Levi Clarke – Gripshiftslide

ADGP :: Round 3, The Twilight Throwdown

Grant — Thu, 12 Feb 2015 22:09:32 +0000

The Australian Drift Grand Prix has been up and running for the last five years. Every year, the competition continues to get more fierce, amidst competitors rebuilding their cars nearly every round. These cars continue to get lighter with new engine configurations every round that not only push the boundary’s but also push the budget.

Round 3 took place in South Australia at the well known Mallala race track, being only a one hour drive from Adelaide this track is very accessible for those who live in Adelaide. But, if you have driven from Melbourne it is a 9-hour trip with 3 cans of V and lots of bad food.

It was great to see that Micheal Bonney had made the trip up with his trusty s15! complete with new livery design and a few little aero add-ons.
Mallala is a very flat and open track, great if you’re trying to track predators yet not super interesting to the eye. The track is similar to Winton Race Way in the fact that it is a very dry wide open track, the advantage of this is if you mess up your not really going to hit anything but sandtraps.

In all my time I have never seen a temporary grandstand made permanent, constructed of compressed wood boards and scaffolding this grandstand had some serious character. Walking on this was like a chose your own adventure book, patched together like an inherited patchwork quilt. With every step you could feel this raw construction gowning underweight, with one wrong step and you could plummet to the ground!

Rob Whyte’s car looked as though it was having some early morning teething problems, yet i was confident we would see him and his wild machine on track regardless of any problems the car was having.

The always hard charging Micheal Rosenblatt was back in great form, the car looked fantastic and his driving was quickly on point.

This was only the second time Rob Whytes new car had competed this year. Although he has taken out the championship many years in a row this year looks to be his hardest on record.

This car is the second loudest car I have every witnessed with its all new modified sprint car v8! the sound literally causes your inner ear to retreat further into your skull for protection. Josh Boettcher is a serious contender! well traveled with a huge amount of experience and tonnes of talent.

Drivers had free run of the track most of the day with no local club traffic to deal with! this meant the pro’s could really get a great handle on the track’s layout. Getting as close to the clipping points while keeping up the speed on this track was the main aim! While many couldn’t get the snap transition into the second corner quite right, Josh Boettcher looked to have no trouble with this section at all.

After the middle snap transition was a long corner that seemed to continue forever, Some drivers could turn this into great angle near the end of the corner while other chose to maintain a medium angle around the whole corner.

Brent Gordon has really stepped up his game! Qualifying first! beating a whole host of super experienced pro’s while navigating the clipping points like his car was on rails.

Battle weapon always puts on a great show! Finny O’hare really know what he his doing behind the wheel yet when those competition nerves get the best of him sometimes he makes silly mistakes.
Putting down some solid runs Finny managed to Qualify tenth position setting himself right in the middle of the pack.

The R31 skyline is over 20 years old, but this chassis can still hold its own against some of the most modern cars of today. Jack Widdas keeps being knocked out by the top 5 drivers in the championship only because he often gets a raw deal when it comes to the top 16. We predict that next season he will move from the top ten group up into the top 5.

The top 32 battles were over very quickly with not many re-runs or stoppages during the competition. The top 16 grid looked ready for war with many of the drivers gaining surprise entry’s into the top 16. One being Catherine May who had earlier struggled with the course but now had forged her way up the ladder with some big names making mistakes early.

Being a great driver across many disciplines takes incredible skill! Shane Van Gisbergen is one driver that not only competes in V8 Supercars, but also has driven at WTAC and now has found himself a spot in the Australian Drift Grand Prix. Qualifying filth with some incredible entry speeds plus great proximity to the clipping points shows that Shane know’s how to play the game.

The most violent car of the day was Michael Bonney’s crazy powerful S15. Michael’s car had such an extreme transitional snap whenever the handbrake was touched! it was like the car could go from lock to opposite lock within a fraction of a second.

Already known as one of the nicest guys in drift Matt Russell ended up sharing his car with Jarred Klingberg due to jarred’s car suffering a major engine problem in the top 32 battles.

Matt Russell always finds himself up against a super powerful car and often the power outweighs the light nimble AE86. With Some great chase runs and plenty of flair Matt fought hard to finish in the top 8.

The hero of the day was Micheal Rosenblatt! like a possessed warrior he took down many high ranking officers. It was a shame not to see Beau Yates up against Rosenblatt! unfortunately, Beau could not get the new engine swap complete in his Toyota 86 quick enough to compete in Round 3.

A true nail biting set of finals were on the cards with Rob Whyte out the championship was suddenly wide open for Nick Coulson / Micheal Rosenblatt the winner of this battle would determine the current leader of the series.

Levi Clarke is a strong contented and it was no surprise to see him in the final of round 3 up against the hard charging Rosenblatt! Never afraid of a chase

A well deserved win went to Micheal Rosenblatt, he knocked out the best of the best to claim the win with Levi Clarke hot on his heels in second place. Third place went to Brent Gordon who along with Micheal Rosenblatt were the stand out drivers of the day. With only one more round to go in the championship and just eighteen points separating the top two drivers anything could happen!
Thanks for reading,
Grant

Top Gear Festival Sydney :: Fuel Injected Fun

Grant — Sat, 15 Mar 2014 04:44:26 +0000

Top Gear Festival has been and gone, leaving behind the memories of two action packed days that were filled with bumper to bumper, side splitting fun.
The festival plays out like any episode of BBC’s beloved Top Gear series, informative car reviews, intelligent and in depth opinions on all things automotive and of course relevant real world tests which help consumers make their next four wheeled purchase, armed with all the facts.
At least that’s how the show would be without the three aging, quirky and downright childish presenters we have grown to love over the last twelve years. The Top Gear Festival packs up this 60 minute motoring TV show into a shipping container along with two of the hosts and a man simply known as The Stig and they get sent all over the world where tears of laughter are sure to follow.

The Australian leg of the tour was hosted at Sydney Motorsport park for it’s second year and once again saw Jeremy Clarkson and James May entertain record breaking crowds at Sydney’s racing circuit. Yes, that’s Bruno Senna strapped into a Nissan Micra bungee as it falls towards the ground!!

They again attempted to speed up the Australian Postal service in a nail biting postie bike race, a true blue Aussie event that saw exhilarating speeds in excess of 30kmh!!! James May hadn’t seen anything quite as exciting before.

Aside from the usual Top Gear antics, there was loads of genuine motoring action and racing all weekend. Australian Rally Champion, Neil Bates, was showing his classic Toyota Rally car still had all the moves.

When Neil is not racing the clock, expect a show! His skills could put some of Australia’s top drifters to shame.

The absolutely stunning Erebus Motorsport AMG SLS GT3 car. This striking piece of machinery was part of the Ultimate Speed Showdown, where six vehicles from a super bike to an F1 car, would go head to head for the fastest lap.

One of the new kids on the block for the V8 Super car series was the Mercedes Benz E63 V8 Super-car. It was another member of the Erebus Motorsport team that joined the fray for the Ultimate Speed Showdown. The team had plenty to prove over the weekend to the huge crowds.

Betty Klimenko nervously watching the Ultimate Speed Showdown unfold after a bet between her Erebus team and Redbull, with the loser having to wash the winning car. We’re not sure if Betty has ever seen an F1 car in action.

Troy Bayliss hugged the corners on his Ducati Super Bike as he raced around the circuit with 5 cars during the showdown.

As the showdown came to an end, all eyes were on the Erebus E63 and the Redbull RB7 F1 Car…

Who was the winner and who was going to be washing the car?

Ricciardo’s smile said it all! Betty lived up to her end of the deal and she washed the RB7 by hand with a bucket and sponge.

Not all the attractions were on the track however. There was a massive static display dedicated to the late Ayrton Senna. Recognised as one of the best F1 drivers and still sits as the third most successful driver of all time in terms of overall race wins.

Curating the exhibition, Formula One driver Bruno Senna, nephew of Ayrton Senna.
Bruno gave a heartfelt insight into his Uncles’ life and what inspired him and countless others to pursue racing and even just to be a better person each and every day.

On display was Aryton’s winning McLaren MP4/4, a marvel of it’s time. Winning 15 of it’s 16 races during the 1988 season.

Weighing a mere 540kg and powered by a 1.5l Honda V6 engine, using twin turbo chargers to produce 900bhp!!
Ayrton took pole position 13 times in this car and won 8 races.

Aryton’s iconic helmet was also on show, if you haven’t yet watched the ‘Senna’ documentary, it is a definite must watch and even if F1 doesn’t interest you, this is a film that will move you.

McLaren unveiled the 650s, this was it’s first Australian appearance here at the Top Gear Festival.

The Coupe’s sales brochure announces some pretty impressive numbers. 0-100 in 3 seconds and a full quarter mile in just 10.5 seconds! This performance puts the 650S’ sprint to 200km/h in 8.4 sec, a full second quicker than the iconic McLaren F1

There isn’t a boring line on this car! Taking it’s design cues from the McLaren P1, this car was built to excite!

Huge cross drilled brakes help stop this car when things get a bit hairy.

The Mercedes built AMG engine is garnished with all the McLaren composite trimmings, making it a thing of astonishing beauty.

It seems any excuse will do to invite along Australia’s best drifters to tear it up around Sydney Motorsport Park and as it turns out, the Top Gear Festival is no exception.

Crowds love smoke shows and who better to help make some clouds than SA’s very own Drift Squid. Jake made the journey from South Australia to take part of the Just Car Insurance drift demos.

Sydney’s Hit n’ Run’s V8 powered S15 was showing off some fresh battle scars to the crowds, we still think this is one of the best looking cars around.

The star of the show was Levi Clarke in the Exedy S15. Levi wowed the crowds with some huge entries and massive plumes of coloured smoke.

At one point Levi successfully blocked out sky with the biggest smoke show we’ve ever seen!!

It just wouldn’t be Top Gear without a display of cars I couldn’t hope to be able to ever afford.

The usual affair of bulls and horses.

Now this was as rare as it gets… The only Pagani Zonda Roadster in Australia!!

The Stig put in a couple of hot laps in with the topless McLaren 12C Spider in front of the crowds.

Top Gear invited some of the countries best drag racers out and the deafening drag cars kept fingers in ears, corn farmers in business and onlookers on the edges of their seats.
The Gas Motorsport BMW lost control after a big launch and narrowly missed the walls after hitting the grass and sliding 50+ meters before coming to a stop.

Some tried their hand at power skidding and it seems Agges from the Insane Drifters approved of this Camaro’s efforts.

The weekend was coming to an end, but things weren’t over for Red bull’s Daniel Ricciardo. The team was getting set for another attempt at the lap record for Sydney Motorsport Park.

Ricciardo had already beaten Mark Webbers time from last year by just 500th’s of a second at just 1.13.08 on Saturday. However on the Sunday, Daniel was determined to go back out and smash it!

And smash it he did! Daniel found another 2 seconds around Sydney Motorsport Park with a blistering 1.11.23!!!

The winning car and winning team rolling back to the pits in front of one very happy crowd of spectators.

Jeremy interviewed Daniel on track about the record lap before letting Daniel hop back into the drivers seat to demonstrate how fast drivers celebrate…

With a victory skid of course!!
One of the best events to date, the Top Gear Festival is yet to disappoint. Year after year, it captures the fun that makes the BBC show so special to car lovers the world over and then translates that into a stage show extraordinaire with real cars, real drivers and real action all on a live track.
Don’t miss 2015’s show, we already can’t wait for the next festival!
Thanks for reading,
– Gwyn.
Images provided by the talented Roberto Mocchetti | Full Motion Photography

ADGP Round 3 :: Sydney Motorsport Park

Grant — Sun, 09 Feb 2014 05:57:44 +0000

Round three of the Australian Drift Grand Prix was set to be a very interesting round in the series after a not so predictable 2nd round in Western Australia.
The last round saw some fresh names on the podium at the end of the day, Matt Harvey took 1st, Victoria’s own Matt Russel taking 2nd and Dale Campaign scored 3rd.
So coming into the third round the championship points weren’t in anyone’s favor so all the drivers were going to be pushing their cars and their abilities to the absolute limit!!

The drivers are split into two classes, state and national. Those in state can try and earn their place into the national series which is usually reserved for those competing in all 4 rounds.
The schedule remains the same as any other round, one full day of qualifying and then a full day of competition.

Both days were scorchers with temps in the high 30’s the cars and spectators were feeling the effects of the sun all weekend long.

This was going to be an exciting round for us as we were cheering on our very own Jason Ferron who has become quite the wild card with some fantastic battles under his belt.

With every drift event held in Sydney there is always a heap of local talent present track side, something must be in the water here because they always have the best looking drift cars in the country.

Simon Michelmore was one to keep your eyes on with a fresh build completed in a new shell his S14 should be more competitive than ever!

The usual suspects of the national series during the drivers briefing.

Ryan ‘Slide’ Cummings is easily one of the best looking cars around.

With his fare share of mechanical miss-haps in the last 12 months we were hoping Ryan would finally have his day.

With last minute prep complete the drivers got ready for the practice sessions followed by qualifying.

Jarrad Klingberg took out the number 1 qualifier not only in his state class but was the highest score of the day beating Insane Drifters Agges by just 1 point!!

Agges put down one of the cleanest qualifying laps we seen in the competition. Here’s a video of the very solid run. Click here.

Levi Clarke in the stupidly photogenic V8 powered S15 pulled out number two qualifier in the national class and third highest for the day.

South Australia’s Jack Widdas scored a 67 which left him in 3rd place.

Cameron Mote took 3rd place in the state division with a score of 59.5 which would have put him in the top 10 of the national class to give you guys a comparison.

Matt Harvey missed the beat but still landed in number 7 spot.

Unfortunately Elliot Wylie had a spin and scored a zero. Points aside we have a big soft spot for this Laurel, after the epic David vs Goliath battle at last years Formula D event here in Melbourne where Wylie lent this car to Tom Monkhouse to go on to take 2nd place against Daigo Saito

Insane drifter Papa was also at the opposite end of the points only scoring 34, off a 4th place win form the previous round Papa had his work cut out for him.

It seems that the heat was getting to both the cars and the drivers with several spins and some break downs.

Ben Purtel was in fine form qualifying just half a point ahead of Andy Gray! Which landed him in number 9.

Nic Wilson was sporting a fresh make over on his wild looking Toyota Saloon. The JZX90 Chaser was wearing the wing of all wings built by Victorian specialists Topstage Composites.

Hit N’ Run drift crew’s Pistol Pete was out in force in the bedroom poster worthy 6 liter V8 equipped S15, yes it sounds as nice as it looks.

The only rotary of the competition was not off to a good start missing out on a spot in the 16 of the state division.

The drift Syndicate VE was still looking fresh after Max Orido put it through it’s paces during WTAC last year.

Steven Bramford placed 10th in the state division in his gorgeous sparkly Silvia.

We were drawn to his car like moths to a bug zapper, the electric blue paint was stunning from every angle!

Day 2 was the business end of the competition with the battles taking place and the usual affair of the pit walk and drivers signing session.

Klingberg’s hood art was being proudly displayed after yesterdays number 1 score.

Levi’s S15 is an astonishingly detailed car, we love the chrome elements on to the wing.

Ender was sitting mid field with a score of 47 from yesterday, his first battle was against Nick ‘The Drift Kid’ Coulson in his black VE Ute.

Ender straightened up on his chase run and then called a 5 minute rule after having issues with his gear selector.
On the lead run the 2J swapped S13 powered up the hill but Nick was right along there with him taking the win from Ender.

Who said coloured smoke tyres were dead? Sydney’s Drift Mob Anthony Bilic was frying them up the hill until he hit the dirt.

Blaze Unit’s Jabbit was looking good against Agges but unfortunately gearbox issues meant Jabbit couldn’t continue giving the Insane drifters driver the win.

In a battle of Aussie VS Import, foreign driver Andy took the win in his Toyota Chaser against Hayden Buckham in the blue VE Ute.

Papa was pulling out all the stops on his chase run against South Australian Dale Campaign…

Dale fought back on his chase run forcing a re-run. Which put the pressure on Papa…

Causing a spin which meant Dale went through in the grey Sileighty.

Klingberg’s winning streak didn’t stop taking the win against Jason Ferron thanks to some of the most aggressive driving we saw all weekend!

Schembri vs Michelmore was an extremely close battle which meant another one more time giving Simon the win after both battles.

Rob Whyte in the Achillies 350Z fought a hard battle against Dale and it was too close to call, after a one more time re-run Rob took the win.

Levi came back strong after several issues earlier in the day, however Chris in the Red R32 was hot on his tail.

The battle of the V8 swapped Nissans was won by Levi after a very, very close fight.

Matt Harvey’s little KE Corolla was all over Ryan ‘Slide’ Cummings S13 during the chase run, Ryan’s straighten up during Matt’s lead run sent Ryan home for the day.

Matt just couldn’t close the gap on Michelmores purple S14.

On Matt’s lead run Simon was just centimeters away in the S14, Simon’s performance gave him the win.

It seems that Beau Yates just hasn’t had enough seat time in his new 86, Beau spun on both his lead and chase runs.

Josh Boettcher was in the middle of a tough battle with dale when he missed a gear, according to the judges the pair would have gone again in a re-run if Josh didn’t miss shift.

Schembri stayed glued to the door of the GH Haulage Cefiro piloted by Justin Codr, Schembri took the win.

Nick and Jack fought hard and the judges called “one more” time, the second battle saw Nick Coulson edge away from the 31 Skyline giving the Drift Kid and the VE Ute the win.

Matt Russel fought the good fight in the little AE86 but lost against the might power thumping away under Levi’s bonnet.

Michael Prosnick was ahead after an awesome lead run away from Whyte, however on the chase Prosnick straightened in the NASCAR styled S13 and lost.

Simon and rob pushed so hard the two cars collided.

After a brief break the judges reviewed the on board cameras and deemed Simon to be at fault giving Rob the win.
Simon’s S14 was towed back to the pits were the crew rushed to get him back up and running for his final battle.

Now in the pointy end of the day cars were crashing left, right and center! Andy Gray had a huge hit with Levi Clarke, both cars needed to be towed back and the teams began mending the damage in a hope to get them both back out.

It seems you can give drifters a busted car, a pack of zipties and tape and they become master panel beaters. Levi Clarke was back out in force for a dramatic final battle with Rob Whyte.
If you look closely you can just make out Rob’s car in the smoke behind Levi’s car.

Rob over corrected and straightened up handing the win over to Levi Clarke, giving Levi his first podium finish in the series.

To end the epic weekend of skids, heat and dramas was a heap of trophies and ice cold champagne ready to shower the winners in.

All the cars looked worse for wear, you can’t be afraid to break a few eggs to win.

The winners of the national series.
1. Levi Clarke
2. Rob Whyte
3. Andy Gray

This was by far the most exciting round of the series yet and was a true show of great sportsmanship with the top 4 battles all ending in collisions and all the teams lending a hand to repair the damage to finish the show.
Ben Purtell lent his front suspension components to Simon Michelmore while Rob Whyte’s team helped repair Levi’s car before their battle together that decided the number 1 finish for the day!!
Where else would you see someone help their opponent out to effectively help them beat you?
Drift is only going up in Australia.
The next round returns to the Thunder Dome here in Melbourne where the top 10 all have a shot at being the series winner for 2014!!
Thanks for reading,
– Gwyn.
All photos courtesy of Robert Mochetti | Full Motion Photography