The final double header of the year came around much too quickly!

Round 5 started out wet, but the track started to dry out in the afternoon leaving drivers struggling to find grip in some areas and finding loads in others! Qualifying saw Stephen Gretton in Pro absolutely flying and putting in the perfect lap, while Street leader Ged Lankutis stormed ahead of his competitors in his class.

Battles were a different matter, however. Ged lost his top four battle to go through to third place battle against Leve Bozoki, which went right down to the wire - just one tenth separated them after both runs, and despite Ged putting in his fastest time of the day on his second run, it was Leve who nabbed the third step on the podium.

The Street final saw Sarah Price face Gabe Krunkauskas. Sarah picked up a penalty early on, but Gabe failed to capitalise on the mistake, leaving Sarah with a one second lead. A near perfect second run for Sarah saw her claim her first win of the season.

Sarah Price wins Street Class at Round 5 — `Sarah Price took top spot in Street Class at Round 5 in her E36 Touring`

In Pro, the third place battle between Stephen Gretton and Ryan Milton ended when Ryan’s front right tyre tore right off the bead, gifting Stephen the podium.

The Pro final saw Dmitrij Sribnyj facing reigning champion Mantas Sliogeris. Dmitrij somehow shoehorned 255s in to the rear arches of his MX5, and the extra grip found him valuable time on track. Dmitrij came in ahead of Mantas on both runs, securing him back to back wins.

Steven Lynch of Drift League GB tried his hand at gymkhana at Rounds 5 and 6 — `Steven Lynch, fresh out of Drift League GB, tried his hand at gymkhana for the first time at Round 5, and quickly found out that sideways does not equal fast!`

For Round 6, we were blessed with exceptional weather. The day started out cold, but the sun dried most of the track and with temperatures in double digits drivers struggled less for grip than the previous day.

Practice went fairly smoothly, with all drivers putting in lots of runs and dialling in their cars. In qualifying, it was Leve who took the top spot in Street, and Dmitrij in Pro, building on his win from the previous day. Mantas had to push his car off the track having broken his diff after the first qualifying run, and the race was on to find and fit a replacement before his Top 8 battle against Ged, who decided to take on Pro instead of Street with a freshly supercharged car.

While Mantas was frantically pulling his diff out, the Street battles got under way. Gabe found himself in the battle for third place after overshooting the stop box in his Top 4 race, facing close friends Daniel Bougourd, also in a mk3 MX5. Gabe put in two clean runs without error to take third place.

MX5 vs MX5 at Round 6 — `Gabe Krunkauskas took third place from close friend and rival MX5-driver, Dan Bougourd`

The final was between Sarah and Leve, both hoping to take the top spot in the last round. Both put in superb runs, but it was Leve that prevailed after putting in his two fastest times of the day back to back, and well deserved after being consistent all day — all of his runs in the finals, on both sides, were within 0.4s of one another!

After a short break, it was time for the Pro finals. Mantas had acquired a diff, but was now in need of a small miracle to get it fitted in time. As luck would have it, his one qualifying time placed him in the fourth battle of proceedings. In the first battle, Steven Lynch broke a steering arm, and called a 5 minute time out to try to get back on track. It was a valiant effort but ultimately in vain. As if Mantas couldn’t get any luckier, another 5 minute time out was called in the next battle after Mark Young’s S13.5 cut out on its way to stage. Duly fixed and back out on track, the next battle went without a hitch, leaving Mantas using his 5 minute time out to finish doing up a few bolts and getting out on track himself. From then on, Mantas’ times only got faster, and faster. In his top 4 battle, he knocked out Dmitrij who then had to face Matt Holder in the third place battle. Dmitrij took third place after Matt failed to put the power down effectively.

In the final, Mantas was to face Ryan. Despite gaining a good tenth at the lights, Ryan couldn’t match Mantas’ pace as Mantas put in his fastest time of the day. An incredible end to an incredible day!