ADGP Round 1 :: Off The Track And In The Pits

Day two, round 1 of the Australian Drifting GP. This was the view i was greeted with 8am Sunday morning, not a single straight panel as far as the eye could see…

Nic Wilson’s Chaser was looking a little hurt from kissing the wall. Don’t worry, I’m sure it will buff out.

Even the pros had some battle scars. Nigel Petrie’s 180SX had this small scuff from taping the wall.

Luke Fink’s 200SX looked suspiciously clean after a day of qualifying, I think this reinforces his level of skill. He manged to score top spot for the first round of ADGP.

Pretty much the best looking drift car from the event – Ryan Cumming’s S13.5 was a stunner.

Round 1 offered some spectators a ‘VIP’ parking section inside the track, this made for easy hunting to find some special cars.
Like this Initial D inspired Toyota Sprinter.

Or this particularly rare Legnum, Mitsubishi’s answer to the Nissan Stagea.  It’s pretty much an Evo wagon and I wouldn’t underestimate one at the traffic lights.
 

Bayside Blue R34. Does it get any better…? Oh it’s V-Spec too!

Nissan R30 Skyline hatchback…  now this really is something you don’t see everyday.

This clean Nissan Cefiro looks like it came down from Sydney for the event.

And the award for the most intense looking car goes to this ‘angry wasp’ S15.

Love the fitment on this S14.

A very fresh looking R34 Skyline.

Purple S15 on Gold Volks, yes please!

One of my favorite cars in the local scene, Jawsh’s red 200SX is definitely one tough ride.

Mx5’s are increasingly popular here thanks to some overseas examples being shared across the internet.

This little red AE86 had a crowd the whole day, it was easy to see why looking under the bonnet…

It was packing this very tidy rotory engine. I wish I could have stuck around to hear it turn over.

Nice to see a few cars rocking some ‘GSS’ stickers, thanks for the support boys!

I’m a big fan of the twin pipe exhaust that everyone seems to be rocking these days. However I want some more extreme setups, like the bosozoku cars in Japan.

This Clean S15 looked simple enough, nice offset and mismatched wheels…

Check out the huge pipes coming out the back! This is the sort of crazy exhaust setups I want to see here in Australia.

This Sil80 had a crowd around it most of the day, the car had such a presence about it. It’s hard to believe it spends most of it’s time sliding around a track.

I was not expecting to see an old school caddy at a drift day, it made quite a scene when it started pumping the hydraulics.

Now there was a small amount of Honda’s around the event, like this VIP Accord Euro with black roof.

This is possibly one of the best CRX Del Sols in the country, simple and clean with 15″ mesh wheels.

And a 5 stud conversion… I was itching to see what was under the bonnet but never found the owner.

Also one of the best S2000’s was also at Calder Park over the weekend, wearing a Mugen Hardtop and Project Mu brakes. I was in love…

Perfect height and no gap to be seen.

This is the cleanest Silvia I think I have ever seen.

Mikey from Team Tuffcore, trying to steal the ETS Ute print signed by Nigel Petrie.

Tony B and the crew from Vic Drift were putting on quite a show, playing ‘pin the wing on the drift car’.

If you look closely in this pic, you can see Aaron from Stiffdiff.com.

Nigel’s partner Celia tried her luck, she got the wing in exactly the right spot!!! But it was upside down!

While the placement of the wing in this pic would still be functional for some extra down force, it didn’t get any prizes.

The Vic Drift boys did a great job pulling in the crowd and giving out prizes all day. The print of Nigel’s Ute was won during a massive game of ‘Rock, Paper, Scissors’ and about 30 people played that round.

Billie’s ‘Ziptie’ Sil80 still getting attention as everyone started to pack up and leave.

And finally my favorite car in the show stands was this R31 Skyline from De Croft Clothing. Perfect stance and little additions like the roof racks made this car stand out.
 
ADGP Round 1 was an awesome event, with the next round this weekend all eyes will be on Queensland Raceway.
The best of the best will be battling all weekend, with Luke Fink defending his top spot from the first round and Rob Whyte and Jake Jones competing as well.
Nigel Petrie is still a possible late entry as well, so it really will be the round to watch.
We will have full coverage of the weekend so check back to see the action here on Grip Shift Slide, and be sure to check out the ADGP website for more information.
Thanks for reading,
– Gwyn.