Drifting
Mad Mike Whiddett drifts the Magic Roundabout
The New Zealand drift racer takes on Swindon’s iconic roundabout in this stunning new edit.
1 min
Mad Mike Whiddett drifts the Magic Roundabout
The New Zealand drift racer takes on Swindon's mad roundabout.
Mike’s challenge was to burst onto the Magic Roundabout at high speed and then artfully drift his way through the landmark’s various obstacles, including traffic islands, drains and elevation changes.
Mad Mike's new playground
© Red Bull Content Pool
Check out the edit up top, and then read on as Mike explains the challenge of drifting the Magic Roundabout…
So Mike, what did you make of the Magic Roundabout when you first clapped eyes on it? This is one of the craziest roundabouts I’ve ever discovered. This place is crazy, there are so many islands and obstacles. It's a real challenge to come flying into this roundabout as fast as we can, drift around it and then head straight back out the other side.
"We come in in fourth gear, so it’s high speed"
© Red Bull Content Pool
I will never go at 99%
How hard were you trying in there? I will never go at 99%. When I want a clip to come out, whether it’s me in competition or a short feature, I always push 100%. For the entry into the roundabout, we come in in fourth gear, so it’s high speed. We come flying around a big long section and I wanted to make that really dynamic and really fast. One of the challenges here is that there are so many obstacles; there's the drains, there's the islands, there’s lots of elevation changes.
The BadBul in its cage
© Red Bull Content Pool
Did you have to set the car up differently because of that? For car setup, when you come into something like this, we actually take grip out of the car. For competition, we want the car to be as fast, as explosive and to have as much grip as possible. But when you’re doing these sorts of activations, even the Goodwood Festival of Speed, you take grip out of the car so that there’s less stress on the drivetrain.
When you’re doing these sorts of activations, you take grip out of the car
So when’s BadBul going to be in action next? BadBul is on a little bit of a tour this year, which is cool because it’s been sitting in the shed since 2014 after the Drift Shifters win. It’s going to head to South Africa for a really epic activation that we’re going to be doing over there, so I’m looking forward to that. I’ve never been to South Africa.
Mad Mike gets ready to shred
© Red Bull Content Pool
And finally, how much love do you have for the UK? Well people say you guys talk about the weather too much, but it’s very similar to New Zealand – you never listen to the weather forecast because it usually does the opposite! But England’s beautiful; it’s vibrant, there’s lots of green, lots of hills, amazing people, so I’m stoked to be back in the UK.
Mad Mike's Magic Roundabout drift was facilitated by Swindon Council to help mark 175 years since the birth of the Swindon Railway Works.