Drifting
Mad Mike Tears Up Goodwood Festival of Speed!
Exclusive POV video and Interview with Mad Mike at Goodwood Festival of Speed 2014.
This weekend, Mad Mike brought the sport of drifting to Britain’s most prestigious motorsports event, Goodwood Festival of Speed. Mike certainly left his mark, picking up a surprise award for ‘Most Thrilling Driver’, having angled his way through the hay lined hill-climb. We sat down with Mike to find out about his experience at the weekend…
3 min
Mad Mike POV video - Mazda Madbull RX7 Goodwood 14
Never seen before footage of inside Mad Mike's Mazda Madbul RX7 during Goodwood Festival of Speed
Mike, how did you prepare for the hill climb itself?
When I arrived I walked the track, I was mentally noting the width, camber and the tightness of the corners and visualizing myself drifting them at speed – its one thing seeing it play out on a video but each car is unique and walking the track really helps me get in the zone.
Its a narrow circuit and we saw a number of big crashes on the day … was this your main challenge or did you have other concerns?
My main concern was setting the hay bales alight on deceleration! I heard there was a marshall putting out a fire in my wake, hopefully someone got a pic as proof! If I get invited back I'll have to change my slogan from "Stick it to the wall!" to "Stick it to the Hay Bales!"
Inside Mad Mikes Madbull Mazda RX7 at Goodwood FOS
© David Robinson
A new car and a new look, how does this car differ from the one we saw you drive at the Crown Range?
The changes have been cosmetic, we had 2 weeks to get the MADBUL revamped for it's voyage across to the UK. We worked around the clock til’ it was completed with the new kit and livery and I was pumped to be unveiling it at such a prestigious event.
How did it feel?
My first run up the hill was being broadcast live around the world, and, with no test lap, I went straight into it and the car felt amazing. Over the weekend, each run got faster and faster as I was able to link the track together and become more familiar with the layout.
Under the hood of Mad Mikes Madbull Mazda RX7
© [unknown]
What have you got to say about your experience of the UK and its motorsport scene?
FOS is unreal, there is no equivalent. Where in the world do you get this number of motorsports iconic vehicles and champion drivers across multiple disciplines in one place?
Fans enjoying Mikes company before the hill climb
© [unknown]
What else have you got planned whilst you are here?
I had one day to look around before flying out, so we checked out the Red Bull UK digs - RAD offices & thanks for the tour!
Mad Mike Drifting Goodwood Hill Climb
© David Robinson
What’s been the most rewarding thing you’re going to take away from the Goodwood experience?
For me it's the respect I've earned over the weekend, I'm stoked on the award for 'most thrilling driver' too ... but to have earned the respect from the worlds best drivers and motorsport officials is the greatest outcome I could have expected from the weekend.