Mark Luney
Mark "SidewaysBuff" Luney (born Belfast 1972) is a professional drift car racer.
History
Mark Luney has been involved in motor sport from a very young age. This obsession started off with an interest in Rallying, attending events from the age of 7. As Mark was too young to get behind the wheel, he managed to try the next best thing and started racing 1/12 scale Radio-controlled cars. During this time, R/C racing was becoming hugely popular and competitive, so Mark decided to try his luck in the new off road R/C racing.
Mark started to race a R/C 2 wheel drive off road buggy with spectacular results, moving on to 4WD cars. Also, due to his success, he received full sponsorship from Schumacher Racing Products, England in 1985.
Mark won the Irish championship 5 times between 1984 and 1989. He also won various championships with EABC, UBC and had various successes in England and Europe.
By 1989 he had reached the age where was finally able to drive the real thing. This led to Mark hanging up his controls for good in 1990.
Mark started to attend road rallies in 1989, entering in a Fiat Uno Turbo. The car had varying degrees of success, but unfortunately it was failing more often than succeeding.
A few local rallies and forest grouts in the early 90’s saw some success, but unfortunately for Mark rallying was getting pretty expensive. This was a terrible blow for him as he was passionate about motor sport, so he looked for another way to continue this passion, which led him to the modified car scene.
Mark built various modified cars from an MI 16 engineered 205 to a concourse BMW M6. Throughout the modified scene he owned various top quality sports cars from a Lotus Carlton, TT Supra, Sierra Cosworth and an MK2 Escort to name a few.
During this time, Mark was asked to perform in several live action events around the country and was eventually persuaded to take part in a few track days. These track days are what led him down the path of drifting.
The first real track day was in 1997, attending the Ford RS Owners Club meeting at Nutts Corner in his Ford Cosworth Sierra. At these events, drivers would have to go as sideways as possible around the track. The screeching of the tyres would have the crowds going crazy for more.
After Mark realised how popular this could be, he and a few of his fellow drivers would privately hire tracks and practice at night time during the summer months. He would practise in many cars ranging from a GSI 24v Carlton to BMW M5, Subaru Legacy Turbo, Lexus Soarer and a 200 SX.
Eventually, Mark thought the time was right and decided to enter his first competition in 2004. Several years later and he is now one of the most respected drifting competitors in Europe.
Drifting career
Mark has taken part in many events and championships, including Prodrift, Eurodrift, D1GB and the European Drift Championship. He has also made appearances at many motor shows and events, across Europe, such as the Knockhill Scottish Motor Show, Belgian Tuning Show in Mechelen, STCC at Knutstorp, Sweden and Autosport International at the NEC in Birmingham, UK.
In 2005, Mark was placed 2nd in both the D1GB championship and Prodrift Ireland championship.
In 2006, using the much loved Nissan Skyline R32 GT-R built by Mark and WK Developments, he took 3rd place in the D1GB championship. The car has received much praise both for performance and looks, featuring in many magazines.
In 2007, Mark was signed by SVA Imports of Dover to drive their modified Nissan 350z drift car. In the European Drift Championship he was the seasons runner up, finishing behind Brett Castle.
In 2008, Mark once again drove the Nissan 350z for SVA in the European Drift Championship, and finished fourth overall. He also signed a deal with SATS to drive their Toyota Supra at local events and numerous drift displays.
After years of hard work, and development, Mark and the SVA Imports team narrowly took the European Drift Championship in 2009. This was made all the more special by the fact that Mark had literally just arrived at the event after travelling for 12 hours from Dubai.
In 2010, Mark once again took the European title, and also came forth in the British Drift Championship in the SATS Motorsport Supra. He was on course to win the championship, but a catastrophic engine failure at the final round put an end to his chances.
Mark decided to give up his drive with SVA Imports in 2010 to concentrate on the development of the SATS Motorsport Supra, which had signed a deal with many big sponsors, including Cosworth.
2011 saw Mark solely drive for the new SATS Cosworth Drift Team, which in his first competitive outing was the highest qualifier, and also saw him win the round at the British Drift Championship. He finished the championship as runner up.
Between 2012 and 2015, the SATS team was rebranded as the Lucas Oil UK Drift Team, with Luney again at the helm of the Supra. During this time, he secured several podium spots and took 3rd place overall in 2015. He competed in several championships during this time, including the British Drift Championship, Irish Drift Championship and Drift Allstars.
In October 2015, Mark took the decision to retire from competition.
Sponsors
Some of Marks biggest sponsors included:
- Universal Turbos
- SATS Motorsport
- Nankang Tyre
- Vernst Media
- Lucas Oil
- Maxxis Tyres
- Meister-R
- Titan Motorsports
- Cobra Seats