ls1 – Gripshiftslide

ADGP :: Round 1 – The Dome

Grant — Sun, 04 Oct 2015 10:54:59 +0000

Andrew hawkins and his entire crew were back at the dome for the first round in the new 2015/16 season for the Australian Drift Grand Prix. Running the Formula D layout at Calder park Thunderdome is truly the best format for this track, high-speed entry’s elevation changes plus a super tight section.

As the teams unloaded, their cars were quickly given a bath to wash off all the road gunk and insects. Rob Whytes car was so dusty it looked like a barn find! but after a wash it was looking as good as Nic Coulson’s ute!

From white to red! Nic Wilson jzx100 was ready to battle the best! when we saw it last it was only a shell! so much work has gone into this car in the last 3 months its amazing to see it all come together in such a stunning package.

Poking its head out of the bonnet like a some type of primordial beast, Brent Gordan’s Supercharged LS was intimidating the other competitors by growling and whining its way through the pits.

The ever powerful Michael Bonney looked super strong in practice laying down several tyres while keeping his lines tight in preparation for qualifying.

Beau Yates was back to take on the thunderdome! With his car only having recently being fixed from a serious bingle, there were some speculations that the cars reliably would suffer. Although in practice beau was particularly aggressive with the car and it looked strong.

The local hero was back to take on the big boys of the scene! Dazza his beloved V8 powered S13 was also making a comeback to the ADGP series, fresh from being overhauled after its overseas trip to New Zealand.

There where plenty of new faces this season including Joel Dimmick, Anthony Cece and many others. All the drivers were ready to take on the new championship, scratch some paint, go door to door and entertain the crowd.

Joel Dimmick’s car is a true work of art. When Joel was competing in DCA, the car did not have this much pizazz! but now it looks at home with the rest of the pro cars.

Rob Whyte’s 370’z is looking mint! it also makes dark evil sounds like the types you would hear in the bowls of hell.

Rob was battling steering issues all practice season and even into qualifying. The problem was his steering not returning to centre, this meant he had to work like a 1940’s formula one driver!
Matching up against Ender in the top sixteen, both drivers had their work cut out for them!

Two days of action one being a practice day and the other qualifying/competition. This allowed the drivers to get a proper handle on the course, the clipping points and judges requirements.

The Achillies girls were out and about along with the ADGP media crew working tirelessly to put together TV coverage for 7mate. Both days were relatively windy and cold but the president of Vic Drift wasn’t worried because he had found a giant blanket to wear.

By the end of the first day Beau’s spoiler was gone! he was pushing his car right to the outside edge of the course which caused the spoiler to catch on concrete barriers and rip off. Rest in peace spoiler! we will miss you!

Open face helmet, Velo seat with ski goggles! What does all this mean? we are not sure but this set of safety equipment doesn’t fit the level of crazy power this Westlake car puts out!

With an LS1 and huge twin turbo’s sitting outside the bonnet you know that Adam Monck is no joke! Both Westlake cars were absolutely mental but Adam’s car looked and sounded intimidating!

Matty Hill had a large indecent on the practice day loosing his front windscreen because his bonnet pins were not in properly! It was almost like an exact replay of Nigel Petrie Three years earlier. Matty got knocked out in the top 16 with the judges showing no mercy as they flew through the top 32 driver battles.

Unfortunately Finy O’Hare was knocked out by a fellow local driver Michael Prosenik. The chase run by Prosenik was particularly impressive staying right on his door the entire way around the course. Finy put in a great effort and defeated several divers before meeting Prosenik in the top 16.

Brad Tuohy in his super bright 86 less than 3 weeks ago had a catastrophic engine failure(due to fuel delivery issue) which resulted in a fairly large fire. Two weeks later he was on his way to Melbourne!

Brads car was the one car that made everyone’s ears bleed! who would of thought that an 86 could be so loud! In the top 16 Brad matched up against Jake Jones but brad blew his diff in the final battle handing the win to Jake! its not the way we like to see cars exit from a battle but mechanical failure is a part of the sport even know it is heat breaking to see.

The Thunderdome causes all kinds of problems for the drivers! coming down the bank sideways into a huge dip often does not fair well with the cars. A lot of the cars were running lower tyre pressure to get more grip. The downside, hitting the dip caused tyre beed’s to break, bent tie rods and if drivers hit the dip in the wrong spot they would end up in the dirt.

Jake the drift squid Jones made it to the top 8 with plenty of car dramas including being down on power due to a blocked fuel filter! Josh Boettcher ended up taking the win after a hard fought battle.

Finny Has been steadily improving over the last year. His performance over this round was impressive and we know he will be on the podium in no time!

The most exciting battle of the competition was Michael Bonney VS Michael Rosenblatt it was very reminiscent of Rosenblatt VS Yates in 2014 at round 4.

Rosenblatt and Bonney’s battle got replayed several times the judges had a real problems trying to pick who made the greater mistakes! from a crowd perspective it was really hard to see any mistakes made during the battle with each run as close as the next! Rosenblatt eventually got the win but it is one of Bonneys strongest performances to date!

Rosenblatt was not taking any prisoners! defeating everyone in his wake! charging just as hard as he had last year!

The real hero of the show was Beau Yates! after many battles and a super strong performance all the way to the final 3. Beau had an unfortunate unavoidable incident with Rob Whyte while coming around the final hairpin. Both cars went in to deep and ended up in the tyre wall with rob squashed against the tyres! Both drivers were fine but Rob could not continue due to car damage handing the win to Beau.

Just as happy as the podium finishers! Michael Prosenik and Levi Clarke congratulating each other as Andrew Hawkins was announcing the winner.

As a wise man once said “In Success you deserve it and in defeat, you need it” Champagne! As the top three wrestled to cover each other in the champagne the crowd cheered! Coming
in first was Beau Yates followed by Brent Gordon in second with Josh Boettcher in third.
Thanks for reading,
Grant

Calder Park :: Roadking Chassis Round 2 VicDrift Championship

Grant — Mon, 26 Aug 2013 05:27:13 +0000

The second round of the VicDrift Roadking Chassis championship was underway and it was clear that things were going to get pretty serious. Some of the biggest names in VicDrift had arrived to continue their fight for the championship. The small crowd quickly grabbed a seat and settled in for what would be one of the best drift competitions since Formula Drift visited Australia.

Drift Squid had made the long trip to Calder Park from South Australia to lay down some skids. Last time he was in town for a Vic Drift event his handbrake destroyed itself but this time the car was good to go and ready for battle.

Jakes pilot chair looks inviting and when you glance in, it is hard to ignore all the coloured buttons that are just begging to be pressed.

The Toyota Cressida is not normally known as a drift weapon, but this rig is more than just a luxurious ride.

This car has seen its fair share of battles and if zip ties could tell stories, then I’m sure that all these ones would have a yarn or two to tell.

The little Onevia with its’ big brothers the R33’s. No one knew that this Onevia was capable of mixing it with the big boys and it sure made the judges take notice.

It’s great to see Warrick’s MX5 frequenting a few events recently.

Ever wondered what tyres look like after a few laps at Calder Park? Well this is it! You can see that the tyre has been worn down right to the ply cords. Depending on the car, most tyres don’t last more than 5 hard laps on the rough surface known as Calder Park.

Adam was really killing it with massive amounts of smoke and angle and the crowd was loving the action! Running with no front bar for maximum air, Adam’s Onevia was screaming like a wild octane fueled banshee.

It’s great to see support from sponsors while the sport of Drift is still finding its feet. With 1,800 fans through the gates over the two days already, who knows what potential numbers the events could draw in if there was even more sponsorship.

Peter’s R33 was cutting lap after lap of drift perfection, he made it look so effortless!

The LS1 equipped R31 driven by Jason had been preforming well all day until he took a passenger for a ride and took a bit too much speed down the straight and ended up just slightly off the track.

From the stands the crowd does not get to see the start line or how a battle is often won or lost by a bad start. Often the more powerful car will fang it down the straight and leave the less powerful car behind causing the underpowered car to drive straight through corners to catch up to the lead car.

The VicDrift safety crew were on high alert! By midday there had been several red flags and even one small car fire that was quickly put out by the Calder Park track safety crew.

While hanging it all out, the Cressida’s boot became dislodged and every wild swing of the steering wheel would cause it to open! The crowd cheered as he went past but the boot problem was soon fixed before Chris’ next lap much to the crowds dismay.

Throwing it right at the apex was Peter in his Lookout Drift Racing R33, the car is so low that the ripple strip nearly claimed his front bar.

Another standout performance was Lachlan’s powerful R32. He had some great snap initiations and held strong angle through the main corners. Pleasing the judges is one thing but making the crowd and also the judges happy is the hardest thing. Luckily Lachlan could achieve both.

Making epic smoke was no problem for this beast! With the sound echoing off Calder’s sidewalls, people knew this car was more than just a boosted R32.

The mighty LS7 truly had to be close to the most powerful car of the day. With a smoke trail that seemed to never end and the air filled with tyre remnants, there was no stopping this incredible machine.

Drift Squid was at it again, showing the crowd what a professional drifter can do on a track like this! There is never a shortage of speed with Jake and his trusty steed.

The crowd surged forwards to see the top 16 battle, but many of the crowd disagreed with the choices of the judges! With the advent of Formula drift visiting Australia earlier this year things have gotten more technical. The judges had stipulated strict guidelines during the morning briefing and not every driver had listened!

A slight wall tap saw this s13 a little worse for ware but luckily there was no major damage to the car and it continued to drift up until it was knocked out in the final rounds.

Talk about David and Goliath, Matt Russell and his little 86 were up against many high powered V8’s. With what seemed an impossible task ahead Matt buckled up for what would be some of the best battles of the day and the whole crowd was cheering on this under-powered underdog in his tofu mobile.

Who said four door saloons cant drift as well as coupes? This wild R32 was getting door to door with heaps of cars and managed to impress everybody with his proximity and control.

Jasons’ R31 just keeps getting better and better. He had many super close battles over the weekend. Jason is one to watch especially since he will be making an appearance at WTAC this year!

The judges wanted to see hard throws and lots on angle early whilst holding that deep angle the whole way through the corner. Too many cars were still scandoing and only getting real angle as the approached the inner apex of the corner.

Michael Prosenik is the man of the hour! He has been winning everything lately and for good reason! Prosenik has mad skill and adapts well to what judges want to see. Being able to change his style or standard approach to the course enables him to maximise his chances for points. Drift is changing within Australia and just throwing a car around a corner sideways with no form or reason will not win you competitions!

After a day fully packed with drift the winner was finally announced! Prosenik worked his magic again and secured first place at Roadking Chassis Round 2 while also being on top of the championship after two rounds.
TOP 5
1. Michael Prosenik
2. Matt Russell
3. Lachlan White
4. Jason Ferron
5. Khudar El Haouli

No VicDrift day is complete without an expression session! It gives drivers who have been knocked out of the competition another chance to slay some tyres and wow the crowd!
Round 3 of Roadking Chassis is coming soon and the action is only going to get better with many teams furiously working on their cars to improve suspension setups and increase horsepower.
So until then we hope you have enjoyed our wrap up of Round 2.
Thanks for reading,
-Grant