V8 – Gripshiftslide

Sprintcar :: 360 Victorian Title Avalon Raceway

Grant — Wed, 29 Jan 2014 06:38:53 +0000

This is one of those fringe motorsports that I have always wanted to visit and for the longest time it had been on my list of motorsports to cover. I was inspired to cover Sprintcar because of a rally photographers friend, so I jumped in the GSS van and headed to Avalon Raceway Geelong.

I have never been to any motorsport where all the fans bring their own seating. So while everybody was busy finding a good spot to sit down, the water trucks continuously did laps to prepare the track for the racing ahead.

Soon after the trucks had finished watering down the track, the racing teams started to enter. One by one, the cars were pushed in by their support team buggy. I must say that I found it strange they didn’t enter under their own power.

The pushing theme continued throughout the day, with push starts given by various utes and 4wd’s. Once these beasts were given their starting push, every car put down a few low speed laps to warm up their engines.

Each class of sprint car had a decent number of competitors and group by group, they all put down warm up laps.

Having a dummy starting grid / second pits in the middle of the track felt unorthodox compared to other motorsports i have attended and yet I understand why they have to set it up this way.
This is the spectators point of view and I had to share this view as I didn’t have a media pass unfortunately on the day.

Siting at different points around this oval style track gave a different perspective of the corners and the cars that were approaching.

The amount of speed these cars generated in a small straight was incredible, especially while on the dirt. Not only do the cars have a crazy amount of torque, but the real secret to getting all this power around the track seems to be the super wide tyres that keep these beasts on the ground.

With three hundred and sixty cubic inch engines, these sprint cars put down between 600-700 horse power. With a power-to-weight ratio comparable to a Formula 1 car, these sprint cars are no joke!

The Front of a sprint car does not look like your average high powered race car, with its strange front spoiler and big fat tyres. The unorthodox body covers its’ super light tube race fame. Under this frame is an untamed v8 power plant that makes more noise than an angry dragon that is hooked on crack.

The urban name for sprint car racing is Caveman Drifting. It’s a dirty sport and certainly not for the faint hearted. It is really a mix of rally and drift with a bit of Nascar, all rolled into one sport.

Although this car had a substantial smoke trail following it, the car actually was not on fire. Often these cars run so hot and they have to cope with a lot of vibration, this can cause oil hoses to become slightly loose and spray oil on the headers. This is one of the main causes of smoke trails from sprint cars.

The spray of mud from the cars was incredible and not long after the first few laps it literally started raining mud when all the cars got on track. With the velocity of a paintball these clumps of mud would fire out and stick to you and everything around you.

The crowd was one of the largest that I had seen at any local motorsport event I’ve attended. With an audience this big, I am surprised you do not see sprint cars on tv more often.

Not only does the track get cut up as the event goes on, but the drivers have to cope with the changing light conditions. As the sun gets lower the track develops patches of light and shade and this definitely adds to the difficult task of driving at high speeds on a dirt track.

This car lost grip and found itself in a wall. We all know motorsport is dangerous and so it was really good to see the driver walk away from this crash.

The racing is close and furious, whether it be in dash format or main A / B racing format. The competition is always very fierce.

After each session the cars would return to the pits though a small gate in the wall. One of the best things about sprint cars is the lack of downtime on track action, it seems there is always something happening.

The time trials are one part of the sprint car format that I really enjoyed. It was great to see how each driver approached the track. The lap times the cars set, position the cars into the correct race heats based on their recorded time. Sorting the drivers by times set, made for much better competition and excitement in the final heats.

One of the biggest crashes of the night was this near flip into the wall. Lucky these sprint cars have great cages and big wings to save the driver from harm.

When there are twenty plus cars on the track, there is not much room for error and especially when these bad boys get up to speed. Being only centimeters from a concrete wall while power sliding on dirt, really takes some crazy confidence.

As the light faded and the sun went down, things started to get cold. This was my first experience with sprint cars and it is fair to say I’m now officially addicted! The sound, the speed, and the atmosphere all combine to create one serious spectacle.
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

Vic Drift :: April Practice Day

Grant — Sun, 14 Apr 2013 08:42:16 +0000

The boys and girls of Vic Drift were at it again last week hosting another practice day, this time at Calder Park.
This had originally been planned as a two day event, but with lower entries than normal there was a push for it to be culled back to only one day much to everyone’s disappointment.

Btu not to worry, as there was still plenty of people willing to get behind the wheel for the one day event and they helped to make the day a huge success and a lot of fun for everyone involved.

Group A was full of top notch cars and drivers despite being just a casual practice day.

Drivers didn’t hold back just because it was a practice day either and the speed of some of the entries was impressive to say the least!

Peter was blasting along the wall all day and the sound that his RB powered Skyline makes is enough to bring a grown man to his knees. It really is a treat for the ears!

We love to see an exceptional series 1 S14 being put to good use!

Michael and Jason with their V8 swapped Nissan’s were going above and beyond with some close action, especially through the huge sweeping corner giving the crowd plenty to see!

Another popular V8 swapped chassis is Aaron’s 5.7 ltr (570SX) S13, this thing is an animal and sounds ridiculously good!

Aside from the A group guys running amok there were plenty of improvements from the other groups all day and you really can see the drivers making progress over the day!

Gerald’s 180SX is one of our favourite street/drift cars, he’s done very well to keep it so clean and straight over the years.

Operation smoke screen was a great success!

Stirling’s drift patrol R33 is always a great sight for sore eyes. He is continually improving the car and his driving is coming along in leaps and bounds!
To follow Stirls in his Slide N’ Destroy Skyline head to his new Facebook page and show your support! –>> http://www.facebook.com/SlidenDestroy

Like any other Vic Drift day there were next to no delays between sessions, so the action was non-stop all day! If you have never been to one of these events before, we would encourage you to check out the Vic Drift website for an upcoming drift day near you.
http://www.vicdrift.com/site/

With a great day of skids done and dusted we will soon again turn our eyes back to Calder Park for the drift event of the year in just under two weeks.
If you have been hiding under a rock you have probably missed our updates, The Australian Drifting GP together with Formula D Asia are putting on one hell of a show on the 27th & 28th of this month.
The worlds best drivers are coming and we caught up with Daigo Saito the number one drifter in the world for a few questions before he arrives in Melbourne.
Follow the link —>>> http://gripshiftslide.com/2013/04/11/the-hot-seat-daigo-saito/

It seems we are a bit drift crazy here in Melbourne with so many drift days happening every month, it is great to see so many taking up the sport and supporting the club that supports you!
Until next time, Thanks for reading.
– Gwyn.
Photos courtesy of Blacktop Images, for more go and ‘like’ their Facebook page for the full album!
http://www.facebook.com/BlacktopImages