Ahead of the season opener at Bishops Court, Co Down, much had already been heard on the rumour mill about the supposed V8 powered S15 Silvia super car of Alan McCord, so that the drivers at Round 1 had a bumper crowd of supporters in attendance to cheer them on. Many awaited in anticipation to hear the first roar of the Power Max monster which lined up amongst the newly kitted, painted and decaled contenders’ cars. As soon as the first solid wall of tyre smoke was generated from the substantial rear of McCord’s new creation, it was clear to all that the bar had been forever raised, pushing the required elements at the top of the UDC to a minimum of excellent. Speeds must be higher, angles greater, b*lls bigger! McCord had staked his claim and his intentions were clear right out of the gate; this year he intended to be Champion.
As neat a short story as this could have been, with McCord appearing as if he were about to sweep all aside on a romp to championship glory, there were an abundance of others with their very own tales of success that they also wanted to play out; some even coming from within the same camp. Top contender right from the off looked like being the 2008 ‘King of the Court’ Paul Conlan, in a similar wide bodied S15 although with a very different bark from its Toyota Supra sourced 2JZ engine. Indeed all this played out as expected in Rounds 1 & 2 with the two team mates claiming the top spots, closely harassed by newly emerging contender Robert Barnett and the always solid Ryan Tierney.
It was the return to form of 3 time champion Richard Bradley on Round 3 at Nutts Corner that seemed to start a tidal shift, with more and more new contenders emerging as a serious threat. Bradley took the win on that occasion but from there strange things began to occur. Not least of those being the emergence of this 13 yr old as some kind of wonder kid, absent of fear and immune to the symptoms of pressure in competition, effortlessly skidding his 180sx around the track as though… well, as though that’s how everyone should be able to do it. Q: Shouldn’t they? A: No. This kid is something special and would go on to take 3 outright wins, including the 2009 ‘King of the Court’ title ahead of a field of hard charging seasoned veterans.
Mid season saw McCord forced to fall back on a spare car as the pink torpedo suffered costly and time consuming engine troubles whilst contesting the EDC. The spare was a Toyota Chaser and a power figure of 800 Bhp was bandied about. The beast had in fact to be detuned in order so that it could be tamed around a drift course that combined flat out with technical sections. Tamed it was though and the ‘Hi Octane Imports’ ace was back at the top, this time besting 3 times championship runner-up Damien McBride in another Chaser in the semi-final and then young Duane in the Final.
Both title contenders fell in their bids to reach the final and this allowed Chris Brady the chance at revenge against young Duane. In a level of aggressive drifting seen only in glimpses before on these shores, Brady out muscled and even out-McKeevered McKeever to take his first win of 2009 at the UDC Finale. The grand finale of the season was then a shoot-out for the last podium position and the whole championship rested upon the outcome. With failing light, rain and greasy track conditions the duel for the title looked like exactly that, with flames from screamer pipes flashing as if from the muzzle of a gun. The one who stood tall at the end of the encounter, as 2009 Ulster Drift Champion, was Alan McCord. All hail!
