Steve ‘Baggsy’ Biagioni Interview

FC) Hey Baggsy, what brings you to Samco HQ?
B) “I’m here to pick up the silicon hoses that are going on my 2016 competition car, a PS13 with a Nissan VQ lump.”

FC) Do you get through a lot of Samco hoses?
B) “Not at all, they never fail! They only get changed if Samco want to use a different colour or if I’m building a new project! If anything, I ask for more pink hose keyrings, the Monster Energy girls love them!”

 

FC) What other cars do you own/drive?
B) “The PS13 is  my UK car, I’ve got another S13 in Dubai and a second S13 in Asia. Plus I have an S14A as a streetcar that I use at all the ‘dude’ shows, like Players. It’s on bags and Rotiforms, so I’m a fully paid up member to the scene.”

FC) “How does she handle on air?”
B) “To be fair the Air Lift bags work really well, a lot better than I expected anyway.”

FC) And as a daily driver?
B) “I’ve got an E46 Touring that BMW built for Shane Lynch, it’s basically all M3 apart from the engine, which is a 2.0 diesel. He wasn’t using it so I kinda stole it off him. After I built up enough parking fines he put it in my name!”

FC) You and Shane good mates then?
B) “Yeah, we were team mates at Japspeed and we just got on, he’s a top lad.”

FC) A rival on the track though?
B) “Ha, yeah of course, although he’s had some car trouble over the past couple of seasons so it hasn’t been as close as we’d like.”

FC) Let’s rewind a bit, how did you get into drifting?
B) “That’s a good question! I remember going to a cruise back in the day in my Golf when I saw a Mk2 Escort doing donuts! I thought to myself, I want a piece of that, as it looked so cool! I sold my Golf and bought an old Volvo 340, waited for it to rain and found an old disused carpark to donut in! It all started from there!”

FC) Any childhood driving heroes?
B) “My Dad was a massive Senna fan, so that rubbed off on me even though it wasn’t really my era. Being Italian he loves Ferrari, so Schumacher was another driver we looked up to, but for me my hero is Valentino Rossi!”

FC) Have you ever met him?
B) “They say you shouldn’t meet your heroes but I have and he’s such a great guy. I get on well with his Dad too, he’s got an R8 drift car that is sponsored by Toyo, he’s not bad behind the wheel either.”

FC) Where did you meet them?
B) “I do demos at an event called the Monza Rally Show, it’s one of my favourite events of the seasons. The Italians adore Valentino, he’s like a god. They scream his name all day; it’s like being at a One Direction concert. So I’ve met him a few times at this show, in fact, he crashed into me one year.”

FC) So you’ve been to a One Direction concert?
B) “Haha, no!”

FC) Are you into any other motorsporsts?
B) “I like Motorcross, Rallycross and obviously Moto GP. I’ll occasionally flick the F1 on too.”

FC) Apart from this interview with Fast Car, what is your career highlight so far?
B) “Competing in the D1 in Japan! They invented drifting and it’s the pinnacle of our sport, it’s on another level out there. It was a dream come true to compete against drivers I watched as a teenager.”

FC) How did you get on?
B) “I came 4th in the 1st round, which wasn’t a bad result considering the calibre of the field and the fact that I’d never driven the car before!”

FC) What car was it?
B) “It was a Nissan Chaser that we rented off Daigo Saito! It had loads of power but was completely different to what I’m used to!”

FC) Why do you use Nissan 200s?
B) “They are good out of the box and have great drift chassis. It’s also easier to stick to one model as the parts are mostly interchangeable, so I don’t need to have a massive spares pool like I would if I had different cars.”

FC) And finally, what’s the best bit about being a drifter?
B) “Travelling the world! I’d never imagined the places I’ve got to visit, all these beautiful countries and cultures I’ve experienced is amazing. I wasn’t particularly good at school, so I don’t know how I would have been able to see all these places without motorsport!

FC) Nice one Baggsy, all the best!

Steve ‘Baggsy’ Biagioni fast facts
Age: 28
How long have you been drifting? 8-years
How long have you been pro? 5-years
Most expensive car you’ve drifted? Bentley GT
Favourite UK drift venue? Silverstone and Lydden Hill
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