Well Had the Last round of the drift on Saturday and gotta say I had a ball. First trip out was straight into it, we had a 1/2 hour block that was both the practice and qualifying and I was in the first group out for the day. Went out for 2 or 3 practice laps and had gotten to the standard at the end of my first drift round. Then did my first qualifying round and it was fairly tidy. Spent the next couple of laps playing with entry speeds and using some higher gears for some of the corners. Using a higher gear instantly made C-red A LOT easier to maintain a more steady angle and after 2 or 3 laps of playing with that I was much happier with the second qualifying lap. Turns out the judges must have liked what I was doing this time a bit better too as I ended up qualifying 5th in group B! That worked well for me as I was up against someone a bit closer to my skill level for the first battle. However Whilst waiting around for everyone else to practice and qualify and then a lunch break the clouds slowly crept in until about 10 minutes before I went out for my first battle the rain came down! So there I am having never drifted in the rain (well not at speed anyway) or driven barbegello in the rain before about to have my first battle and the track was soaked. Turns out the guy I was up against had similar concerns... The first round I was the runner, I was surprised When I shot away from him on the start straight, he obviously was concerned about under steer at the entry to turn 1. I was a little conservative in that lap and found my feet reasonably quickly, however when I saw him spin in the rear view mirror I eased off again being ultra careful and still nearly put my car around when I got into the handbrake too early at the hairpin. The second run as chaser I was more confident with my driving and knew I would have to really munch it to miss out. Off we went and again his launch was quite reserved. This was great for me as it meant I could get nice and close for the entry to turn one. I got a better entry then him as he tried to fient in but didn't flick quickly enough, about 1/2 way through turn one I start to see him pick up angle rapidly and realised he was going to spin again. I straightened a little and as he went around I got the car back sideways so I could pass while drifting. Again I got back on the conservative side as there was no point in snatching defeat from the jaws of victory. I had gotten through and had my first ever win in a battle (2nd battle ever, lol) From there was into the top 8, up against another S13. Again a long wait in between sips, meanwhile the clouds have cleared up and the track is once again dry! At first I thought that would be a good thing, but as it turns out I gripped up for the first couple of corners on my first run (chaser) and I was clearly behind in the points count. I had to really pull something good off in the second run, and while I didn't run too badly, he was better... So a top 8 finish (group B) and a bunch of fun had in the process! I also had a video camera strapped to my helmet, so hopefully Ill be able to get some video footage up sooner or later, however it turns out I move my head quite a bit while driving! Furthermore I ran out of batteries before I had a chance to mount it somewhere else (before the second battle too). My internet has been shaped for the rest of this week, so I might be able to upload some footage this weekend. Ran into Franz at one point and heard a notice on the PA that a blue 300zx had left their lights on in the car park! Sorry I didn't get to meet anyone else there, next time be sure to come and grab me and say G'day! I saw some posts in the coming events thread before it was deleted, so I know some of you were there! If anyone has photos I would love to see them as it turns out the photography companies there aren't the Biggest fan's of the humble Z. Thanks very much for coming along as well, and feel free to give me any comments, good or bad! Thanks guys, hope anyone who was watching had a good time too and Ill get back to you with some media ASAP!
Congratulations! My next door neighbour also competed, but I can't remember where he placed. 6th-8th kind of area from memory. Driving 180sx. :zlove:
I have found a couple of pics online The ones of me in the battles are during the lap I gripped up =( I could have sworn I saw a flash while I was overtaking the s13... oh well This one from the practice/qualifying is pretty good: Clicky Clicky Videos are still to come, I might play with them and put some of the better bits together into one video, then next time I will hopefully have figured out a spot to put my camera! As for licensing you need to have a CAMS L2NS at least, and a WASCC membership (WASCC is calender year and its about 260 bucks so wait for next year!)
