In case you call the Netherlands, Belgium or Germany home, and know anything about local street drifting scenes, there’s a great probability you’d have heard of the Skids and Tea blog.
Around 10 years ago, friends Lars and Sebastiaan began posting photos and videos of their late-night street adventures in two Mazda MX5s. Often, these drives finished up with licorice tea at the tip of the night, and the name ‘Skids and Tea’ was born.
While Sebastiaan eventually began specializing in other hobbies, Lars kept things going and Skids and Tea grew.
By documenting his and his friends’ builds and after-dark antics here within the Netherlands and abroad, Lars has created a tight-knit community of passionate drifters who appreciate early-2000s Japanese drift automobile style. I actually have attended several Skids and Tea street meets over time, and as they’ve all the time been kept small and selective, there’s never been any trouble.
As you will have seen from various show coverage on Speedhunters, there’s a fairly large modified automobile scene within the Netherlands. Drifting, nevertheless, only has a small following. A few of that might be put right down to accessibility. Currently, there is barely one circuit that caters for drifting within the Netherlands, and that’s only a tiny oval track with a three-corner infield and a really sketchy concrete outer bank. The opposite two tracks that after allowed drifting stopped doing so as a result of noise and pollution complaints. Those complaints ultimately led to drifting only being allowed on wet tracks to maintain the noise and smoke to an absolute minimum – a rule that many other circuits in Europe have adopted.
One other factor is perhaps the variety of ‘’missiles’ which have historically attended drift Dutch events. Nine times out of 10, these are BMW E36s which might be now not identifiable as a sedan, coupe or compact because their whole rear end has seen more concrete barriers than automobile washes. I get it, everyone has to learn by some means, but I’m sure that many individuals are postpone by having to share track space with these rough and prepared machines.
This is the reason many Dutch and German drifters skip local days altogether, as a substitute setting their sights on events like Next Level and Shotsu Drift in Poland. But these are ultra-popular and competitor numbers are, after all, limited, so not everyone entering from abroad gets a spot.
For these reasons, Lars decided it was time for a more style-oriented and non-competitive drift day closer to home. He reached out to the owners of Circuit Meppen, a brief (2.15km/1.34mi) yet technical track positioned in Meppen, Germany – just quarter-hour from the Netherlands border – built on the grounds of a former power plant.
After slightly forwards and backwards, Lars and Circuit Meppen reached an agreement. All 50 driver slots for the primary event held late last month quickly filled from throughout the Skids and Tea community.
And what a day it was; the range and quality of cars were amazing.
Because the track surface needed to be wet – this circuit has the drift restriction as well – only a component of the complete layout may very well be used. This consisted of some nice cambered corners and fast sections, keeping it fun for all skill levels.
The shortage of tyre smoke was compensated with good vibes. There was no competition, just a great deal of seat time for drivers and passengers, with everyone helping one another out and sharing knowledge, exactly how grassroots drifting must be.
Koen de Laat, higher often known as KUHNS, was on the event in his E21, which you would possibly recognise from my feature on it back in March. Sadly, Koen had some fueling issues, which resulted within the BMW’s turbo M10 engine blowing its head gasket later within the day.
The Polderlife boys are well-known in Europe for his or her aggressive driving style and were living as much as that popularity at Circuit Meppen.
Let me know if you must see more of Mick and his 2JZ-swapped Toyota Cressida, a mix originally seen in a certain blue Norwegian X30.
In case you thought Adam LZ had bought all of them up, you thought flawed. I saw not one, but two cars running Blitz Type 03 wheels on the event.
This lineup of old-school Toyotas looked like a scene straight from Japan.
Watching Mike, a coworker of mine, throw his AE86 around all day made me remember how much I miss my Hachiroku.
Sidney, the owner of this clean R32 Nissan Skyline GT-R on 18-inch BBS wheels, is similar guy who built the white, authentic ’90s-styled PS13 Silvia we featured in 2023.
Despite its low engine output, this first-generation Mazda RX-7 had loads of fun on the wet track
I actually can’t say enough good things about this event. It felt like a day on the skatepark if you were younger, just hanging out and having fun. Moreover, it inspired me to construct an ’80s rear-wheel drive automobile again.
The subsequent Skids and Tea at Meppen date is already booked and blocked off in my calendar with an enormous fat marker.
Collin Tiemens
Instagram: collinclicksphotos
This Article First Appeared At www.speedhunters.com
