Video: Onboard James Dean and Vaughn Gittin Jr. tandem drifting in the wet

13th May 2020

Seán Ward

There comes a moment in nearly every petrolhead’s life when they’ll realise they weren’t as talented as they first thought behind the wheel. I’ve had a few of these moments before, the first of which came when Heikki Kovalainen showed me how to drift a Caterham, and when I had a go I nearly ran him over. Another moment of sad realisation comes watching this onboard video of James Dean tandem drifting in the wet with Vaugh Gittin Jr. Both of them are irritatingly good.

The pair were strutting their stuff at the 2019 Festival of Speed presented by Mastercard in The Arena. It had rained heavily on Sunday morning, leaving driving conditions that were somewhat tricky, and yet these two talents rolled out and managed to drift within inches of each other as it they were doing nothing more difficult than drinking a cup of tea.

Watching Dean’s eyes it’s clear to see just how incredible his spatial awareness is, and watching his feet and hands work in unison it’s obvious he knows exactly what to do in every sideways situation. Utter madness. And what’s even more crazy is he finds time to open the door, mid drift, and wave, and then open the door again a few seconds later to get his head and shoulders out of the car whilst doing a brake stand. Bravo gents, bravo.