Hello everyone, my name is Martin Ffrench, but I'm better known as 'Frenchie'. Here's a little bit about myself... I've always been into drifting even though I didn't really know what it was at the time. When I was 15 or 16 years old, my first cars to rally around the yard and fields at home were Ford Sierra Saphires and 'old skool' KP61 RWD Starlets (but I suppose they weren't all that 'old skool' back then!). Oh yeah, how can I forget my Opel Kadet Coupe with no windscreen, a 1.2 pushrod engine, leaf springs all round and on rally slicks. We used to try to link the corners around what is now the Wexican Motorsport workshop. I remember the only way to do it was to dirt drop the back wheel off the edge of the concrete, which was a 2 foot drop into a ditch. Good times!
At the age of 18, I decided to go rallying in a Peugeot 205 GTI. To be honest, I was very fast but always managed to have some sort of damage on the car after a stage. My first rally was the Wexford rally, which would be my local event. It's a two day event, but I had a 'small' off on the Saturday. After catching three cars on the stage, I was flat out trying to put as much ground between me and the other competitors in my class. I was just on the rev limiter in fifth, at around 120mph when, unfortunately, I didn't hear a pace-note for a very slow 'five' left. After leaving some serious black marks and nearly getting away with it, I was left with no rear driver side wheel. We worked all night to repair the car and even though we were out of contention for class honours, we were out to prove a point and, in doing so, set some very fast stage times.
The last event I did was a local single stage, which contained quite a large jump (video to follow). I finished 12th overall even after losing twenty to thirty seconds from going off backwards into a ditch. Without this off, I would have easily taken first or second place overall in a standard 205 GTI against €50,000 250BHP Ford Escorts. This was the last time I could afford to grace the roads of a rally stage ...
This was a turning point in my life. I then met a guy called Julian Smith who would not leave me alone until I got a drift car. My first drift car was an S13 200SX with a CA18DET motor. After blowing up countless engines i finally decided to go with an SR20DET motor swap, which was the best modification I ever made to a car. At my first ever event, which was GT Battle on the 25th of June 2005, I finished second overall. This was a huge honour for me as the event was judged by Japanese drift legends, Nomura-san and Kazama-san. I still reckon I should have won though ...
After that event, I became a regular on the Irish and UK drift scene,
competing in as many events as I could. The burgundy car above served
me well before I swapped into the white car below.
If I could have any of my cars back in the morning this would be it. I loved everything about it: the looks, the power, the grip... it's still my favourite car. Although the cars I've built since then may have been better, I always look back at this one with such fondness.
Thought I'd just add in this shot of me beating good friend and now Formula D regular, Darren McNamara. Sorry Darren!
It was Darren who I would defeat in the final of the Prodrift European
Series in 2006, to take the crown of Prodrift European Champion. I hope
that someday I can go door to door again with the likes of Darren and
Flat Eric O'Sullivan in Formula D.
2007 was a hit and miss year for me; drifting was getting expensive and
I was trying to get to grips with a new setup in the S13. By the time I
started getting competitive again, I knew I had no chance of catching
Eric and retired mid-way during the season. It's a slight downfall of
mine I suppose, but when I enter something, its never for the sake of
it... I enter to win. Anything less isn't good enough.
2008 saw me return in my infamous S14.5. The car was competitive from
the get-go. On my first event in it, I finished second to Eric and put
in a string of strong finishes in the car.
I even tried my arm at Time Attack. Fresh from a JDM Allstars event,
with the same setup and even the same tires I had used in the final
against Eric, I managed to set fastest 2WD time on the day!
Unfortunately, the season started taking a toll on finances and, without
sponsors, I was left with no choice but to retire again from the 2008
season.
However, 2009 has seen a change of luck for me as I've finally started
to pick up some sponsors to help me out. Using the S14.5 again, with a
standard engine -- not the previous 450bhp configuration -- I managed to
grab a much needed win at the Prodrift Super Series at Punchestown.
Every driver needs confidence, and when you haven't had a good result
in a while it does begin to take its toll. For me, this win brought back
the edge I had been missing for so long.
2009 has been good to me, but I'm hoping that 2010 will be even better.
As I type, the final pieces of wiring are being done on my SR20 powered
Altezza road-car. The car has been built as a promotional tool for my
company, Wexican Motorsport, and as a drift demo car. It features a 400BHP SR motor, a full custom Wexican
Motorsport kit, the token Wexican blue wheels, a bolt in-cage, a full
interior along with a stack-digi dash. The car is fully road legal but
would also pass the regulations for any drift series in Ireland or the
UK.
Some of you will remember the build of my competition car
from back in March. Well, I'm pleased to announce that we are working flat out
to have the car ready for the next round of the Prodrift Super Series
at Mondello Park in September. The car will feature the same 450BHP
SR20 from my 14.5, coupled to a Trust dogbox. For the rest of this
year, the car will sport carbon fibre doors, boot-lid, roof and bonnet.
But for 2010, thanks to our sponsor Carbon Fusion, the car will receive
a full kevlar makeover. When its done, you can expect to see it here on
Speedhunters.com first!
While we're finishing off the Altezza track car, we have been using
this rather 'large' Nissan Laurel. It had its first event recently and
although it's a fun car to drive, it just wasn't powerful or agile
enough to be competitive in the Prodrift Pro class. We did however,
still manage a respectable qualifying result and a Top 16 finish, where
I was eliminated by the eventual winner Mike Deane. We still lie 4th in the series and, with the Altezza on schedule to be finished by the time Mondello rolls around, we're hoping we can catch up on Mike's lead!
In the UK, I'll still be driving the Dragon Performance / Touge
Heroes FD RX7. I'm looking forward to getting more seat time in this,
as the RX handles so much differently to the S bodies I'm used to. One
thing though -- it is lightning fast ...
Last but not least, even more of you will remember the all carbon
JGTC time attack car. I promise you this will make an appearance in the
future, but not until it's absolutely 100% perfect. I'm not in the
business of building cars that can't win, but when this is done, I'm hoping people
the world over will know about it.
I'd just like to extend a big thanks to the Speedhunters team and
to Rod especially for hooking me up with this blog. It's an honour to
be listed alongside the likes of Vaughn, Chris, Mike and even that
small little Welsh guy (We love you Bryn!)! I'd also like to thank all
my sponsors for their help and support this year.
I suppose that's it for this post, but be sure to keep an eye here
for the features on the Wexican Motorsport cars as they are completed.
You can also keep an eye on our site, WexicanMotorsport.com!
Thanks for reading and I look forward to talking with you all again soon!
- Frenchie