Samsonas motorsport gearboxes are used in many different racing disciplines and Dmitrij Sribny is the one who uses his Samsonas-equipped subbies in a variety of events. From gymkhana, time trials and sprints, to drag racing and even rally-cross. To date, Dmitrij has achieved over 140 podiums / 96 wins / 17 championship titles in all disciplines and has a story to tell.
Is it easy to start racing in the UK? What was your journey to this point where you are a multiple champion?
My first race competition was back in 2008, I had a Mitsubishi GTO which I used in drag racing and slaloms. Since then I was hooked and started to search more places to get into a Motorsport, surprisingly the Santa Pod Raceway appeared to be located only 45 min away from where I lived in the UK. My trips to an iconic place became regular where I could express my passion on 1/4 mile strip and handling track competitions.
How have you developed as a driver? Just the pure time on the track and analysis or also sim racing, coaches, mentors?
Through the years I developed as a driver and swapped quite a few cars over time. I have not used any coaching or sim racing, but watched a lot of videos online with my favorites where Ken Block slaying tires on the Gymkhana course.
I would say the changing point in my life was when I entered the very first Gymkhana Grid European Gauntlet organized by Monster Energy back in 2012, with a qualifying round at Silverstone and then winning the finals at Santa Pod later that year where Ken Block himself showcased Gymkhana as one of the most exciting Motorsport disciplines to watch and to be a part of.
In 2013 I was so hungry for Gymkhana, that I have partnered with Forge Motorsport and Scoobyclinic who helped me to build my first proper race Subaru Impreza, which allowed me to enter 3 qualifying rounds of Gymkhana Grid across Europe (France, Spain, UK) winning every single round and then taking the win during the grand finals back in Spain.
By 2015 I had 4 consecutive years of Champion titles in Gymkhana Grid behind my belt and was named as the most successful AWD driver in Gymkhana Grid of all times as quoted by Monster Energy.
Apart from Gymkhana, Drag race, Time Attack and Sprints I have competed in Rally Cross Championship for 2 full seasons where I claimed a vice Champion title both years.
To date I managed to claim over 140 podiums / 96 wins / 17 Championship titles across all disciplines, I would like to point out that all of the success is the result of the greatest support I received from my sponsors and partners.
How did your relationship with Samsonas Motorsport begin? How has it developed over the years?
I heard about Samsonas Transmissions long ago and that they are very popular in rally and drift.
At the time I was already competing in Gymkhana Grid in the international arena with my SCR Impreza, the competition was very tough and I had a lot of issues with the original gearbox, it was absolutely clear that I needed an upgrade. So when I started to plan the BRZ AWD project, I approached Martynas, SEO of Samsonas Motorsport with my detailed plan about the car and my intention to make it one of the wildest BRZs in the world. I guess that Martynas liked my idea and advised that the AWD sequential version would suit it best, then Martynas connected me with Ewen MacRay at Clark Motorsport who was the main dealer of Samsonas Transmissions in the UK to get things arranged.
That’s how our relationship with Samsonas Motorsport began. The BRZ project was a success, I have won British Barrel Sprint Championship same year after car was debuted and then won every other season in Formula G Championship while setting outstanding results in many other race events for the past 6 years including a class win during very popular Quick 60 event by Hillclimb Monsters in 2023 at Mallory Park.
The car also made its appearance at the World Finals of Gymkhana Grid in South Africa in 2018 and Poland in 2019 where it competed against top world drivers such as Petter Solberg and Head Hoonigan in Charge Ken Block.
Looks like you are doing well with the SCR BRZ AWD. Why this car and why AWD, which is not the usual choice for racing on hard surfaces?
In general, I do like Subarus, especially Impreza GC8 is still one of my favorite cars, but when the BRZ came out back in 2012, it was obvious that the new era and modern cars were here to replace the older classics one day.
First of all the BRZ is a nicely made slick car in my opinion, it’s very balanced and very lightweight same as the GC8 at approximately 1250kg from the factory. BRZ is slightly shorter, but wider rather than GC8, on the other hand with 2 major downpoints being a nonturbo and rear wheel drive, so I had to skip that chassis and waited when Subaru would introduce the STI version, but 5 years later still nothing on the horizon from the Subaru, so in 2017 I decided to make my own STI AWD version of BRZ.
Why AWD, well I had an opportunity in my life to drive and compete in all sorts of road sports cars and I must admit that I felt in love during my very first drive in an Impreza., the way it handles and accelerates with AWD drivetrain was very impressive, everything happening a lot faster compared to 2WD cars where I found it a bit boring and felt like in slow motion.
1 year later Gymkhana spec boosted SCR BRZ AWD made it debut at 2018 Autosport International Show
During that year car was developed further and finallly competed in Gymkhana Grid World Finals in South Africa.
Since then car went through various modifications including recent conversion from Gymkhana to a Sprint spec setup.
You are revealing more and more about your very interesting Mini Suber project. Is there a background story to this project and what does the future hold for this little AWD monster?
The background story was that despite a successful BRZ AWD I also wanted to build a short wheelbase Gymkhana car with a shorter body overall. Originally I almost started to build a Peugeot 206 WRC replica with Subaru running gear, but then had a plan change to a Mini Suber.
I had an intention to use Mini Suber during planned Gymkhana Grid world finals 2021 in the USA, but with the Covid19 it all got canceled and then later due to the death of Ken Block the future of Gymkhana Grid on a global scale is under big question.
Gymkhana is very popular around the world and I know the series running in many countries, but I have not seen anything like it was back in the days when Monster Energy and Ken Block were behind this scene.
I just wish that one day we could pull out one massive Gymkhana Grid international event in memory of Ken Block.
With all above in mind, Mini Suber still going to be finished and planned to be used as a multi discipline weapon and demo car.
Currently, Mini Suber is in its final stages of the build, we should see it running later this season and of course, it will run AWD Samsonas sequential transmission.
Speaking of the technical side, how do you develop your cars? How do you find the right parts and solutions?
In general, I do love everything automotive and to create something new and not ordinary is the best part of the process.
We have all seen the famous Ken Block Gymkhana videos, but how does it all work in a races like Formula G?
Formula G is a smaller version of the Gymkhana Grid, I would like to point out that there is a difference between Gymkhana videos where we can see Ken Block smoking tires while going sideways and actual Gymkhana Grid or Formula G where 2 drivers compete against each other on a mirrored track, drivers must navigate their cars around a series of obstacles including slaloms, 180 degree turns, 360 degree turns, figure-of-eights, or other challenges using a combination of grip and slip to complete the course in the fastest time.
It seems that you race a lot – how does that fit in with your personal life?
I would say it’s a lifestyle where my personal life has to fit in, not the other way around.
Are there more people behind your racing career?
Luckily I do have good friends, sponsors and partners who always help me bring to life my ideas.
Every project starts with analysis and research, consultations and detailed plan. Then source of chassis, parts, materials and most importantly is a time to complete.
What other racing disciplines would you like to race or plan to race in the future?
Currently I compete in a few different disciplines:
Formula G which is a British Gymkhana Championship, since 2023 I have entered in my side project Mazda MX5 NC aka “Chainsaw” which was the least modified car in a PRO Class last year, but now its a brutally boosted 2.5 Duratec swapped V8 destroyer.
While the BRZ AWD I use in Javelin and Toyota Sprint Championship, and occasional in drag racing and other sprint events.
During the season I enter approx 20 different events.
