Drifting
James Deane Driver Profile
James Deane born 14/10/1991 in Cork Ireland.
James comes from a strong Motorsport background with both is farther and uncle being rallying legends in Ireland in the 80’s. His brother Mike was one of the first ever people to win a drifting competition in Ireland back in 2003 when James was only 12 years old. From this day on he was obsessed with being a drifter. In 2006 his brothers Mike and Kenneth entered him in the Junior drifting in a ford sierra. He finished 3rd.
For the 2007 season he would need a Jap car. So the family chipped together and purchased a Nissan 200 SX S14 from the UK. We at Trackday Performance sponsored James an Omex 600 engine management system along with a front mount inter-cooler and all associated labor. At this stage James car was average in the power it produced but James was well able to use this power to his advantage as in 2007. In Prodift Round 2 at Rosegreen in Tipperary (the home of Irish drifting) James manged to see off all the more experienced drivers and won the event at 15 years old. As far as we aware he is the youngest driver in the world to win a drift competition. He was later placed 9th overall for the 2007 season and was awarded the title of rookie of the year 2007.
In 2008 James was required to qualify for a Pro Prodift license at the start of the season. He gave an indication of just how good he was by coming 3rd out of 40 more experienced drifters.
Prodrift Round 1 2008 @ Mondello Park Racing Circuit in Ireland
In front of 5000 spectators James finished 5th overall being knocked out by the legendary Damien Mulvey another TrackDay Performance supported driver.
In the past with the backing of TDP Damien had won the titles of 2004 & 2005 D1 drift series champion, 2005 Autoglym UK drift Champion. In 2006 Damien was 2nd in the Prodrift Championship beaten by 1 point also he was second in the D1 GB championship.
So to lose to Damien at this level was almost an honor.
Prodrift Europe Round 1 2008 @ Mondello Park Racing Circuit in Ireland
In front of 7000 spectators James was to finish 4th overall and earn very valuable points in the championship.
Prodrift Round 2 2008 @ Tipperary Raceway Rosegreen in Ireland
Again with record crowds in attendance at the Tipperary home of drifting. James was victorious over John O’Connell and scored his second win in Rosegreen.
Prodrift Europe Round 2 2008 @ Teesside Autodrome in the UK
James was piped at the posts by Darren McNamara with a small mistake on the last corner costing him the win. But with again great championship points he want away happy.
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Prodrift Round 3 2008 @ Nutscorner Oval Circuit Northern Ireland
James qualified well but was unlucky on the day and was out at the Top 16 stage for the first and last time in 2008.
Prodrift Round 4 2008 @ Ennis Street Circuit in Ireland
James was on fire from the start and took the win with ease.
Prodrift Europe Round 3 2008 @ Sturup Raceway in Sweeden
At the very high speed track in Sweden James found himself in a new environment. He put on a amazing show and came home in 3rd place.
Prodrift Round 5 2008 @ Mondello Park Racing Circuit in Ireland
James had a good run on the day but in the top 16 battle he came across Deane Kearney the eventual winner and had to settle for 9th.
Prodrift Europe Round 4 2008 @ in Finland
James was under powered from the start and had to settle for 9th place.
Prodrift Round 6 2008 @ Mondello Park Racing Circuit in Ireland
James qualified 6th on the day and finished 3rd and with that he won the 2008 Prodift Championship
Prodrift Europe Round 5 2008 @ Lydden Hill racing circuit in UK
James went to this event with a new engine gearbox and suspensions setup. But he had more power allot more power. This could have gone against him in that he might not been able to adapt to the setup quickly. This was no the case and after only 5 practice runs he was on the money. He qualified 2nd and then went on to storm up the field to an eventual 2nd place finish. This also gave him the title of Pro Drift Europe Champion
James has now been invited to the Redbull Drifting world championships which will be held on the 14th and 15th of November 2008 in Port of Long Beach Los Angles USA.
