Having worked his way up the drifting scene since he was just 15, Castletownroche driver James Deane will next month claim his sixth championship title in the rising motorsport. With a strong driving family behind him, the 21-year-old taught himself the ropes as he worked his way up the ranks and is now a household name and a force to be reckoned with in the drifting scene.

The recent Irish Drift Championship event brought the championship home for the North Cork driver and with just one event remaining, James has the title in the bag, but says that the sport could grow if there were more tracks. 

TIME TO CELEBRATE

Now, with just one event left in Mondello in September, James has already reached the necessary points to win, and said that there is no pressure. "There's no pressure, I have the championship, so I'm not driving for that, so I will be putting on a show, I'll do some mad things and have fun," James told The Avondhu.

After Mondello, James is off to LA in America to watch the last round of Formula D, where he hopes to make some contacts so that he can make a career from the American drifting series.

The young driver won his first championship in 2007 and was named Rookie of the Year that same year. Since then, he has had a string of championship wins and is now looking forward to what 2014 might hold. James described his first win as spectacular, saying that it made him fall in love with the sport. Now he works at drifting full time - his car is his life and his livelihood.

IT STARTED WITH A FORD

James took part in his first event when he was 15 and his Confirmation money and help from family bought him his first car, a Ford Sierra Estate. This season saw him come onto the tracks with his Mazda RX-7 rebuilt.

"After 2012, I decided to fully strip the car and rebuild it - to get all of the gremlins out of it for this year," James said. "No matter what car you drive, you need the skill to pull it off. You often see people in low budget cars doing really well," James said, adding that while parts do cost a lot, if he wasn't working on the car himself, he wouldn't be able to afford to stay in the sport.

The Deane's have a strong history of driving success, as James' brothers Mike and Kenneth have both done competitive driving, while Kenneth works on a lot of the cars in Mike's garage and their father, who is known as Papa Deane, was a navigator for his brother in rally driving and is now a scrutineer for the drifting events.

James' mother Julianne told The Avondhu that once James got behind the wheel of a car they could see the potential and unlike parents who worry about their young sons on the road, Julianne and Mike Snr knew that the track was the safest place for young James to test out his driving skills.

"He was young, but we could see the potential. We encouraged him every step of the way and he hasn't let us down. What some people don't realise is that a car can be a lethal weapon without the proper driving experiene," James' mother said.

James' father Mike Snr added that James has put a lot into his drifting to get where he is. "To keep yourself up there, you have to work very hard. It's very easy to win one, but to come back and win another is the hardest part," Mike said.

PRO CLASS

Competing against drivers in their twenties and older, James was by far the youngest competitor and he has been driving in the pro class since he first got his pro licence in 2007.

"It's different now, there are a lot of young drivers like Jack Shanahan," James said. The 13-year-old drifting sensation lives just up the road from James and had his wealth of experience and knowledge at his disposal when he entered his first event.

By his second season, James had also been invited across Europe.

"This was a huge challenge, as there was a huge amount of touring around Ireland, the UK, Portugal, Sweden, Denmark and Finland. I won the Irish championship that year and the European championship the week after. It was taking up so much of my time that I left school and I've been fully committed to it ever since."

SAFETY PARAMOUNT

In motorsport, safety is key and that is no different with drifting, but James argues that every driver should learn how to drift for their own safety while driving, as he pointed out that there is nothing more dangerous than a young driver on the road who does not know what their car is capable of doing.

For those interested in getting into drifting, James said that the Prodrift Academies are a great way to start, as drivers as young as 13 can get into cars with professionals, get some pointers and do a few laps, but he said that there are many ways to get into the sport.

He also added that putting money and time into drifting on a track is much safer than letting someone inexperienced out on the main road in a fast car. "What I see on the roads is scary, normal drivers often don't know how fast something can go out of control or how to correct it, it's nearly a skill everyone should know," he said. "You should always respect your car and know what it can do," James warned.

Speaking about the appeal of drifting, James said that it's addictive. "Everyone that's doing it seriously has a passion for it. When you do it for the first time, it's like something you've never experienced before - it feels amazing, you are controlling the car while it is out of control," James said.

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