you had to adapt your driving style much?

MH: I had to reign it back a bit! I actually did some data logging to compare drifting and gymkhana, and looking at throttle position you can really see the difference in how you use it in each discipline. In Gymkhana, there’s a lot more modulation whereas in drifting it's like, right, we want to go sideways and we want to do it now, just mash the throttle and hope for the best. And that has translated back to drifting, helping with drifting in the wet in particular, because my throttle control is much better for it allowing me to get the most grip I can whilst maintaining the angle. I feel like I’m faster now I've done a bit of gymkhana. I can get a little bit more grip where before I might not have, maybe I was getting like 60% of the grip, but now I'm getting 80%.

JB: So following on from that a little bit, what would you say are sort of the most important transferable skills from drifting that you were able to apply in gymkhana?

MH: A big thing is knowing the limits of the car, but also knowing where the bumpers are going to be. In drifting we've got inside clips, outside clips, and you have to get close to the other car. As a result I don't think I hit a barrel all season last year. Maybe one, but I don't remember it! [Ed: I checked, it was indeed just one penalty for hitting an obstacle all season]

And that's mainly due to the drifting and being able to position my car to just scuff a cone on the front and not wipe it out. Drifting is very line based, and if you're too far off the line, you're losing points. If you can get the front of the car close to a barrel instead of a foot away, you're gonna be quicker around it. Yeah. So, yeah, I'd say that was probably one of the handiest skills that I wasn't even aware of going into gymkhana. You watch, now I’ve said that I'm going to hit everything this year!

`Matt's consistent performances throughout the season netted him a number of podiums, and placed him third in the championship by the end of the season.`

JB: Did you make any adjustments to the car throughout the season to make it better for gymkhana? What tweaks will you be / have you been making for 2023?

MH: Out the box with a drift setup, I actually found the car brilliant. It took a few runs to work out how to get the best out the car so as not to lock up the wheels, but all in the car is phenomenally grippy. I thought I’d be changing things but I didn’t, I just got to enjoy driving it. The only thing I changed during the year was tyres and that was it. I thought these would have more of an impact than they did, the car has phenomenal mechanical grip.

One thing it doesn’t do as well as I’d like it to is turn in - I’ve got new front suspension arms to go on and can hopefully dial in some Ackermann to help with that. I'll probably change the Ackerman between events because for drifting you kind of want none, or very little. Whereas in gymkhana, I think it would help to have it for the turn in.

At the rear, I’ll be changing the driveshafts for bigger ones as they keep breaking. Also, last year I broke a coilover and couldn’t adjust the damper so did half the year on a fairly hard rear suspension setup, which meant I couldn’t get the power down off the launch really. I’ve got new coilovers for this year, and am thinking of going with wider tyres, to get a bit more grip and be able to launch it, and hopefully not break any more driveshafts!

Our radiator setup wasn’t amazing so tweaked that and it seems to be better now. I had no issues at Round 1 of Drift League this year, so that’s handy that I don’t need to keep an eye on the temperature.

In terms of geometry, the amount of camber we use in drifting is probably too much for gymkhana, but that’s not something I can compromise on for drifting, and the new setup will have a little less caster, maybe tweak the rear toe… I want to play about with it and hopefully it will be better in both disciplines!

JB: Drifting can be quite hard on the car, deadly for bumpers, driveshafts and tyres - how hard was gymkhana on the car?

MH: Oh, it's, it's just like going to Tesco's in comparison to drifting! Yes, I've broken one driveshaft, but that's the only issue I had with the car the whole season. And I'm fairly sure that the driveshaft was damaged from the drift event I did before it, so I'm not gonna complain about that. I've used about one set of tyres for the whole season. I changed to the 888Rs, but there was plenty left on the previous tyres, whereas you get through 5 or 6 sets of tires at a drift event easily throughout the weekend. Gymkhana is a lot better for tyres, a lot better for fuel, a lot better for reliability, and I haven't actually taken on any damage to the body panels whereas last year after every drift event I had more damage.

So yeah, it's, it's very easy on the car. I'd compete in a daily driver at gymkhana. No way I'd do that in drifting.

JB: So how does the cost of competing in Formula G compare to drifting?

MH: So, one round of drifting has cost me more than the whole Formula G championship. That's the sort of comparison I'd give you. And that includes entry fees, tyres, fuel, and kind of accounting for damage, because I was quite consistently spending a hundred pounds on damage from a drift weekend, if not more. In drifting, if the weekend goes well, you use more tyres. And if it goes badly, you've got more damage costs. Whereas in gymkhana, you basically know that you're paying your entry, probably £60 of fuel per event, and that's that. Maybe a set of tyres by the end of the year, but I'm gonna rock the ones I had last year again. So yeah, it's a lot cheaper!

And the seat time is comparable to a well run drift event like Drift League, maybe a little more. I’ve never come home from a Formula G event feeling like I wish I had driven more! It’s probably hard to take in the pit atmosphere from the tent, but everyone’s chilling out, everyone’s having a laugh with each other, having a chinwag for a bit, then jumping back in the car, go out and do another lap. I’m very much one to want to get as much seat time as I can, as I’ve paid for it, but even I found myself chilling out with the car for a little bit. When I’m at drift events, I always say I need to sit back, see what other people are doing, and where I can improve, but I never do because I need to get the seat time! But at Formula G I don’t feel the urgency.

`Throughout the 2022 season, Matt’s driving went from strength to strength. 2023 will see a number of big changes that will hopefully put Matt in contention for the top spot…`

JB: Was there anything about gymkhana/Formula G you weren’t expecting?

MH: I wasn’t expecting to pick it up so quickly! I was worried about learning the track, and for the first two rounds I studied the map, tried to learn it, but it looked so different in real life. Walking the track was when it clicked.

JB: And how was it racing against the clock rather than being judged?

MH: I really enjoyed racing against the clock. There can be a lot of controversy with the judging in drifting, I’m usually the one asking why did I win rather than why did I lose (because a lot of the time I suck and can’t see how my opponent has done worse!), and there can be some strong opinions voiced when people don’t quite agree with the judges! The fact that gymkhana is against the clock means it doesn’t happen, and it’s really refreshing to just go and have a clear reason why you lost, having a physical thing to aim for, and beat, rather than an opinion. It’s nice that we have the live timing as I can watch them through the day and see what works and what doesn’t, and get direct feedback on that, whereas in drifting you kind of have to guess what the judges want, which is where a spotter comes in really handy. So I really liked working against the clock - there’s no grey area, and you can also race yourself as well as everyone else. I can gauge my own progression, and even if I’m not fastest, I’m still chuffed if I’ve closed the gap during the day.

JB: Thanks so much for taking the time to talk to me, Matt, I really appreciate it! We’re all looking forward to seeing you bring the fight to the 2023 season and defend your spot on the podium at Round 1 on 3 June. See you at Pod!