Conor Shanahan.
The 2021 Drift Masters European Championship (DMEC) will launch in Greinbach, Austria on May 29th with Irish drifter and Red Bull athlete Conor Shanahan set to compete with the full series available live on Red Bull TV.
The 2021 race calendar is composed of five rounds beginning on May 29th at the Austrian circuit in Greinbach and ending on September 5th around the city-centre streets of Georgian capital city Tbilisi.
The driver line-up will be its most diverse to date with over 25 countries represented on the starting grid, including 17-year-old Shanahan who beat fellow Irishman and DMEC and Irish National champion James Deane at the Polish round of the 2018 championship.
Cork native Shanahan said: “I’m really excited for the new season; it’s been a super long 12 months and it’s good to finally get behind the wheel again. This year will be my first full series with the support of Red Bull and I’m planning on sending it all season long.”
New to the calendar is the scenic Lillesand Arena circuit in Norway which features extreme elevation changes and high-speed sections, while DMEC will also be crowning a new “King of Riga” in 2021, when the series returns to the popular Bikernieku Trase Circuitk, the highest speed circuit on the tour with competitors entering at 150km/h.
Shanahan added: “Tbilisi is going to be insane! It’s something very different and exciting; I can’t wait to find out what the race layout is going to be. Racing in the middle of a city is definitely going to put us out of our comfort zone and it’ll be great to take our unique sport to the people. Riga is one of my favourite tracks, it’s the fastest and the smallest mistake can bring you unstuck.”
Drift Masters Grand Prix President Arkadiusz Dudko explained: “The 2021 DMEC Calendar is unique and exciting for both the drivers and the fans. We are going to new countries and reaching more people across Europe. Three years after our first run in Poland, we are finally heading back to the famous Torun Speedway Arena and once again we will race in Riga, which holds a special place in the heart of the drifting community. Latvian fans are some of the most passionate in the sport.”
In terms of Tbilisi, Dudko added: “With this race, we want to bring fans closer to the action. Look at the Monaco Formula One Grand Prix. Fans aren’t watching from the grandstands, they’re on the street and their balconies. One day it’s a café terrace, the next it’s race seats just metres away from a hairpin turn. That’s what makes this race exciting and that’s what we want to replicate in Tbilisi.”
The 2021 DMEC will be available for fans to watch live on Red Bull TV.
2021 DMEC race calendar:
Round 1: PS Racing Centre – Greinbach, Austria, May 29th-30th
Round 2: Lillesand Arena – Lillesand, Norway, June 25th-26th
Round 3: Torun Speedway Arena – Torun, Poland, July 9th-10th
Round 4: Bikernieku Trase Circuitk – Riga, Latvia, July 30th-31st
Round 5: Tbilisi City Centre – Georgia, September 4th-5th