Grip Shift Slide :: 155 Days In 30 Pics.

Grant — Thu, 29 Dec 2011 21:24:55 +0000

In less than just 48 hours 2011 will be over, bringing with it a whole new year of race days and feature cars that will be gracing these pages for your viewing pleasure.
In just five short months we have grown from the very humble idea between Grant and I in our seedy motel room in the suburbs of Sydney last August, to seemingly overnight having a blog covering local events and cars with over 1100 followers on Facebook and 1000’s of visitors each week.
Here is a quick look back on what Grip Shift Slide has done in 2011…
Five Months, One Hundred And Fifty Five Days… Thirty Photographs.

Pan Speed RX7 – World Time Attack, Eastern Creek Raceway, Sydney.
Having a project like this has helped us meet some amazing people and gain access to some pretty incredible events, shooting at the World Time Attack is easily my favorite automotive experience. ( besides riding shotgun with Nigel late this year)

Jawsh Rogers S14 – Winton Raceway, Melbourne.
Shooting regular drift days has become a big social event. Each time I attend one, I seem to talk to someone new and find myself in an ever growing circle of friends.

Mad Mike’s Red Bull RX7 – Tectaloy Drift Challange, Eastern Creek Raceway, Sydney.
I’ll never forget the haunting sound of Mike’s quad rotor screaming in the distance as it approached the first corner that night.

R32 GT-R – Calder Park Raceway, Melbourne.
Along the way we have snapped some pretty interesting cars even just in the parking lots at some events.

Ken Block Australian Tour – Calder Park Raceway, Melbourne.
Seeing some of the biggest names in the automotive world perform live was a huge buzz for us, to capture a moment like this makes it all worth while…
What with all the angry girlfriends, late nights, long drives and all the costs involved.
We still get a smile on our faces looking at these photos.

Australian Drifting Grand Prix, Round Two – Queensland Raceway, Queensland.
Sometimes we simply can’t afford the time off work or travel expenses, we thankfully have some very talented friends across the country.

Australian Drifting Grand Prix, Round Two – Queensland Raceway, Queensland.
Having someone else shoot for our blog was a little nerve racking at first, but sharing the love and workload was a great success with some absolutely top shots and event coverage.
We hope to have more friends involved next year to help bring more content and exclusive cars from interstate.

Tech Sport Evo X, Track Battle Round One – Calder Park Raceway, Melbourne.
At each event we attend, we try and focus on getting that one shot, that shot that makes or breaks the whole day.
All these photos are our favorite shots and memories thrown together to make the whole year!

Agess’s 180SX, Australian Drifting Grand Prix Round One – Calder Park Raceway, Melbourne.
We have witnessed some well deserved victories along the way, capturing a moment like this really shows just how much some of these guys want to win.

Papa’s 200SX, Australian Drifting Grand Prix Round One – Calder Park Raceway, Melbourne.
It’s easy to forget that all theses people pour their blood, sweat, tears and heart and more often than not gain nothing in return.

KE30 Corolla, Classic Japan – Yarra Park, Melbourne.
Sometimes I would be taken out of my comfort zone taking photos of cars I hardly knew, to say this year has been a learning experience would be a massive understatement!

Ender’s S13, Drift Attack – Calder Park Raceway, Melbourne.
A massive motivator has been finding our photos being linked and shared around the internet.

Stirling Wright’s R33, Drift Attack – Calder Park Raceway, Melbourne.
The support we have been getting from fans, drivers and event organizers has been overwhelming at times.
Just a few months ago we were ‘no-bodies’.
Now we are ‘no-bodies’ with our stickers on some cars!

Nigel Petrie’s ETS UTE – Engineered To Slide Headquarters, Melbourne.
Having the chance to shoot one-on-one with such an awesome build was an extraordinary experience, seeing the craft that goes into such a build was out of this world. Particularly seeing that it was built in a not so extraordinary space made it feel like such an achievement.

JZX100 ‘Camry’ – Winton Raceway, Melbourne.
Trying to get a photo while an owner of a car looks on can be a little awkward at times, as most owners are pretty protective of their cars.

Hardtuned.net Charity Cruise – Docklands, Melbourne.
Holding a massive camera is a great conversation starter and helps when introducing yourself to the owner of a modified car, as approaching almost certainly offends.

JDM Style Tuning, End Of Year Meet – Docklands, Melbourne.
Every event we attend, we get the same sense of excitement looking for a car that catches our eyes.

Azza Bird’s 180SX – Winton Raceway, Melbourne.
We are a pretty determined bunch here at Grip Shift Slide, we don’t take “NO” for an answer…
Sometimes getting photos has required leaping of fences, trekking through vast valleys in the forrest or simply walking around a bloody huge track.

Rob Roy Hill Climb – Melbourne.
The year has brought us some interesting cars and racing events, with Rob Roy Hill Climb and Vic Rally being high on that list.
We never truly get to appreciate some of the classic cars doing what they’re built for… Driving really fast!

JDM Style Tuning, End Of Month Meet – Docklands, Melbourne.
Meeting owners and finding cars to feature has only been a recent development of our site, so far we have been met with open arms and met some very interesting people.

Q Scan’s GT-R – World Time Attack, Eastern Creek Raceway, Sydney.
Seeing incoming traffic from countries all over the world has also put smiles on our faces, eagerly checking site stats early in the mornings before work.
It keeps us going through our boring 9-5 days at work, just so we can get home and edit some new photos.

Tom Monkhouse’s 180SX – Australian Drifting Grand Prix Round One, Calder Park Raceway, Melbourne.
Sending stickers across the country and occasionally the globe has kept us very busy offline, not only do we get a thrill seeing our stickers on a car but the small amount of profit helps us get to events and buy our camera gear. every cent helps!

Classic Japan – Yarra Bend Park, Melbourne.
Our Facebook page has been a massive success during our time online, with loads of fans eagerly checking each day.

Holden Hurricane – Autoclassica, Royal Exhibition Building, Melbourne.
We hope that flooding you guys with tons of pics from each event keeps you entertained between boring status updates, logging on and seeing the network of fans grow and comment as people tag each others cars has been a great thing for us to watch.

VW Scirocco – World Time Attack, Eastern Creek Raceway, Sydney.
There hasn’t been a single dull moment working on the site, there is always something happening behind the scenes.

Pile Up #4, Hot Rod Show. Doncaster, Melbourne.
2012 will see the launch of our online shop, making it easier to grab stickers and future merchandise.

JDM Style Tuning, End Of Year Meet – Docklands, Melbourne.
Designing T-shirts is something we have been doing of late and hope to have something out early next year.

Rob Roy Hill Climb – Melbourne.
Onwards and upwards, we have our sights set on some big things next year and hope to become a household name when it comes to modified cars in Australia!

Nigel Petrie 180SX – Winton Raceway, Melbourne.
Definitely up on my list of people to thank for the year is Nigel, from the first time I spoke with him he always had a moment to chat.
Suited up in race gear and in uncomfortable warm weather he never seems a million miles away, happily chatting to fans and other drivers.
Without Nigel’s friendly and helpful nature, we would not have had such a great success with this site in the short time that it’s been online.
Thanks for all the help along the way, here’s to another great year of drifting in Australia.

Lotus Exige, Rob Roy Hill Climb – Melbourne.
We hope you have enjoyed looking at these photos as much as we enjoyed taking them.

Mitsubishi Evo VI, Calder Drags – Calder Park Raceway, Melbourne.
From everyone involved here at Grip Shift Slide thank you and have a safe and happy new year too!!
We’ll be back with a feature car or two in the first few weeks, until then…
Thanks for reading,
– Gwyn.

World Time Attack 2011 :: Roundup

Grant — Mon, 22 Aug 2011 21:35:24 +0000

That’s right it’s a moving picture! this is just a quick montage of the sights and sounds of WTAC. -grant

Tectaloy:: International Drift Challange

Grant — Tue, 16 Aug 2011 12:56:28 +0000

As the lights went up and the sun came down, WTAC was over, but for most spectators
the real fun was just about begin.

It was easy to see by the crowds and skill level of every driver that the Tectaloy Drift Challenge was going to
be a huge success.

Not even 30 minutes into the practice night, disaster struck as Cole Armstrong (NZ driver of the
V Energy R34) entered the corner as this S13 spun out mid drift.

Both Cole and the driver of the s13 Khudar El Haouli, walked away unharmed. The same cannot be said
for the cars after the 100+kph impact.

The show went on and the drivers relaxed, however I could not help but feel this car was giving me
some serious ‘stink eye’ as it flew past.

Drift utes have never been my thing, however this car was pretty impressive during the practice drifts
but it did not make it into the top 8.

An absolute crowd favorite was Lloyd Smith’s V8 swapped KE70 Corolla, the smoke from the rear end was insane!. Lloyd also missed out on the top 8 by only two spots!

You could be forgiven if you had thought an F1 car had made it on to the track, the sound from
Mad Mike’s quad rotor screaming as it entered the corner was stupidly loud!

As the second night progressed, the drivers started pulling out all the stops, high speed
entries and extreme angles.

The harder the drivers pushed, scraping the rumble strip became a frequent event with sparks flying everywhere.

Again…

And again…

My personal favorite for both skill and car, Beau Yates, Australian driver of this potent AE86.

This 180sx piloted by Internet star Nigel Petrie, famous for his work in progress “drift Hilux” that has been getting some limelight across the net.

This RX7 driven by NZ Driver Daynom Templeman placed 2nd overall, despite being overshadowed by Mad Mike’s flames during the battles, very impressive!

Beau Yates managed a very respectable 3rd.

The Drift Squid S13 provided a great smoke show for the crowd, coming in at 9th place. not too shabby given the caliber of some of the drivers.

My last pic for the Tectaloy coverage. It’s easy to see why Mad Mike’s RX7 has literally, been burnt into the minds of the spectators.

Easily the best drift event held on Australian soil, the Tectaloy International Drift Challenge showed off some great rivalry between Aus and NZ, leaving the crowd begging for more. For the results of the competition head over to worldtimeattack.com
With talks of another event in the works for next year, here at Grip Shift Slide we’re excited to see what next year holds.

In the meantime we will be covering next months Drift GP here in Melbourne.
Thanks for reading
– Gwyn.

Tectaloy Drift Attack 2011 – Gripshiftslide

Grip Shift Slide :: 155 Days In 30 Pics.

World Time Attack 2011 :: Roundup

Tectaloy:: International Drift Challange