Formula Drift driver Matt Field took some time to head out to Laguna Seca for a bit of grip driving in his beater BMW E36.

Matt Field’s lived his life a drift initiation at a time, so it’s always fun to see Formula Drift drivers take on a different kind of motorsport, grip. According to Matt Field on a facebook post he shared earlier yesterday (Nov. 28, 2017) it was fun times had by all “considering the state his beater” was in. Check out the lap video below. Not a hint of tire smoke can be seen seeping into the driver’s side compartment!

The OnGrid track event is a “less than $200” affair that puts different drivers into five levels of classes, each with 90-100 minutes of driving time. So when an opportunity comes up to have some track time on Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca for that price, it’s a no-brainer.

Matt Field’s video pretty much confirms what most people know all along, good driving is good driving no matter if you’re going sideways or following the racing line. Having “driven” this track on Gran Turismo myself, I’m slightly familiar with all the turns, including that infamous corkscrew. The speeds that he’s going and all the sounds of his suspension bottoming out lead me to believe he’s pushing this mostly stock 325i to the ragged limit (but not going over it.)

In front of him is a Honda S2000 which he admits is making most of the noise the entire video. All you can hear in Field’s video is the squeal of his tires on the rumbling strips.

From the looks of things, Field’s pretty confident behind the wheel driving at speed and probably intuitively knows more about car placement on the track and “listening to his car” that he leads on from his brief description.

It’s a fun watch, for sure.

His best lap was a 1:49 which cross-referencing some popular BMW forums, is a few seconds off some of the best BMW Club racers in presumably better set up cars. Perhaps, Fields should consider a career in grip driving on the side?

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