Just as it was beginning to look like a 2 horse race for the 2008 Prodrift European Series, Round 4 in Finland threw up a fascinating result that blows the championship into a wide open braul for the end of season glory.
Having missed Round 3, Sweden, Darren McNamara was always playing catch up to his Irish competitors James Deane & Eric O’Sullivan. Trying to re-coup a 12 point defecit on O’Sullivan meant that McNamara needed to score highly in the remaining events and hope that those above him would suffer from misfortune. The Falken Corolla could not have hoped for a better result in Finland as it out qualified and convincingly out scored both Deane & O’Sullivan thus leaving the McNSport team 4 points clear at the top of the table.
Following a 2007 Prodrift exhibition at the Alastaro Circuit in Finland, 2 important factors were immediately identified - the power sapping curves and the local talent. Both of these factors would prove to have an enormous effect on the 2008 event. Entering the course through a tight 3rd gear curve, the drivers required every  ounce of their available power to haul their machinery to the top of a brow before changing direction and tackling another fast and technical series of corners.
Running alongside the Nordic and Finnish championship events, it was evident that the local drivers were well adapted to these conditions - the visiting drivers however were finding it tough going.
Qualifying was again led by Norwegian ace Fredric Aasbo, his Japan Auto Supra making light work of the course leaving plumes of Federal tyre smoke hanging above the Alastaro circuit. He was closely followed by two Falken cars namely Darren McNamara (Irl) and Niklas Lundqvist (Fin), the latter driving a Nissan 180SX. James Deane secured 4th spot, 5th was Dutch veteran Paul Vlasbom and championship leader Eric O’Sullivan managed to claim 6th.

The first round of Top 16 battles were full of incident and upsets. The first major casualty was James Deane. The Nexen S14.5 was confidently battling his way past Tapio Martuu (V8 Supercharged Skyline) until the young Irishman fluffed a gear change at the final corner handing an unexpected victory to the Fin. Eric O’Sullivan was also eliminated at this stage; his battle against the winner of Saturdays Nordic Event Hari Hokkanen (Silvia S14) was a closer affair but the 250bhp Rockstar Corolla was unable to match the speed and power of Finlands rising talent Hokkanen. Lying 4th in the Championship, Dean Kearney (Irl) required a sudden death battle to progress - a battle that saw Osi Makelainen (Fin) retire with transmission problems and the Xtreme Autos 180sx progress to the Top 8.
With Deane & O’Sullivan eliminated, McNamara had been handed his golden opportunity to regain a foothold in this championship.
Awaiting the Falken Corolla in the Top 8 was fellow Irishman Dean Kearney. What promised to be a crucial battle for Championship standings ended prematurely as Kearney suffered Turbo Failure on the warm up lap. McNamara’s luck was certainly in. Battling through the other half of the draw was Fredric Asbo, his Toyota Supra making light work of all that came before him and comfortably progressing to the Final 4.
Tapio Martuu in his high power Skyline awaited Asbo in the first of the semi final draws. Following a 6-4 run#1 in favour of the Norwegian, Martuu almost forced a re-run with a 5-5 Run #2. Fredi had done jut enough to secure his place in consecutive Prodrift Finals.

McNamara faced-off against a fellow Falken driver in the second semi final. Niklas Lundqvist had been performing well across all weekend competitions but was unable to match the SR86 Corolla of D-Mac. A comfortable 7-3 in run #1 followed by a 6-4 run #2 meant that Mcnamara had his place in the final.
Asbo and McNamara was the final that everybody wanted to see - bith drivers had delivered astonishing runs all day and the final battle would be a genuine contest of the two most consistent performers. Nobody, however, could have predicted just how close the final would be.
Alternating 6-4 scorelines from the first battle resulted in a sudden death decider. Both cars appeared to be performing at their absolute limit. Somehow McNamara managed to find that little bit extra in reserve for the first sudden death run, his Corolla was pinned to the larger Supra and his agressive moves through the fastest part of the course earned him a 7-3 advantage. Run 2 with Fredi chasing was again extremely close, his Supra was superior through the Alastaro course but not to a level which would re-coup the difference.6-4 in favour of the Norwegian left him just short of the aggregate win and for the second time Asbo was accepting the runners up position behind an Irish Corolla.

Following the event Asbo expressed his satisfaction with the result.Since he had started drifting, McNamara was always a driver that he dreamed about twinning with and to push the Falken Corolla to a re-run was a huge personal achievement and landmark for the 2 times Nordic Champion.
McNamara was equally overjoyed with the win. To remain consistent when all those around him were losing their heads meant that the McNSport team could enjoy a return to the Top of the Prodrift European Series confident of continued success in the SR86 Corolla.
As the Prodrift European Series now leaves Scandinavia, the events in Sweden and Finland have confirmed that a long standing pedigree in Circuit, Grip & Rally racing will shortly have a major impact on the world of drifting. These guys have been
driving sideways for generations - the Prodrift European Series has merely afforded them an opportunity to do it with the rest of Europes best.

For more images from this event click HERE