Sydney Motorsport Park – Gripshiftslide

Toyota 86 Racing Series :: On Track Until 2020

Grant — Sun, 08 Apr 2018 11:13:54 +0000

Way back in 2016 Toyota hatched a plan to bring the world a fun one-make series with their legendary 86 model.
The aim is to foster the talent of young up and coming drivers who do not have the dollars to race the open-wheelers circuit.

So why was I on a plane headed to Sydney? Well Toyota had arranged a special day at Sydney Motorsport Park. Everyone who attended the event was secretly hoping that Toyota would surprise us with the new Supra!
Unfortunately our dreams were not realised…

The event centered around the announcement that the Toyota 86 Racing Series was being extended until 2020!
This was great news and all thanks to a gang-buster two year program that has exceeded Toyota’s expectations.

Toyota’s 86 Racing Series started with a bang! Quickly they established the series as one of the most exciting one-make racing series Australia has ever seen!

Since 2016 the Toyota 86 Racing Series has been developing bit by bit with incremental improvements to make this series the best it can possibly be.

The affordable, grassroots motorsport series will be extended to 18 scheduled races at six tracks in four states! That’s up from the 15 races scheduled in previous years.

Neal Bates was on hand to instruct on the day and help us motorsport journalists get around the track safely. Neal has been instrumental in the setup of the 86’s suspension, handling; and full package that the drivers receive when they purchase and enter the 86 Racing Series.

So where is the new 2019 Toyota 86 hiding? No Supra? No new 86 shape? I was still hoping that Toyota would have a surprise up their sleeve.

For those who have already been racing for the last two years there is going to be no car update going forward until 2020. Toyota has confirmed that they will be staying with the 2016 shape and platform to lower the cost for entrants while keeping the playing field even.

Minor changes have been made for the 2018 season. These include a change to a Dunlop tyre that will give the cars more grip over longer races. The previous tyre they were using tended to fade quiet fast.

The other minor change is adjustable rear camber. This change was made to stop competitors complaining that some drivers seemed to have more rear camber than others.

This changes should help even up the racing and make the action even more intense! As with last year there are a host of guest drivers to keep the young ones on their toes.

These include drivers like Jonathan Webb, Leanne Tander, Warren Luff, Steve Owen and rising star Harry Bates.

This racing action will make your palms sweaty and may even give you flashbacks of the original v8 Brutes Series. One thing is for sure the racing is aggressive and fast paced.

The 2018 action starts on April 20-22 at Phillip Island and then they are off to Townsville in July. Yet the most exciting event, apart from Mount Panorama, is the awesome new race track in South Australia. This will be held at the Bend Motorsport Park at Tailem Bend in August.

The series prize pool has been increased to $150,000 with competitors finishing the year from fourth to eighth places also now sharing in the cash.

The top three will continue to receive $50,000, $30,000, and $15,000 respectively.

There are rumors on the grape vine that Toyota are running the 86 Racing Series until 2020 because that is when they may be introducing the new Toyota 86 to the world; but we will have to wait and see if this is true.

Along with the experience of driving the Racing 86 around Sydney Motorsport Park we were also given the opportunity to have some fun on the skid pan with the new 2018 86 GTS.

The Toyota 86 is truly the do anything car! Great as a daily and great on the track! It is the best choice for this one of a kind one-make series.

If you want to see more 86 Racing action make sure you keep an eye on Toyota Racing Australia for updates.
We can’t thank Toyota enough for giving us the opportunity to experience the 86 Racing Series first hand on the official 2018 press and media day for the 2018 86 Racing Series.
2018 Toyota 86 Racing Series race dates:
April 20-22 – Phillip Island
July 6-8 – Townsville
August 24-26 — Bend Motorsport Park
September 14-16 – Sandown
October 4-7 – Mount Panorama
November 23-25 – Newcastle
Thanks for reading,
Grant

#T86RS :: Toyota 86 Racing Series

Grant — Mon, 11 Apr 2016 12:30:17 +0000

#T86RS Stands for Toyota 86 Racing Series and I was about to experience what it is like to
be apart of the new racing series. Gone are the days of “Race on Sunday, buy on Monday.” Finally there is some
light at the end of the tunnel thanks to Toyota and the new 86 Racing Series!

Once I arrived at Sydney Motorsport Park I was greeted by a line up of cars that helped define Toyota’s motorsport history. Toyota’s commitment to bringing motor racing back to the youth is something that toyota is really passionate about, not only have they assembled the cars but they also brought some of the drivers from Toyota’s heyday along for the ride.

There were plenty of familiar faces; some from TV ( Neil Crompton, Greg Rust),
and other motorsport royalty (The Bates family, John Boston and more).
We were run through the plan for the series and exactly why Toyota was getting back into local racing.

We were soon taken to “Garage 86” where both of the cars we would be testing were laid out with their various upgraded parts on display.
Australia is the 3rd largest market for the 86 It made sense that Toyota chose Australia for the release of the 86 Racing Series!

First we were introduced to the standard 86 and then the 86 racing version. Powered by the very same 2.0lt boxer engine that is found in the standard car the racing version shares the same power plant. The 86 Racing version includes upgrades like Motec ECU, Oil cooler, headers/extractors and muffler, AP Racing brakes, OZ Racing wheels, NBM Control Spec roll cage and more. 86 Racing Series Brochure

Having never driven an 86 I was very excited to get behind the wheel of both of these cars. We were made to drive the standard car first so we could see the difference between the two.

The standard car feels very balanced with super sharp steering! In the tight corners I really tried to give it the beans but as soon as I did I heard that all too familiar traction control sound and a slight drop in power. Good thing though as Toyota didn’t want us burying their cars into the concrete walls of Sydney Motorsport Park.

After 3 laps of the South Circuit in the standard car I began to understand just why these cars are so damn popular. It’s easy to hate on hype and yes I’m guilty of labeling the car without even driving it! But after a drive I’m a changed man! It’s such a responsive car with a good amount of power and road feedback.

My confidence grew as I figured out the braking points and what speed to take the corners. Our driving instructors were great; they really helped us to get more out of the cars than we initially thought was possible.

Toyota is really investing within this series. Up to 5 selected professional drivers nominated by Toyota will mentor and compete against a potential field of 27 amateur drivers who will qualify to get onto the starting grid. The nominated drivers will not be eligible for prize money but this will add to the growth of the series. Some of the races will even be held with rounds of the V8 Supercars.

Our old mate Justin Fox wasn’t playing around! He had his Stig helmet on and he really put this car through its paces! While waiting for my turn in the racing version of the 86 it was interesting to see the other drivers approach to the same corner in front of the pits. Some would really go wide and ring out 3rd, others would change to 4th early. I tried both but ringing out 3rd felt best up the hill.

It was time to get into the 86 Racing version! All I could think was please don’t stall! But luckily the clutch wasn’t a 100kg leg press and it felt almost identical to the standard clutch.

As soon as I got onto the track I put my foot down and straight away I could feel a difference! It felt a lot stiffer, quicker off the line, and the seating position was much lower.

Now I had learnt the track I was getting a little overconfident. So confident that my instructor was hitting my hand when I would try for an early gear change.

After our 3 laps in the racing version of the 86 we were then able to go for a hot lap with the professional drivers!

I was paired up with the talented Leanne Tander. Once I was strapped into the passenger side it was go time! All three cars left the pits at the same time.

While in the car I could feel the Dunlop Direzzas gripping and throwing us through the corners more than I had felt when I was driving the car. The pro drivers where really on another level! The comparison between driving yourself and a pro driving the same track is a real eye opener.

Neal Bates took everything to the next level by passing both 86s then proceeded to drift in front of us while we struggled to keep pace. The Dunlop tyres are such a great mix of grip and slip and they will definitely make the racing action fun to watch.

The Toyota 86 Racing Series will demand the competitors to adhere to a strict car setup meaning that driver talent, rather than team budget, will be the key to winning.

The 2016 86 Racing Series will be visiting lots of tracks all around Australia including:
Winton SuperSprint 20-22 May
Sydney Motorsport Park 26-28 August
Wilson Security Sandown 500 16- 18 September
Supercheap Auto Bathurst 1000 6 – 9 October
Coates Hire Sydney 500 25-27 Nov

Tetsuya Tada’s dream is about to become true! The 86 Racing Series looks like it is just the right thing to reinvigorate the public’s passion in motorsport and Toyota.
We cannot wait to see this series take off!
facebook.com/toyotaracingaus, twitter.com/toyotaracingaus, instagram.com/toyotaracingaus
Thanks for reading,
Grant

WTAC 2014 :: International Visitors

Grant — Wed, 29 Oct 2014 11:51:53 +0000

Like any music festival, big name acts bring the fans in droves, especially international super stars. The World Time Attack Challenge is no different and when it comes to international guests, they’ve got you covered.
It’s no easy task to convince a race team to invest a large amount of money to send a car on a boat half way across the globe along with a small army of mechanics to go head to head with a bunch of locals who don’t want lose on their home turf.
Year after year, Ian and the team behind WTAC manage to top themselves and 2014 was the biggest field of overseas talent we’ve seen yet!

First up team America had two entries. Andrew Brilliant has now decided to keep his time attack Eclipse within Australia (originally from the USA). Having the car based here and help from GT Auto Garage his campaign for 2014 was his strongest yet.

Having won both 2009 & 2010 Super Lap Battle Limited FF titles Andrew is certainly no amateur! With the dream of being the fastest FF car at WTAC Andrew had his work cut out thanks to a little mouse that could…
Andrew’s biggest rival is none other than the QLD based Mighty Mouse CRX. With a time of 1:31.8430 the little Honda was still at much faster pace than the Eclipse this year. Not to take away from AMB Aero USA’s efforts as Andrew and the team managed to shave off a staggering 5 seconds from their previous year!!

The car has undergone many changes since 2013 but the biggest change this year has been a new Haltech ECU and Jack LeBrocq behind the wheel. The team finished with 1:35.7200 around Sydney Motorsport Park.

The second entry for Team USA, ARK Design R32 Skyline and some say this car is cursed. Two years ago at it’s first WTAC, the car was accidentally shipped to China missing the competition completely. The team took a year off, rebuilt the car from the ground up and set course for Sydney once again. This time the arrived with plenty of time to add finishing touches in prepping the car…

This is where it all began to fall apart for the ARK Design team with multiple mechanical failures and then serious issues with the ECU. It was all over for the team even before the first day of competition… The R32 limped around the track for two sessions but did not manage a timed lap. We’re hoping this just makes Team USA push harder for 2015, as we haven’t seen two teams really go head to head for the fastest lap since Sierra Sierra vs Cyber Evo in 2011.

Now from the motherland, the biggest heavy hitters in WTAC history. HKS and Top Secret, two of Japans largest tuning names brought the fight in the form of two wild R35 Nissan GTR’s

The HKS GTR piloted by Nob Taniguchi really was one of the stand outs of the entire event. With ‘out of this world’ looks, the green headlights remind us of an angry alien/insect.

HKS’ direct competitor in the GTR shoot out, Tarzan Yamada in the Top Secret R35. We found ourselves pinching our arms while gazing at these legendary machines.

These were real hero cars and nothing was more exciting than watching these two giants battle it out in the fading light on Saturday.

Once the sun dipped out of sight, these guys really started pushing hard. HKS took the win nearly a full second in front with a time of just 1:30.8380!!

Tarzan certainly gave it all he could in the Top Secret GTR finishing on 1:31.7250. You can’t say he didn’t try.

Another entry from Japan and no stranger to WTAC, the Top Fuel S2000 was back again for another shot at glory. Nob Tanaguchi was also driving the S2000 for a second year, with plenty of seat time between this car and the HKS GTR Nob was certainly dealt with plenty of track time to get things right.

Pro class is where all the time attack monsters reside, Top Fuel has dealt with pressure like this before yet with the most competitive field ever seen at the world time attack challenge this would not be an easy task for Nob.
This year Top Fuel was sporting a new aero package designed by Voltex Racing to help win the fight. But was it enough?

They were faster this year but the team missed out on a podium finish by just over a second. Over the last 3 years they have continually improved in time and in speed. Sadly the rest of the competitors have also improved! The car did suffer a few issues over the weekend and we have to wonder if the car had more to give. Looks like we will have to wait for next year.

Nob locked the s2000 in 4th place with a respectable time of just 1:26.8700.

With a name like Kyushu-Danji, you can only guess that this team is also from Japan! The immaculate BNR34 Skyline GT-R snapped necks for all that dared to lay eyes on this albino Godzilla.

Hot off the heels from fast time around Tsukuba Circuit, Kyushu-Danji was here to set records! With a car that just screams race ready and a driving style that resembles Nigel Manson!

Driver Miyata Sumihiko pushed the r34 to its limits setting a time of 1:31.6856 taking 3rd in his class.

Another return entry, the beautiful RE Amemiya RX7. The ex-autosalon demo car turned serious time attack competitor has quickly become a crowd favorite.

This year in the drivers seat was none other than Japanese racing legend Max Orido!!!

Max is considered racing royalty and featured in many tuning video’s since the 1990’s making him quite the celebrity amongst Japanese tuning enthusiasts.
Max planted his right foot and steered the RX7 to it’s fastest time yet at just 1:27.3410!!

If WTAC had a public face it would be this man, Suzuki Under has been competing for 4 years now and has become the absolute crowd favorite and under dog of the event.

Committed is one way to describe Under Suzuki, we have watched his personal creation the “Scorch Racing” S15 transform over the last 4 years with more carbon fibre and aero development than the united states air force.

While he has received a little help along the way Under is still predominantly a privateer entry in the event, no one wants the win more then Under.

This year he pushed harder than ever before and it wasn’t until the final dusk session when the track was at it’s coolest that he managed his best time ever… All with no headlights!!

Under finished 2nd with a blistering 1:24.8800!!! While over the moon with his win, he has said he will not rest until he is number one!! We cannot wait for 2015!

So when the main attractions are the fastest tuned cars in the world what do you do for entertainment between sessions?? Bring a piece of motoring history to the fans of course, the infamous Mazda 767B Le Mans car! The sound is like nothing else 4 rotors of ear shredding glory!!

To see a classic Le Mans car on track was incredible! It is great to know this isn’t just collecting dust in someones garage and still being used to bring joy to the world. The owner/driver was so excited to be sharing his prized possession with the fans, so much so that he was only meant to complete 3-5 laps but instead continued for almost 10!

From seeing this as a matchbox car in our childhood, to seeing it in reality, there are no words to explain how amazing this piece of machinery really is. Everywhere it went the crowd followed! This year Mazda was one of the major sponsors of WTAC 2014 so along with the 787B they also had a good collection of historical and influential Mazda’s both on and off the track.

If the sound of quad rotor wasn’t enough to keep you on the edge of your seat during lunch than some freestyle motorkhana driving from NZ based Alex Kelsey and his V6 powered Peugeot was sure to get the blood pumping.

This car is as custom built as they come. Starting out in a similar fashion to Nigel Petire’s drift ute. Alex’s Peugeot started out life in tiny garage.

The angry little Peugeot features a hand-built Renault Sport V6 engine and spits flames like no tomorrow. What is it with cars from New Zealand shooting flames?!
We would like to thank all our internationally guests for their continued support of our home grown series and again to the whole team behind the World Time Attack Challenge. The greatest event on the Calendar!!
Stay tuned for even more post WTAC goodness.
Until than, full results here.
Thanks for reading,
– Grant.

WTAC '13 :: Film Only

Grant — Wed, 27 Aug 2014 10:09:24 +0000

Hands down the World Time Attack Challenge is the biggest event on our radar, each and every year Ian Baker and the team step it up constantly raising the bar. We’ve been fortunate enough to follow the transition from the old Super Lap event days, into the world class spectacle it is now known and loved by, under the current name as the World Time Attack Challenge or ‘WTAC’ for short.
The first ever post on gripshiftslide.com was you guessed it, WTAC 2011! To say the event has held a special place in our hearts ever since, would be a massive understatement. We thought it would be a great tribute to create an entire post capturing the event on good old fashioned 35mm film. The charm of anything analogue is hard to deny, the hiss of a record, black & white movies and the grain and colour of a film camera.
We hope you enjoy our unique look at last years event and let us know if you would like to see more posts like this in the future by leaving a comment at the end of the post…

Once again we returned to Sydney Motorsport Park, having access a day early let’s us get up nice and close to the teams as they began final testing before attempting some ‘hot’ laps over the weekend.
It also helps not having any of the crowds around as WTAC is one of the only event’s that spectators can literally walk up to the pit bays see teams working around the clock preparing their car for each session.

The first day of racing last year will be one to remember, as bush fires threatened the nearby blue mountains thick smoke blocked out the sun.

The scene was a very uncomfortable one with reports that hundreds of homes were under danger and the eerie light from the smoke meant there were next to no shadows.

The soft light did make for some remarkable photos though as we spent most of the afternoon watching the drifters set up their pits. While WTAC is all about the remarkable machines pushing the limits of engineering and the laws of physics, at the same time it is arguably the highest profile drifting event in Australia, with many international guest taking part in the competition that takes place in the evening.

One of the biggest appearances last year was from local Melbourne lad, Nigel Petire and his extraordinary home built drift Ute. He made the trip with not one, but two cars!

The Ute was handcrafted in a garage barely bigger than the car itself, don’t believe us? Check out our feature of the build here.
This was the first public event for the Ute to not only be displayed to the public but also be driven on track!!

Nigel was grinning from ear to ear when he wasn’t losing his voice talking to the crowds about his stunning build. He was both nervous and overwhelmed from the excitement of driving his precious creation on track with other cars for the first time ever!

While the car itself doesn’t comply with current competition regulations, Nigel isn’t bothered as he built it for demonstration purposes and of course tyre shredding FUN!!
He brought along his tried and true 180SX for competition duties. So when he was behind the wheel of the Ute, he was just concentrating on getting to know his new friend.

After the first night of track demos in the Ute, something didn’t go to plan and of course that’s just cars for you! Due to the ultra light weight, yet super strong body, the transmission was not having a good time dealing with the punchy SR20 and very grippy tyres, ultimately giving up and retiring the Ute from track duties much earlier then expected.

You could tell it was not how Nigel envisioned his first weekend away with his new toy, he had contemplated getting busy and swapping parts over from the 180SX to get it going again. After the crushing blow the spirits were not high in the Petrie camp and Nigel pulled the pin and left the Ute to be a static display for the rest of the weekend. Since the WTAC he has traveled to New Zealand with Ute and enjoyed hassle free drift demos for all to see and Nigel is set to bring it back to this years WTAC event. We can’t wait!!

Speaking of NZ, Kiwi drifter Mad Mike was over here competing in the drift comp with his world famous “Madbul” Rx7.

The heart of the car is a quad rotor, which produces a very haunting and howling exhaust note that sounds like an F1 car possessed by a demon.

This fire spitting Rx7 has been seen the world over with trips to America, Europe and Australia 3 times now!! Mike sure has a lot of international events under his belt!

Another car that made the trip over from New Zealand was the PPRE RX4 featuring a massive 6 rotor!!! Yep 6!
Mad Mike was invited to pilot the crazy coupe around the full circuit, paying absolutely no attention to any sound restrictions, it broke necks and made ears bleed!

South Australian drifter and “Wunderkind” if you will, Jake Jones is one of the youngest Australian drivers competing on an international level.

His aggressive driving style has seen him go door to door with the worlds very best and scored him international drives in drift competitions in both Japan and China.

Jakes Onvia has even rubbed panels with Daigo Saito most recently at the Melbourne round of FD Asia, check out how he went against the current drift world champion here.

In between all the track action, there’s always plenty to see off the track. Each year the show and shine grows in size and the quality of cars is always impressive.

We’re suckers for old school cars and what better to fill up our roll of film then a pristine Sunny truck.

Remember when Corolla’s were cool! We loved this white duo, the KE30 was our pick of the two.

The Heasman steering girls were all smiles despite the blistering sun beating down against the concrete.

We said each year Ian and the team step it up – this year they had a half pipe with BMX demos all day long.

This sort of entertainment can easily go unnoticed at such a large motorsport event, I remember stopping and watching for a good 15 minutes. These guys had talent!!

One more standout from the crowded show was this striking bright yellow widebody RX7, the RE-super G bodykit is one of the wildest looking kits for the FD RX-7. So aggressive!!

This tubular framed beauty is very serious Nissan Stanza built for the sports sedan series and was part of the Turbo Legends segment were power houses of yesteryear get to prove they still have what it takes to put down a quick lap time.

Back near the pits we hunted around for some of the most impressive builds we could find. This RX8 looks to be a future competitor but for now it was just a static display. If you think the aero looked great the engine bay alone has had more money and time spent the some cars see for their entire build.

The Evolution Custom Industries Porsche was literally the black sheep of the field. One of the only European based cars it had a massive cult following going into the event.
The car is a work of art and seriously fast, the team didn’t get to show their best with a turbo failure ending their chances early.

We thought it would be nice to include this picture of Agges’ 180SX of Insane Drifters fame, some 8 months and many, many events after WTAC the mighty red 180SX finally had it’s last collision at an event here in Melbourne.
Drift cars receive quite a beating and when you’re as competitive as Agges it’s bound to happen sooner or later and sadly this 180SX won’t be seeing the track again.

Melbourne based workshop and tuning specialist Road Track Rally had been achieving great wins with their Evo X. Sadly the Evo lost control at high speeds and collided with a concrete wall.
The team has been busy repairing and will be back for 2014!

All eyes were on the reigning champion Nemo Racing Evo, this engineering marvel had taking the rule book and thrown it out the window and really forced the Australian and Japanese time attack community to go back to the drawing board of what’s possible.

What goes up must come down and in a strange turn of events the team behind this magnificent car crumbled during the weekend sending rumors flying. The car only managed a couple of ‘safe’ laps before being retired back to the pits without a chance to hold onto it’s winning trophy from the previous years WTAC.

With so many classes competing at WTAC you really get a great comparison for times against so many makes, models and platforms. How does a tuned FWD Mitsubishi Colt perform against an street trim Nissan GTR? You’ll find out at WTAC.

Many Japanese teams have started to really to take to series, this year saw some very big hitters from Japanese tuning culture attend.

Top Fuel returned their super agile S2000 to Sydney to once again take on the worlds best, the previous year the car was relatively untested and effectively “out of the box”.

However driver Nobuteru Taniguchi still found the car too challenging to achieve it’s goal, the car performed a lot better but we think Nob will be back to prove he and the car have what it takes.

The Esprit NSX was easily one of the most anticipated international cars this year and with Tarzan Yamada behind the wheel it was a hopeful podium finisher too, after a few hairy spins and a small engine fire the mighty NSX did not get it’s time to shine.

One of the most eye pleasing cars was the RE Amemiya Hurricane RX7, this car was originally built as an Autosalon demo car. This just proves that the Japanese do not do things half-arsed at all, this car is not just a show piece and can really strut it’s stuff in the Time Attack arena!

Back to Australia and the Queensland based Mighty Mouse CRX, This David vs Goliath honda was determined to hold onto it’s NA FWD record from the previous year, Rob and the team did just that. Now with pressure on for a third year the team has since converted the car to left hand drive for better weight distribution… Yep, they’re determined to win again in 2014.

A rare sight outside of the original Fast & The Furious movie here in Australia, The Mitsubishi Eclipse is not something we’re used to seeing racing let alone driving on the street. This FWD racer is owned by aero extraordinaire Andrew Brilliant.
The car originally raced in the America and had many victories under it’s hat, at one point it was the number 1 car out of 50 high powered RWD and AWD cars. A true testament to Andrew’s skills aerodynamic skills.

After three long days of racing the last cars rolled back into the pits, most came back under their own power, some returned to the pits on tow trucks. WTAC is not for the faint hearted and you have to be willing to put it all on the line to win.

After all the action stops the show is packed up and we begin counting down the days till next year, thankfully as we post this we’re less than two months away from the 2014 World Time Attack Challenge!
Don’t miss out on the biggest event on the calendar and book tickets, time off work and accommodation now!!
Check out all the details here www.worldtimeattack.com
We hope you’ve enjoyed this nostalgic glance at our favorite event, it took two rolls of film and nearly a year to get it developed but we love holding a real photo in our hands!
Thanks for reading,
– Gwyn.

Ferrari Racing Days :: Ferraris for Weeks

Grant — Fri, 23 May 2014 06:35:13 +0000

From humble beginnings in Modena, Enzo Ferarri had a desire to race cars since the tender age of ten. Many decades have passed since then and the product of ‘il Commandetores’ desires have not only won races like Formula 1, but have also inspired generation after generation of enthusiasts to own a Ferrari one day.
Last weekend Sydney Motorsport Park played host to the first ever Ferrari racing day in Australia. Though the skies were dark and chances of rainfall throughout the entire weekend were high, it didn’t deter true Ferrari enthusiasts away from what was bound to be the biggest gathering of Ferrari’s Australia had ever witnessed. With over $170 million worth of Ferrari’s in attendance, we were sure to be in for a breathtaking experience.

There were four main attractions across the weekend. The first being the Ferrari XX program, which saw owners lucky enough to purchase either the 599XX or the Ferrari FXX direct from Ferrari. The car is only a part of the overall program as customers pay £2 million, however they are only allowed to drive the car on special track days which are approved by Ferrari.

The FXX’s Evo engine is based on the Enzo, but displacement has been increased to (6.3 L; 382.1 cu in) from (6.0 L; 366.0 cu in) while the output has been boosted from the Enzo’s 670 PS (492.8 kW; 660.8 hp), to 860 PS (630 kW; 850 hp) at 9500 rpm

The gearbox incorporates the latest developments from Ferrari’s F1 program and has a shift time of under 100ms. The brake pads were also upgraded from the Enzo. However, it does retain the carbon fibre-reinforced silicon carbide (C/SiC) ceramic composite discs found on the Enzo. The tyres are custom-developed 19 inch slicks.

Ferrari has only built 30 of these, adding one special edition to the 29 that they originally had planned. The original 29 have all been sold to pre-selected past Ferrari customers. The 30th was retained by Ferrari S.p.A. and presented to Ferrari’s F1 World Champion driver, Michael Schumacher, when he retired from Formula One.

We were lucky enough to witness 2 FXX pushing the limits on SMSP.

Ferrari bought 6 599xx along to Ferrari racing days, what a spectacle it was to hear these at full song.
The 599xx 6.0-liter V-12 makes 720 HP (536.9 KW) and 506 pound-feet of torque with a redline of 9000 rpm

The carbon-ceramic brakes are cooled by F1-derived “wheel donuts” that vent unwanted BTUs away from the rotors through slots around the wheels’ center-locking nut, under heavy braking you can see the rotors lighting up from the heat.

The car runs 29/67 R19 front and 31/71 R19 rear tyres with 19 × 11J wheel rims at the front and 19 × 12J at the rear, specifically developed to maximise stability in cornering.

Next up was the F1 Clienti, which sees the extremely wealthy who have been long time customers of Ferrari and were lucky enough to be given the opportunity to purchase an EX Formula 1 car from the 1970-present. This package from Ferrari includes: a full support crew, transporter, mechanic and handlers like a pro driver would receive on race day. We were lucky enough to witness 9 of these amazing machines grace SMSP.

Among these was the 3.5L V12 powered Ferrari 412 T1. The sheer sound of this car gives me goose bumps, it has to be one of the best sounding F1 cars I have ever heard!

Every piece of suspension, bracing and aero was a work of art!

This particular Ferrari 412 was driven by Gerhard Berger in the 1994 Formula one Championship with 1 win and 3 poles.

Amongst the classic formula 1 cars, there was a gem from 1985, the Ferrari 156.

Powered by a classic V6 Turbocharged motor producing 900 bhp (671 kW; 912 PS), this car was well known for the incident where Alboreto famously drove half a lap with the rear of his car on fire following another turbo failure in the European Grand Prix.

There were also a few modern F1 cars belting out some hot laps, sadly this will be one of the last times I’ll get to hear that iconic and haunting sound of a true Formula 1 car. Now as the sport moves into a new age, petrol guzzling dinosaurs like this will be distant memory.

Kimi Raikinon’s former whip was out stretching it’s legs as was Felipe Massa’s old car.

These cars were the peak of Formula One, seeing them race one last time was truly special.

We were also lucky enough to see the pit crew strip down a Ferrari.

The sheer volume of mechanical parts is amazing!

There is no doubt that there was a tonne of action on the track, but there was still more attractions to see throughout the event. The Ferrari F1 team were out and about performing a pit show to see how much support the driver actually gets from his team.

The team had a few demonstrations of actual pit stops from the drivers and showed us how it’s done!

Marc Gene leaving the pits with a fresh set of tyres.

We really can’t say no to a burn out can we?

The fun on the track was not over yet, with the Ferrari Challenge well underway.

The 458’s used in this challenge are fitted with a racing cockpit, racing wheels, track tyres and light weight panels and windows. They are also equipped with jack mountings just in case things don’t go to plan.

Some of the most exciting racing I have seen to date, with so many close calls and many overtakes it was the highlight of the day.

These 458’s were pushed to the limit, check out the heat waves coming from the exhaust!

There was so much excitement on and off the track, just take a look at this Ferrari F12 Berlinetta! Ferrari says it is the fasted road car they have ever produced!!

Throughout the years, Ferarri has always designed cars that have been (as Richard Hammond always says) a car found on posters stuck to a boys bedroom wall… The ultimate dream.

At the time the F40 was the fastest, most powerful, and most expensive car that Ferrari sold to the public. This was and in some cases still is the ultimate from for some.

Cars like the F40 and the 288 GTO have the reputation of being the biggest, most bad Ferrari’s of their respected times… Now that technology has evolved over time there is a new bad boy in town…

The La-Ferrari incorporates the use of electric motors to aid the already monstrous 6.3L V12 which produces a combined power of 800 PS (588 kW, 789 bhp) at 9000 rpm. With Ferrari stating it can do 0-300km/h in 15 seconds, it is a shame we couldn’t see a few laps around the track.

I could spend days talking about the cars Ferrari produced until my voice box gives up, from their record of Formula 1 championship wins, to their flagship cars that seem like the be all and end all of automotive production. To have an event of this magnitude organised by Ferrari themselves, hosted at SMSP, has got to be one of the highlights of my year.
Thanks for reading,
– Robert.
Photos: Full Motion Photography

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

Top Gear :: Ultimate Speed Showdown

Grant — Tue, 18 Feb 2014 07:43:56 +0000

Sydney will once again play host to one of the greatest motoring events for fans of all things internal combustion, speed and Jeremy Clarkson. That’s right Top Gear Festival is back for 2014!!
The festival is set to top last year’s excitement 6 times over with their latest challenge dubbed, “6 Degrees of Acceleration”. The Ultimate Speed Showdown will see 6 iconic racing machines from 6 completely different disciplines of motorsport scrambling for 1st place over just 5 laps…

Piloting these thoroughbred racing machines are some of the world’s greatest racers.
Behind the wheel of the Red Bull F1 will be Daniel Riccardo, hanging on for dear life on the Ducati is Troy Bayliss, Will Davison and Lee Holdsworth will share duties between the V8 super car and GT3 car, Neal Bates will be driving blind without a co-pilot in the WRC rally car, and finally, Garth Walden will be pushing the laws of physics in the Tilton Time Attack Evo.

So the question on our minds, which team will win? The Red Bull F1, Ducati Superbike, V8 super car, WRC rally car, Time Attack Evo or the GT3 race car?

To catch this monumental race and all the usual Top Gear shenanigans head to http://www.topgearfestivalsydney.com.au

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

ADGP :: All Stars Show

Grant — Wed, 06 Feb 2013 08:56:20 +0000

Australia Day was full of festivities for the GSS team as we had traveled North to Sydney for the ADGP drift festival at Sydney Motorsport Park.
On track entertainment included 16 of the countries best drivers battling it out and you can see more of that here.
But what happens if you get bored of cars being driven on the edge, door to door, on a relatively untested drift track?
Well thankfully the team behind the ADGP series invited the local All Stars crew along to host a car show right next to the action.
The All Stars gang proved once again that Sydney is at the forefront of the Australian modified car scene with the latest trends and ideas taking off here first, long before any other states followed suit…

When you have the freshest cars and ideas on the scene, you also need the freshest clothes to complete the look! Luckily Zen Garage was on site with a huge range of gear from the shop.

This was one of the first sights that you would come across when walking up the hill towards the show. They were just three mates chilling on car seats, on top of a Subaru wagon… Only on Australia Day!

Onto the cars though!!
Sydney car crew the Filthy Ones were out in force with several well executed street cars on show. This ED Civic sedan was a perfect example of Japanese styling with the low offset Work Equip 01’s filling out the guards… The only thing that could made this car better in my eyes is if it was the uber rare Civic wagon instead!

Another one from the Filthy Ones. Who said front wheel drive cars can’t have dish?!

Keeping with the Honda theme, this super simple and clean DC5 Type R Integra caught our eye.
Sometimes it’s nice to mix up things from the standard boy racer styling we are used to seeing on most Type R Honda’s getting around.

This Datsun 1200 coupe… was… absolutely stunning!!

So much attention to detail and nothing is out of place!

We were also big fans of the owners improvised seats!!

More classic JDM flare… This time from the global giant Toyota. This MX32 Cressida was in amazing condition.

More Toyota and it seems Sydney is in love with the mighty KE70 Rolla!!

We always find so many nice and sometimes ‘out there’ older Corolla’s up North.

This white ‘KSEV’ takes the cake for the wilder styles of exhausts! Regardless of taste or styles we were all united by the love of cars…

We all thoroughly enjoyed watching some ‘skid racing’ on Australia Day together, whether we drove Jap, Euro or local.

Another stand out for the Toyota camp was another bozuko exhaust, this time on a Crown with some meaty stretched tyres all round.

One of the best S15 streeters in the country ‘UDOORI’. If you follow just a handful of Australian car blogs then you have most likely seen this car on your computer screen before.

We were impressed seeing this car in the flesh for the first time and the Volk CE28N’s looked amazing! Don’t let this car fool you though, as this is no show pony. Everywhere you look there is evidence that this car sees the street… A lot!

Definitely one of our favourites!

The latest model WRX shape has been something that needed to grow on us here at GSS. After a few years and plenty of nice ones getting around town we now thankfully can say they have indeed grown on us!
The aggressive lines suit the hatch back shape to a ‘T’!

Everywhere you looked the hill was full of Japanese muscle, hidden amongst them was a few stand out examples from Europe too!…

These E30 BMW’s were causing a quite a stir with a heap of Euro influenced touches like the BBS wheels, tinted headlights and even a front bar on the black one from BMW performance specialists Alpina!

Such a menacing face!

This Mk2 Golf was sporting a fabric wrapped bonnet, not something you see everyday by any means!

As well as throwing very cool car shows the boys from All Stars also know how to build and style their cars cool as well…
Now this is what happens when you take an ‘Aussie icon’ such as a Holden Ute and then style it with a heavy influence from the ‘JDM’ scene…
(We hate to throw around the dreaded ‘JDM’ word but there is rarely another word for it.)

The ute of choice is of course the current generation HSV Maloo Ute. At the moment under the hood has remained stock standard but knowing the All Stars boys it won’t stay that way long with talks already of what will be tinkered with and swapped to give some extra grunt!
The real striking piece of the puzzle is the set of massive SSR wheels… How massive? 20×10.5″ at the rear!!!!

To accommodate the giant wheels a lot of work has had to be done, including custom adapters to change the Holden 5×120 bolt pattern to a more Jap friendly 5×114.
Then there was the issue of the ridiculously big wheels sitting out from the body work. Bodyform Motorsports was then enlisted to help create the custom wide fender flares. The front has been perfectly molded to the body and work is about to begin on molding the rears.

While things went a bit quiet back out on the track for the lunch break, things only got crazier up on the hill at the All Stars show…

The main attraction for the show was underway!
The All Stars boys managed to talk Jay & Crystal into getting down and dirty with some of Sydney’s filthiest cars.

The girls were in incredibly high spirits despite the growing line of dirty cars waiting to get their time in the spotlight alongside the girls.

The girls took a much needed break from washing the cars in the sun…

… They were going to need their strength to scrub away at this rally breed Mitsubishi Evo.

A complete polar opposite to the previous Evo this bright blue Evo 9 was super clean with not even a speck of dirt anywhere in sight!

Sydney is definitely loving it’s bright coloured wheels at the moment!

Speaking of brightly coloured… The Built To Order EG Civic was turning heads and dividing opinions at the same time!
Nothing has been compromised during this build, no expense has been spared!

We were seriously chuffed to see our sticker in a long list of local talent adorning this S15’s rear window.

Some of the brave crowd that enjoyed the show despite the heat.

Nearly every single person had a big DSLR snapping away like crazy, only this guy had a DOMO backpack though!

We spotted a Mazda Cosmo (929)!
Digging the defining 80’s rear diffuser (regular spoiler mounted upside down).

External air horns were a nice touch too!

We were blown away to see this!
A Datsun 120Y with some street cred.

Now for some, this little guy still reminds them of their friends’ first car some 20+ years ago… Things have changed since then and builds like this are only going to become more common!
What was once ugly and cheap is now nostalgic and rare. One man’s trash is another man’s treasure!!

Perfect targa top moment, taking in the view and aural delight of pro drift cars racing up a hill… Instead sitting on FB on your phone.

This is our kind of Mazda 3!!!
Amazing what clear and simple ideas can do to a car!

Soon the light was beginning to fade and the cars started to leave and it was time to turn our attention once again to the drifting!

What an incredible display of cars and people.
The boys behind All Stars definitely have their finger on the pulse when it comes to all things cool, four wheels and petrol.
We’re excited to see what boys have planned with their east coast tour of Australia with the next stop on the map being Queensland, expect to see some very impressive stuff from the sunshine coast.
For more info be sure to check out the All Stars website.
http://sydneyallstars.com/
Thanks for reading,
– Gwyn.

ADGP :: Australia Day Drift Festival

Grant — Wed, 30 Jan 2013 05:23:17 +0000

Australia Day, a day usually reserved for groups of mates to get together and have a few drinks, eat copious amounts of burnt meat and listen to the radio.
What more could anyone want you might ask?

Well 2013 would be the first year I broke this long lived tradition and as it turns out, I couldn’t have been happier!!
Sydney Motorsport Park has just undergone an upgrade and with construction now complete of the brand new south circuit section it was time to celebrate the opening of track! The Australian Drifting Grand Prix team was invited to host a drift festival on Australia Day 2013 to do the honours.

Delighted by the idea of a brand new circuit, 16 of Australia’s best drifters. guest judge Matt Powers (Formula Drift USA) and truck loads of Sydney’s locals coming out to destroy some tyres on the track. So we booked our flights and in the blink of an eye the date was upon us!
*Note how rich we are by our choice of airline… No expense spared!
When you buy GSS merchandise you help pay for our flights and rental cars when we travel to events all over Australia, so next time you’re thinking about grabbing a sticker etc from our store, remember that every bit counts!!

We arrived at Sydney Motorsport Park bright and early at around 8am Saturday. There is never any time to ease into it, so Grant and I began snapping away and filming the moment our feet hit the ground.

Some of the first cars we saw in the pits were the Hit and Run boys of NSW drift club fame and as you can see these cars are always a sight for sore eyes.
With some of the best wheels and kit choices, every car is finished in amazing detail and the boys in true drifter fashion have that unique ‘no care’ attitude with one goal in mind…
Drive hard, drive very hard!
By the end of the day the cars end up looking a little tired but that is all part of the fun and the team get busy making them all shiny before the next event again.

One of the overseas competitors in the top 16 was Andy Gray from Powervehicles.com in Japan. Andy had Australian drifter Christian Pickering oversee the Toyota Chaser’s build while he was still at home in Japan.
The finishing touch to this car was the very same graphics that Andy uses on his Chaser in Japan, confusing many thinking he had just shipped the whole car over…
Check out that lock! Andy has his finger on the pulse in regards to drifting in Japan so we were excited to see what he and the car would have to offer!

Heading team Melbourne was John from the Insane Drifters crew. Agges was M.I.A thanks to being invited to compete in the New Zealand D1NZ next month.

John was applying some new graphics and the car was looking immaculate!!

Coming all the way from South Australia and looking stunning was this Nissan Laurel, hands down the best looking one in the country and it’s a drift car!!!!!!!!!

A sad, sad day for QLD driver Ryan ‘Slide’ Cummings…
On his way to the start line for the very first practice session of the day the timing belt idler bolt sheared and the timing belt skipped.
The team thinks there may be some serious damage and wont know until they pull the engine apart. This is a true shame for someone who has dedicated a lot to the sport and traveled so far to be part of it.

Before the action kicked off the drivers had their morning assembly. Yoshi from Vicdrift helped keep the wild crowd under control so the meeting went smoothly and was very quick in the end!

With all the formalities done and dusted, we setup a whole heap of on-car camera’s thanks to the guys from ION. We had 6 ION Air Pro’s capturing some of the excitement and hope to have a pretty cool video for you guys to enjoy very soon! So keep your eyes out for that!

Without any warning at all, the cars started flying off the starting grid and began punishing those tyres!

Right from the start we could tell this is the course for tight battles here in Australia. The layout ensures that it is very hard for the lead car to race away and we were rewarded with some close door-to-door action even in the early morning practice sessions.

The course is short and looks rather simple at first with only four corners. With the majority set uphill, it meant a lot of smoke, even from underpowered cars as they raced up the incline.

Drivers took a ‘no fear’ approach and went flat out into the second corner knowing that further up the hill a lot of their speed would be washed off. This made for some hairy moments when the lead car would spin and the approaching driver had already committed to the corner and could not brake in time.
Thankfully though there were no major impacts over the day.

If the lead car wasn’t fast enough, the follow car caught up very quickly. I would not want to see that in my rear view mirror!!

At the top of the hill the course had a long sweeping corner and then it dipped back down which made for some dramatic images of the cars disappearing over the hill.

There were so many highlights throughout the day, with every practice session turning into a battle with drivers pairing up and testing each others skills.
Rob Whyte was king of the proximity and emulation card, shown here following Danny Williamson.

One of the most exciting pairs to watch was Christian Pickering and Andy Gray. They appeared like long lost brothers reunited and they clearly had a blast playing together.
The two have spent a lot of time driving together in Japan and it showed on the day. They were the most exciting to watch and I would have been happy if they were the only two drivers competing!!

Andy’s Chaser always made the most exciting exits over the hill!

One of the most photogenic cars on track was Levi Clarke’s fluro Toyota Soarer and he seemed to team up with Beau Yates in his AE86 with countless runs together in the practice sessions.

Levi has always had crazy colour schemes and graphics. His previous cars have had Ed Hardy inspired designs… I much prefer this one though personally.

The big wigs at Toyota probably never expected to see their two creations ever meet in such a way. The variety of cars competing is probably one of the biggest attractions to the sport in all honesty.
You can buy the majority of these cars for $20k or less and drive them on the street and enter the odd drift day or two in your local area, making it more accessible to just about anyone.

The only professional female driver in the ADGP series was Kelly Wong from South Australia.
It is always a pleasure to see Kelly roughing it with the boys out on track and we hope Kelly inspires more female drivers to pursue the sport as it’s probably one the most open and friendly forms of motor sport around!

I’ve managed to not mention the weather so far but it was horrible!
The humidity was obscene and had us drinking around 15 bottles of water between the two of us!!

Here we see Brett chucking his new 180SX over the hill. The car had a few teething issues but we expect some big things from Brett and his evil looking S-chassis later this year.

This was the last event the Insane Drifters will be using their current suspension setups at, as the team has been picked up by Shockworks and we are very excited by that here at GSS!!

ION sponsored SA driver Simon Michelmore was putting his S14 through its paces after installing a brand new gearbox and GKtech knuckle setup.

As the day went on, drivers were getting more comfortable with the new track and we saw more and more ‘dirt drops’ as each driver went for bigger and bigger entries into the first corner.
Sometimes with disastrous results…

This entry saw Jabbit from Blaze Unit mount a stack of tyres which meant the only way off was with a tow. Thankfully nothing was damaged and the Blaze Unit boys went on to become the crowd favorite between battles.
Instead of staring at an empty track while drivers changed tyres or waited for scores from the judges, the crowd was treated to an all out smoke show thanks to the boys tearing up the track in a 3 way drift train!

Mitch Bunney had made the trip over from Western Australia with his R32 Skyline and Mitch ended up qualifying 3rd with only one point between him and Andy Gray!

This S13 reminds me of Ender’s white beast back here in Melbourne. It is refreshing to see so many good looking cars in the sport!

Another from team Melbourne!!
Michael Prosenik in the Supreme Caravan’s V8 powered S13.

Michael was having a few fun battles with John and both cars were baking hard up the hill!

Everyone’s favorite V6 powered 86!!
That’s right, this little guy is powered by one of the newer Toyota V6 engines!

Some of the NSW drift crews were loving the new track although it really suited the higher powered cars with the uphill section. However, this S14 was putting out a healthy amount of power with around 400hp so it was lapping it up!

Levi was pushing hard in his Soarer until this happened…

The drivers side rear tyre came off the rim mid corner and sent him off track. Levi missed out on making it into the top 16 by only one spot, so sadly this was the end of the day for him.
Levi and the car will be competing at every round of the ADGP series this year so expect to see a lot more of him and his bright Soarer!

The stand out local car had to be Harry’s DR30 Skyline!

This thing looked, sounded and drove amazingly all day!

The engine is a combination of an RB30 with a 26 head for good measure.

The day was soon coming to an end which meant it was time to kick off the top 16 battles!!

During one of Andy’s ridiculous backwards entries he over shot it and went into the run off section.

The whole time Andy did not take his foot off the power and kept drifting through rest of the track!

Now Simon is known for having some over the top entries so all of the Media guys track side held their breath when they heard the announcement that Simon and Andy would go head to head…
Two of the wildest drivers in regards to top speed entries going against each other!

Hands down this was one of the best battles we have ever witnessed!!
Andy took the win but it was honestly very close and we would have loved to have seen a re-run.

Scott from Blaze Unit was drifting in true Australian spirit with one hand out the window flipping the bird!!

Later we saw him go head to head with Luke Fink who had actually entered his daily driven 180SX!!
Luke is the driver for Holfords Motorsport and since they have sold Luke’s usual competition S14, he is currently without a car.
The team has an exciting 350Z build in the works but we are unsure if it will be ready for any events soon.

The light was soon gone and we had the last few battles to watch.
Nick Coulson took the win against Beau Yates.

Nick then took the win against Andy after a fierce battle, both drivers were not giving up easily!

The final battle was 2012 champion Rob Whyte against Christian Pickering. This was too close to call and required a re-run before the judges were happy to announce a winner.

Christian was beaten by Rob for 1st place but Christian didn’t seem to mind all that much.

The ‘Straya Day’ podium finishers!
Nick Coulson in 3rd.
Christian Pickering in 2nd.
Rob Whyte coming in 1st.
So how can I sum up my Australia day??
The crowd was massive, the amount of cars on track was insane and the vibe was just fantastic!!
We couldn’t possibly fit everything into one post so expect some extras with our coverage of the All Stars car show and of course our video of all the action that unfolded throughout the day.
Thanks for reading,
– Gwyn.