Welcome ladies and gentlemen to a new breed of drifter, the sim drifter, or more commonly known as the virtual drifter.

A drifter who has bypassed the conventional route of entering the drift world by buying a cheap rear wheel drive car and going to drift practice days. But instead purchased a personal computer and a steering wheel & pedal set.

Perhaps the convention route of entering the drift world is on the decline, perhaps the next generation of drifters will come from online gaming.

A perfect example of this next generation of drifter is Prodrift Academy’s Esports Drift Teams latest recruit Rhys Tatterson. Rhys, a 25 years old Mercedes mechanic from Preston, UK, who’s only previous real world drifting experience is kicking the clutch in his road going Nissan 350z.

Rhys has had a gradual rise through the virtual drift world over the past few years but so far in 2021, he has been one of the stand out drivers and is currently on a hot streak after winning the second round of the Drift Masters Virtual Championship.

We caught up with Rhys to discover more about this new generation of drifter and what his ambitions are as a gamer and a drifter.

So who is Rhys Tatterson? 

Hey! My name is Rhys Tatterson I’m 25 and live in Preston, Lancashire, United Kingdom.

Since a very young age I’ve always had a passion for cars. I am a full time Vehicle Technician at Mercedes Benz in Preston, I really enjoy my job and if I’m not working on cars at home or work, I’m going out for some “spirited” drives with my friends. If the weather isn’t suited to a drive, I turn to my sim rig for a drifting fix!

I own a Nissan 350z and Mazda MX5 NB in which I’ve recently bought as new daily, I have many plans for both cars throughout this year. I do have other hobbies of course going to the gym, cycling and mountain walking with friends and family.

What got you into drifting? Do you have any driver that you look up to? 

I remember quite well what got me into drifting before I knew what drifting really was.

The game called Race Driver :Grid, I spent so many hours playing that game when I was young and when I found you could slide a car round a corner, I was hooked instantly. I remember constantly using the AE86 and S15 around the docks track. This is what bred my passion for drifting and formed my love for the Nissan Silvia S15’s.

I have other memories of course watching Keiichi Tsuchiya down – hill Touge videos online and the Top gear episode which featured Keiichi Tsuchiya showing what drifting really is.

Over the years for inspiration I’ve looked up to James Deane and Odi Bakchis both of their drifting styles are super cool and I’ve always enjoyed the aggressive driving when they are in battles or just driving for fun.

When did you first start drifting online and what was your path to VDC??

In 2009 I got my hands on Race Driver: Grid this is the game that started my learning experience with getting used to drifting and playing online with other players. After some time I moved to Forza then into rFactor and Assetto Corsa.

My path to competing in Virtual Drift Championship started in 2017 at Long Beach for the 5th Round of VDC. A very good friend of mine Jonathan Simpson (Jokah Designs) gave me a good word to the owners of VDC into giving me a license and I got the opportunity to compete. A big thanks to him for recommending me and also creating my awesome competition cars for every season so far.

What hardware setup did you first have when you started and what do you have now?

When I moved from Xbox to PC and started playing rFactor my very first setup was a Apple Mac with a Windows system, it didn’t perform very well but it lasted for around 2 years until it needed upgrading. My setup at the time was a Fanatec CSR steering wheel and pedals with a flight stick joystick as a handbrake.

My hardware setup now consists of a Thrustmaster  T300rs steering wheel mounted to a Omega GT wheel stand, Fanatec Handbrake, Thrustmaster T3PA shifter and Thrustmaster T-LCM Pedals.

Did you see Esports as an avenue into professional drifting or was it just for fun?

I never thought I’d see myself in an Esports team and I’m very grateful to have been given the opportunity. I honestly took it as a bit of fun when I was on and driving on my own but soon as I joined the team alongside Alan, I definitely can see it becoming a journey into professional drifting very soon.

When did you know you had the skills that would translate into online drifting competitions?

I spent so many years enjoying driving on my own in public lobbies and with friends I made on the Forza motorsport platform. After time I gathered a lot of experience drifting on a controller and found my growth was limited with this hardware, until I moved onto getting a steering wheel.

Over the years on Forza I  joined a number of drift teams such as Bliz, SnD (Slide n Drift), CounterStyle and Team Xenon and that gained me a lot of experience drifting with the best people on at the time.

Once Forza Motorsport 6 was released and the drifting competition called ESDA (Esports Drift Association) was opened, I began my journey into online competitions. Over time I made a name for myself and did very well. Since then I’ve developed a lot of new skills and putting them to the test now competing in the best esports series on PC platform.

Tell us about how you became an Esports Prodrift Athlete?

I’ve known Alan Hynes for many years now and I’ve always seen him run the Prodrift Academy livery, after the 2020 season of Virtual Drift Championship I got the opportunity from my teammate to join the Esports Prodrift Academy team for the 2021 season. I was over the moon and was super happy that I got this opportunity and now I’m doing my best for myself and the Prodrift Academy team.

How helpful has it been to have a teammate that you can practice with and exchange gaming info?

Having Alan as my teammate is awesome he’s such a big influence and always wants the best performance out of us both and as a team, we definitely share a lot in common and help each other out with setups that work best for us before we compete in VDC, Moscow Drift events and many more.

What ambitions do you have as an Esports athlete, do you see yourself as a professional drifter in the future?

My ambitions as a Esports Athlete is to engage fans and other drivers that are wanting to compete at a professional level online but for myself , I plan on competing in as many competitions possible and doing my best for the team going into the future for the Esports Prodrift Academy.

I would love the opportunity to compete at a professional level in real life and I can definitely see myself there soon but for now, competing in the online world is my main focus.

You can follow Rhys via his social channels https://www.instagram.com/rhys.tatterson81/

After the unveiling of the 2021 Prodrift Academy Esports Drift Team, all eyes were on the Virtual Drift Championship where the best of international sim drifters gathered to do battle for Round 1 in Road Atlanta. The team would make their competitive debut with Rhys Tatterson joining Alan Hynes on a very talented grid of drivers. With Rhys showing great pace all week in practice, it was now time to see how he would fair in his new race colours.

Qualifying was a close affair with a packed grid and a very high level of drifting. Drivers required a high 80’s score to have any chance of making the top 32. Rhys was first up and scored 89.3 points in his first run and improving with 90 points in his second, putting him in 14th place overall. Alan with his first run scored 92.3 points and 96 points in his second with a big flick on initiation, enough to qualify him in 2nd place overall.

The top 32 started with Alan against S13 drifter Markus Lundqvist, with Alan having a strong lead and an aggressive chase which was enough to take the win and advance to top 16.

Rhys was up against Pontus Jacobson and after a clean lead run, a mistake from Pontus in the chase was enough to hand Rhys the win.

The top 16 would see Prodrift Academy vs Brazil, with Alan paired up against Victor Alves and Rhys taking on Caio Fonseca. In Alans lead run, Victor would make a slight mistake in the transition, tapping Alan and adjusting his lead line. In the chase run, Alan would mirror Victors lead which was enough for Alan to advance to the top 8.

Caio Fonseca, the third highest qualifier, would have a clean lead run with Rhys mirroring his every move. In the second run, Rhys would open a gap for the first half of the battle with Fonseca only catching him after the horseshow. The judges went with Rhys and he would advance to the top 8

In the great 8, Alan would come up against FormulaD pro drifter Tyler Nelson and Rhys would compete against another professional drifter in Conor Shanahan, After a clean lead run, Alan would make a mistake on initiation when following Tyler which was enough for the judges to vote for a one more time. In the second battle, Alan would have a clean lead run, and in the chase, Tyler would cut the second inner clip which bounced his car across the track and saw him go all 4 wheels off. Alan advancing to the top 4.

In Rhys top 8 battle, Conor laid down a very good lead run with Rhys mirroring his every move. With Rhys in the lead, Conor gave him a slight tap on the first transition which effected Rhys line and caused Conor to lose some ground before catching up in the second half of the run. That one mistake was enough to see Conor eliminated and Rhys to progress to the top 4.

The second semi-final was an all Prodrift Academy affair, with Alan and Rhys prepared to do battle for a place in the final. After a week of practicing together in preparation of the event, it was now time to battle for a place in the final. Alan, the higher qualifier, put in an excellent lead run with Rhys consistently in chase on his door. In the second run, Rhy put in an awesome lead run until he over angled after the horseshoe allowing Alan to close in. A simple mistake which would hand Alan the win and advance to the final.

In the 3rd place playoff Rhys would go up against top Lithuanian qualifier Erikas Jurkas. Rhys would match Erikas every move in what was a very good chase run. In the second run Erikas lost Rhys in the first half of the run until closing in at the horseshoe. Rhys takes 3rd place overall.

In the final, Alan would compete against long-term rival Tikhon Polessky. Alan the higher qualifier was chased down by Tikhon throughout the whole track, mirroring his every move. In the second run, an over aggressive initiation from Alan put him at odds behind Tekhon and he lost ground to the horseshoe. That small mistake from Alan was enough to hand Tikhon the win and the lead of the 2021 VDC championship.

Overall a great event for the Prodrift Academy Esports Drift Team, with a memorable debut for Rhys in 3rd and 2nd place for Alan. Next up, VDC round 2 on December 19th.

Full Top 32 livestream can be seen below.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Prodrift Academy Global

Date – 2/12/2020

Prodrift Academy Esports Drift Team

Prodrift Academy announce their Esports Drift Team driver line up for the 2021 gaming season. Joining Alan Hynes on his assault of the 2021 gaming season will be top UK Esports drifter Rhys Tatterson.

With both drivers ready for the season ahead, team Prodrift Academy will compete in over 50 events across the gaming world, starting early, with VDC Round 1 Road Atlanta this coming weekend December 5th. Prodrift Academy drifter and Esports athlete Alan Hynes will be out to defend his 2020 EDC & DCGP titles while looking to regain his 2019 VDC title ahead of some intense rivalry and fierce competition. Rhys, our newest addition to the team, will be out to prove himself against the best in the business, in this, his maiden season in the famous Prodrift Academy livery. Rhys will also be welcomed into the professional drifting world, by undergoing an intense training course, receiving his drift license and joining the Prodrift Academy UK as a drift instructor.

Both drivers will be hosting a weekly practice streaming session for sim drifters and fans alike and in January of 2021, we will be starting our Virtual 2 Reality online 1 to 1 training sessions for up and coming sim drifters.

Full details of our Esports gaming calendar will be released in early January 2021.

Prodrift Academy Director, Graham McNamara stated that;

“First of all, congratulations to Rhys on joining the Prodrift Academy Esports Drift Team and assisting Alan in promoting sim drifting to a new and diverse audience.  It was always our intention to grow the Prodrift Academy Team, and now with Alan and Rhys, we have two drift sparring partners who will improve each other’s driving with hours of twin drift practice ahead of them. Rhys will also be joining our UK drift instructors program, so for him, it is an excellent route into professional drifting and a great case study for us to see if sim drifters can successfully transition into professional drifting. We wish him and Alan well for the coming season”

Alan Hynes stated that;

“I’m excited to be teaming up with Rhys ahead of the 2021 Esports drift season. I’ve known Rhys for a long time and have always been impressed with his precision and aggression on the sim. Practicing together as a team, I think we can develop as drivers and push each other with aggressive chase runs. I am looking forward to see if we can improve each other’s driving and raise the bar in Esports drifting”

Rhys Tatterson stated that;

“I’m super pumped that I’ll be joining the Prodrift Academy Esports Drift Team for the 2021 season. Alan is not only a great sim drifter but he is also one of the top professional drifters competing in Europe. I look forward to practicing with him in the sim world and learning from him in the professional drift world. I appreciate the opportunity given to me by the Prodrift Academy and can’t wait to get started”

The Prodrift Academy Esports Drift Team event calendar will be updated throughout the year.

Virtual Drift Championship 2021

Round 1           Dec 5^th             

Round 2           Dec19^th

Round 3           Jan 9^th

Round 4           Feb 6^th

Round 5           Feb 20^th

Round 6           Mar 6^th

Round 7           Mar 20^th

Round 8           Apr 10^th

Drift Masters Virtual Championship 2021

Round 1           Jan 30^th             

Round 2           Feb 13^th

Round 3           Feb 27^th

Round 4           Mar 13^th

Round 5           Mar 27^th

For more info or enquiries please email info@prodriftacademy.com

After the unveiling of his 2021 gaming livery, Prodrift Academy athlete Alan Hynes took part in his first competitive event, Moscow drift on November 15th. The Moscow Drift e-sports gaming studio was in good company with Russian Drift Series drivers such as Nikita Shikov, Fedor Dzezhits and Alesandr Grinchuk in attendance.

Saturday qualifying would have a huge entry of 200 drivers competing to qualify for the 32 knockout positions. With some great talent on show and after a long and arduous qualifying session, Alan would score a 97 on his first run and follow up with 96 on his second run.

A 97 point run was enough to qualify Alan in 1^st position as he prepared for the Sunday top 32 knockout.

The top 32 started with Alan competing against top UK e-sports drifter Rhys Tatterson and after a hard-fought battle, Alan narrowly got the judge’s decision and advanced to the top 16.

Next up in the top 16 was krzysztof Dziadon in his blue S15 where Alan would get the judge’s decision. Before another battle with a S15 in the Top 8, this time against Ali Arslan and again Alan getting the judge’s decision.

The semi-final was a hard-fought battle between Alan and Nikolai Grohsev where the judges wanted to see a one more time in order to decide the winner. In the one more time battle and after a long debate the judges sided with Alan and he would advance to the final.

In the final, Alan would compete against top e-sports drifter Alexander Element where unfortunately Alan would make a mistake in transition handing the win to Alexander and see Alan finish second overall in a very well ran and tough competition.

Next round of Moscow drift is on the 6^th of December. Tune in to Moscow Drift YouTube channel to watch the event live.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

13th November 2020

Alan Hynes debuts his 2021 Gaming Livery

Prodrift Academy Global

Date – 13/11/2020

Alan Hynes Prodrift Academy 2021 Livery

The Prodrift Academy and Alan Hynes debut their updated gaming livery ahead of the 2021 season.

Following on from the success of winning the 2020 Electronic Drift Championship and Drift Corner Grand Prix, Alan debuts his updated 2021 gaming livery while welcoming MSI to our gaming program.

Fresh off the back of a successful 2020, the Prodrift Academy will be expanding our 2021 gaming season to over 50 events across the globe. From Canada to the Middle East, we will continue to push the development and popularity of drift gaming while inviting gamers and fans alike to start their drift journey with our Virtual 2 Reality training program. Alan, the pioneer of our Virtual 2 Reality program, developed our drift training simulators to allow students from as young as 8 years old to learn how to drift in a safe environment before progressing to professional drift cars. With a busy calendar ahead and as the level of competition in drift gaming increases, we will compete to defend our titles and represent both the gaming community and sport of drifting across the globe.

We would like to thank our current partners Vitour Tire, Group-D, Xtreme Clutch, Drift 2 Motorsport and MSI for their continued support.

Prodrift Academy Director, Graham McNamara stated that;

“In 2018, we met with Alan and brainstormed the idea behind V2R, a drift gaming initiative with the intension of bringing a new and younger audience to the sport of drifting. Little did we know how much potential it had and how fast it would develop. We are extremely pleased with his personal success in the gaming world and with the amount of people he has brought into the sport through his training of our students and development of our training programs. 2021 is looking to be a very exciting season for the prodrift academy as we will continue to add to and develop our gaming program over the coming months”

Alan Hynes stated that;

“I am very excited to announce our 2021 Prodrift Academy livery for the upcoming gaming season. It is also great to be back in a Nissan S-chassis where we had so much success internationally, including the 2019 Virtual Drift championship. I would also like to thank our current partners who without their support this program would not be possible. Really looking forward to what lies ahead for the team and the upcoming gaming season”

The Prodrift Academy will be updating and developing our gaming and virtual training program throughout 2021.

Enquiries

Prodrift Academy

Info@prodriftacademy.com

Location – Prodrift Headquarters, Dubai, United Arab Emirates

Date – 22/04/2018

The Prodrift Academy announce V2R (Virtual 2 Reality) training program with Alan Hynes athlete partnership.

The Prodrift Academy and Alan Hynes have partnered to create V2R (virtual 2 reality), a simulator drift training program to complement our current professional drift training platform and allow students to progress from simulator to professional drift cars.

Our new drift training simulators have been created to replicate the characteristics of a professional drift car will begin operation in May of 2017.

This partnership will see Alan connect with both drifters and sim drifters from all over the world through international drift events, online events, seminars and training.

Prodrift Academy Director, Graham McNamara stated that;

“I am very pleased to announce that we have begun operations on our V2R training program. We see Alan Hynes as the ideal candidate to spearhead this project because he is one of the top virtual drifters online and one of the up and coming stars of the Irish Drift Championship. Our goal with V2R is to introduce drifting to a new younger audience and to make drift training more affordable to the general public. With Alan as the driving force behind V2R we hope to show drift fans an alternative route into professional drifting.”

Alan Hynes stated that;

“I am honored to be teaming up with the Prodrift Academy for the 2018 season. I have always looked up to the Prodrift brand as a kid, and experiencing drifting for the first time in 2009 with the Prodrift Academy got me my start in drifting. 2018 is going to be a big year for both myself and the team and I can’t wait to represent the brand in Ireland, Internationally and online”

Event – Signing ceremony of Al Rahala International Co. & Prodrift Academy
Location – Dubai, United Arab Emirates
Date – 27/11/2016

Prodrift Academy UAE and Westlake Tyre partnership

The Prodrift Academy UAE, and Westlake Tyre, have just finalised the details of an exciting new partnership deal for the 2016/2017 drifting season in the UAE.
This partnership will see the Prodrift Academy run Westlake tyres across its full fleet of training and professional drift cars.
The Prodrift Academy is the leading drift experience and drift training facility in the Middle East and one of the leading drift brands worldwide.
Westlake tyre is the No1 Chinese tyre manufacture and a leading drift performance tyre manufacture with its Sport RS tyre. The Sport RS tyre has a proven pedigree with numerous drift championship wins to date.

Prodrift Academy UAE Director, Mohammed Al Falasi stated that;
“I am very pleased to announce this partnership between the Prodrift Academy UAE and Westlake tyre. My dedicated team have worked very hard to position the Prodrift Academy UAE as the leading drift experience and training facility in the Middle East. I believe with the addition of a proven and winning Westlake Sport RS drift tyre we can take our programs and students to a new level of performance.”

Westlake Tyre Director of sales, Mr. Chunshu Han stated that;
“We believe our partnership with the Prodrift Academy will create a synergy between the drifting community and our tyres.
The combination of high performance Westlake Sport RS Tyre and Prodrift Academy’s expertise will create a new trend in the drifting community.
Jointly we wish to use Prodrift Academy’s experience to maximize the performance and grip from our tyres to achieve our goals this season.”