Last weekend, the new season of the drifting championship, the Demon Energy D1NZ, kicked off in New Zealand. The venue to host the first series round was Manfeild, a track rich in racing history, located in the south of the island. The beginning of spring, the southern part of the country, a six-hour car journey from Auckland, an unfavourable weather forecast for the weekend. All these factors were suggesting two exciting days that would leave lasting memories. We just had to go.
Weather forecast did not let us down. All predictions came true. The temperature was hovering somewhere around zero, the wind was baffling, bringing rain and hail. Terrific.
There were cars updated for the new season right in the middle of this apocalypse. They were cutting the mirror-like surface like colourful Noah's arks.
Day one. Battles in pro-AM class and practice sessions in Pro class. Considering a lower level of training of the competitors in the amateur class, they learned a great lesson from nature on “how to control aquaplaning” and they did a really good job. Contrary to expectations, there were no major accidents. Some of the cars went off the track or drifted on their rims, like, for instance, Dylan Woolhouse in the image below.
Top three drivers in Pro-AM standings:
1. Troy Jenkins (Auckland, Precision Wheels Nissan S14) 102 points
2. Adam Davies (Tauranga, Mimico Nissan 180SX/13B) 100 points
3. Joel Paterson (Hamilton, Toyota AE86) 84 points
All the action began on day two with Pro drivers springing into action. At first, I was disappointed. Three drivers whose style I find appealing did not enter this season’s D1NZ championship. Those three are MadMike, who claims to be involved in other racing series, Shane Van Gisbergen, who cites the same reason, and Zak Pole, who had moved to Europe. And I tell you what, the grid got empty without them.
Fortunately, there are still several competitors left, whose aggressive driving style guarantees both great audience appeal and thrilling photos of the event.
Coincidentally, just a few days after the D1, Australia hosts a round of Formula Drift Asia. That is why a four-time D1 champion Gaz Whiter was driving Shaun Yearbury's Nissan Laurel. Last time this car saw the track in 2007 and right now it’s an ambitious city car with nice audio system, road-going suspension setup and other luxuries of a comfortable life. At the moment, Gaz Whiter’s Nissan Silvia is heading towards the coast of Australia.
Manfeild is an interesting track, featuring elevation changes and crafty corners. For instance, this time the configuration of the judged section suggested active braking right after the high-speed section so that the drivers were able to drift into the hairpin, where they had to continue at a considerably lower speed.
This was where the drama happened, in the hairpin. Two holders of championship titles, Gaz Whiter and Daniel Woolhouse, could not dodge each other and collided.
At first, the accident did not seem serious. However, soon it became clear that Gaz’s car suffered front suspension problems and could not leave the track under its own power.
Daniel Woolhouse was able to leave the track unaided. However, the car was heavily damaged and he had to put it on the trailer and borrow Pro-AM rookie Ben Jenkins' Nissan Silvia for the battles.
I guess Daniel had hard time adopting to a not that powerful turbo “lighter” after his Holden, featuring a naturally aspirated engine and producing torque like a locomotive. Nevertheless, he fought to the end and was defeated by Andrew Redward in Top-8.
Even though Gaz was able to repair his car by the finals, one could see that it definitely had some steering problems and Gaz dropped out of the battle.
The 2012 D1NZ champion Curt Whittaker was not satisfied with his car’s performance either. Under the bonnet of his Nissan Skyline R34, instead of the familiar 2JZ-GTE that used to excite so much wonder, there was a wicked 750-hp Ford Nascar V8 peeping out viciously.
Curt says that he is not quite happy with the car’s behaviour so far. The engine is lightweight, which leads to oversteer when setting the wheels at a certain angle.
Before the second round, the team hopes to adjust the car to Curt’s aggressive driving style.
The drivers were experiencing endless technical problems and quite soon the not well-informed spectators started losing track of who was driving whose car.
Eventually, two podium places went to competitors in borrowed cars, who had never been driving them before. I find it absolutely amazing!
Adam Hedges was driving Troy Jenkins' Nissan Silvia. He was defeated by Andrew Redward on his way to the finals in a tight podium battle. However, he still managed to clinch third place by beating Daynom Templeman.
Andrew Redward took second place.
It wasn't the best way to start his day, when he hit the wall smashing the left part of his car in that merciless hairpin. The team was able to get the car running again before the qualifying runs and Andrew managed to climb the podium.
First place was claimed by an ambitious Darren Kelly.
He became D1NZ Pro-Am champion in the 2012/2013 season and climbed the Pro podium last year. This time he raced to the first place in Pro class behind the wheel of a car he was driving for the first time on the day of the race.
His Nissan Skyline R34 failed to function when losing spark on 2nd and 3rd cylinders. That is why he had to borrow the R32. Congratulations to Darren and wishing him more victories.
See you in Auckland. The night battle in the concrete jungle of the MT-Smart stadium is quite teasing, and promises a thrilling event. Only 3 weeks to go until Round 2.
