Garage 21’s Donington C Course - A Slice of Japan in the Midlands

Drifting isn’t just making smoke and ruining tyres, it’s a ballet of aggression, style and bravery where the drivers make their cars behave in inexplicable ways. If you’ve ever fallen down a JDM YouTube wormhole, you will more than likely have come across videos featuring a small circuit called Meihan C Course.

From the air, Meihan C Course looks unremarkable – a compact set of corners connected by a small straight. But a bird’s-eye view doesn’t quite capture the essential part of this circuit – the solid wall that leads to turn one. It’s hard to put into words why this wall is so crucial, but watch this video and you’ll have some idea. The style of Meihan C Course is to enter the straight at speed, flick right then left and get the rear of your car as close to parallel with the wall, entering the first corner with a huge amount of angle. Not an easy feat, and Meihan has claimed many a Nissan S chassis.

That flamboyant ‘Meihan method’ exploded across drifting culture back in 2011, and since then drivers across the world have tried to capture the Meihan magic. Many have come close, but until recently no one had quite managed it.

Here in the UK, we briefly had an event at Rockingham with a replica layout, but ultimately the event died with Rockingham as the ill-fated circuit was turned into a glorified carpark-come-housing estate.

Unlike Japan, the UK’s circuits tend to take a dim view of drifting, and as such creating an event that apes Meihan is nigh-on impossible. Enter Garage 21 with an idea and Donington Park with their Tarmac Lake.

Garage 21’s vision was “A complete 1.1 scale replica of Meihan Sportsland C Course here in the heart of the UK, including concrete wall, staging areas, signage and open pit just like the real thing.” To say that created some excitement in the UK drifting scene would be an understatement, and I knew I had to be there.

From the minute I arrived, the place looked – and felt – the part, sporting the correct-radius corners, staging area and the all-important wall. The pit area contained a selection of perfectly styled and modified cars. The atmosphere was the polar opposite of the Hagerty Festival of the Unexceptional I’d visited less than two weeks prior – all that mattered was drifting, adding to the Meihan vibe.

Heading out to my media post, a quick snap of the track showed promise, each tyre mark tracer telling the story of a driver committing to a drift. As the pits filled with the sound of idling turbochargers and the final cracks of tools, a queue of limber drivers appeared, eager to get out on track.

After some exploratory runs with gentle initiations, the drivers had gauged the surface’s grip and feedback. Now it was time to throw some angles.

The summer sun and freshly laid rubber sped this process up, and within 30 minutes the cars were inching closer and closer to that wall and achieving deeper angles into the tight right-hander.

With the drivers’ confidence building, the tandem session broke out and cars began to follow each other into high-speed entries and close-proximity transitions.

From a distance, I could see the unforgiving wall was taking a few nibbles of nearside rear bodywork, but the drivers continued to push. I decided it was time to see just how up close and personal the drivers were getting. The occasional thump, scratch and accompanying cheer from the crowd told me that the answer was ‘very’.

Moving to the inside media post, it was clear that the drivers were having the time of their lives. The wall takes no prisoners, but these guys didn’t blink – entering the straight at speed before flicking right to left and activating the handbrake and foot brake to mediate attack angle and speed.

Once safely around turn one, the adrenaline spike forces a deep throttle application and aggressive flicks into the infield.

By the afternoon, the drivers had hit their flow – the standard of driving was impeccable, each run showcasing the speed and aggression that Meihan caters to.

The crowd was enthralled, the drivers were having a blast and the cars looked fantastic. This event was a pilot, and I have to say that it was a roaring success, capturing the essence of not just drifting, but the original Meihan C Course.

The organisation, curation of cars and running of the day was impeccable. Events like this always generate concerns around safety, but thanks to the standard of driving and marshalling, such fears went unanswered.

A huge thank you to the team at Garage 21 for this event and the media access. They have created a little bit of magic here in the Midlands, and long may it continue.