vicdrift – Gripshiftslide

VICDRIFT :: Round #4 – Things get serious

Grant — Sun, 10 Sep 2017 10:58:44 +0000

The year is quickly coming to an end, it’s this time of year when all the motorsport events start to fire up as the weather begins to get warmer.
Round #4 of the Victorian Drift Championship was held at Calder Park in front a strong crowd and a large amount of eager drivers.

Every year we seem to see a changing of the guard, a new champion and a new set of hungry drivers ready to take the title of Victorian Drift Champion.

This is the second last event of the championship, the time to count points, the time to patch the car up and hope it holds together for the upcoming battles.

The day had just begun, it was time for the drivers briefing which was held on track. The drivers were about to learn what exactly the judges wanted to see from them, some divers attentively listened to the judges while others were just talked smack to their mates.

Last year round 4 was won by this man; Adian Ing, he surprised everyone by beating out some very seasoned veterans of the sport. This year he has found him self in a new car for the season and has been looking to steal another win.

This layout is as fun for the drivers as it is for the crowd! Having to throw the car with full commitment straight at the crowd then transitioning up and around the bend makes for an exciting spectacle.

Some of the higher powered cars tended to bog down and lose momentum on this particular track layout. The higher grip lower powered cars were impressive as they are able to catch ground quickly on their high powered rivals.

Jason Ferrons new rig has had its up’s and down’s! Haunted hill’s really made the car look like a half crushed coke can. With help from friends and a lot of talented people the R33 sedan was fashioned back together in time for round #4.

Be gone shabby paintwork! The boys over at WrapedUp did an amazing job making Jason’s car look like it was straight from the paint shop.

Nissan is still the dominate platform for drift around Australia and in many other places around the world. With so many options for custom aftermarket parts made especially for drift I don’t see this trend changing anytime soon.

Choonga the president of VicDrift has had enough of sitting behind the sidelines and organizing everything.
Round #4 saw him borrow a friends R32 four door to jump in the mix with some of Australia’s best drivers.

Everyone was pushing hard during qualifying, Justin Gruener took the top spot followed closely by Christopher Schulze and Matty Russell rounding out the top three.

Every year I watch drivers come up through the ranks and overtime see their skill’s develop.
One of the drivers who has been very impressive in the last six months is Zac Bongnar. Although his name sounds like an evil villain straight from a bond film his driving is aggressive but not demonic.

Alex Gouveia has been charging hard all season! His battle’s are always super entertaining, he is one driver we will be seeing on the podium next year for sure! He put down plenty of great runs during the day but was knocked out of the top 8 by Justin Gruener.

The judges where wanting drivers to run wide on the first corner and touch wheels on a patch of concrete just at the start of the corner. To do this it required a fair amount of speed! Here you can see Zac Bongnar and Christopher Schulze’s first initiation before the cars even get to the corner. Zac’s battle against team mate Christopher was re-run it was so close! Eventually Christopher Schulze ended up winning this battle.

Top 16 and top 8 Results where read out right in front of the crowd sitting on the above hill. Drivers sat side by side as they were read their verdict.

Big power versus no power, Kevin Flynn almost ran into trouble narrowly missing Julian Di Battista on his run. The crowd cheered as they thought they were about to see carnage, yet Kevin Flynn’s years of experience kept him from binning the unique 2JZ S15.

I can’t imagine the thoughts going through Christian Stella head moments before he was to battle his long time friend and Vic Drift President Mathew Choong. Do you push it! Get on door? Or leave a safe distance?

Thankfully Christian Stella did all of the above without damaging the car that Mathew Choong had borrowed especially for the event. It was a great battle that was re-run it was so entertaining! Christian ended up taking the win and moving all the way up to the top 8.

The people’s choice award was voted live on facebook by the crowd watching the event, they chose Mathew Choong and Warwick Fitzgerald as there favorite divers of Round 4 Vic Drift Championship. This then meant that the two would have to battle to the death for the audience’s affection! Both drivers put on one hell of a show with Warwick taking the win in his small but mighty MX5.

Justin Gruener has been hard at work all year! Hey has reached the VicDrift podium many times in the last couple of years yet he has never been able to get the win. This time however all his stars aligned.

Not only did he take first qualifier and impress the hell out of the judges! But he also took the win at Round #4 and the best part is it was also his birthday! What a hat trick!

So who will take the crown of Victorian Drift Champion for 2017? With many regular names missing rounds of the championship its anyone’s game! The 2017 championship definitely looks like it is favoring the underdogs this year. The last round is quickly approaching and we cannot wait to see who can take the win this year.
Thanks for reading,
Grant.

VicDrift Round #3 :: It's not all about constistancy

Grant — Sun, 18 Sep 2016 23:37:12 +0000

This year is soon coming to a close, Round #3 has already arrived although it only feels like June. As the VicDrift Championship heats up the big players cut groves in the bitumen and solidify their positions in the series.

The seasoned drivers have wasted no time fighting their way to the top of the leader board, preparation, a strong team and many hours in the drivers seat are starting to pay off. These events are more than just a drive, hang time with old friends and new friends are what make this drift community so strong.

Looking good in this sport is half the battle, a great looking car definitely helps with building traction while capturing some attention from sponsors. These two are a prime example of this, both cars just cause people to stop and stare.

Josh Robinson was back with a newly installed 6 speed sequential Pfitzner performance gearbox and carbon fibre doors which has helped him shave an extra 100kg off the car. This means more acceleration for josh! The bad thing is that he will have to buy more taillights, The concrete walls of Calder Park are not very forgiving!

Could this be a trophy or just a creative tow hook made out of a conrod? There is most definitely a story behind this yet we may never know why such a creative tow hook was born.

One last check by Troy’s pit crew to make sure that nothing has come loose and everything is safe to hit the track.

Because Calder Park Thunderdome is essentially a giant bowl, on a cold day with high winds conditions just get amplified! Everyone was wearing as many clothes as they possibly could to keep warm.

This particular track layout has not been used for quite a while, it is an original ADGP layout. When this track layout was first launched 3 cars were almost written off and one camera man got injured. But the skills of the drivers are a lot better these days!

Being a lot faster than most other Thunderdome layouts, with big scando’s, a large banked straight and wall scrapes this course has it all.

Up the bank on the exit of the large sweeping corner is where drivers like Michael Bonney and Jason Ferron really excel by getting on door while blazing up the forty five degree angle banked turn.

The looming concrete walls that surround the Thunderdome are the only thing that you really need to avoid! well that and the dirt pit to the right of the sweepa.

With no probationary licence this young man at the ripe old age of 16 made some of the experienced drivers blush. Having never driven this layout while up against true veterans this young guy really proved that the young can adapt and evolve very quickly to the situation at hand.

Sometimes when you play follow the leader your lines can get a little wild. Many drivers dropped a wheel or two in the same muddy spot chasing the lead car.

With the recent sale of Calder Park the future of VicDrift is looking a little bit shaky, this track is the main track used by VicDrift for the majority of their events. The question is how long until they build houses right on top of Calder Park? From the top of the hill you can see the city and the spread of houses approaching this piece of motorsport history.

Struggling to get heat into the tyres and high winds didn’t help Josh Robinson’s campaign, he was knocked out of the top 8 by bonney who’s aggressive driving style was making mince meat of the competition!

Warwick Fitzgerald who is one of VicDrift’s legends was back in the hot seat pushing his MX5 to the limit against much more powerful cars! He put on some seriously close battles and even exchanged paint with a few drivers but sadly he got knocked out of the top 8.

Nerves may have got the best of Justin Gruener with some big performances in previous rounds many expected him to easily make it into the top 4 drivers of the day. But some silly mistakes in the top 16 battles saw Justin out of the running.

The speed of this layout is much faster than the FD layout that is normally run here. The drivers easily were getting into third and even fourth gear towards the end of their runs down the back straight.

There were so many close battle’s throughout the whole day it was hard to see drivers making any major mistakes. Its a good thing i’m not a judge otherwise I would have had battles constantly re-run to force mistakes to pick the winner.

Westside Concepts are really coming up with some unique designs, take this one for instance a combination of Jim’s Mowing and the Big Lez Show’s (Mike Nolan).

Two of the crowd favorites entered into a 80’s style drift battle with their retro drift cars, John Dreyer ended up getting the win which helped propel him into the top four.

You may be thinking why does this commodore look like it is unusually squatting? this is because of an accident at Winton and the best fix was to weld the rear of the commodore at this strange angle so it could be allowed back on track.

Among the thistles and broken chairs you could clearly see a battle in the distance. Going to war in a concrete dome is one fun way to spend a weekend but watching others fight there way to the top of the battle tree is even better.

With Sharky hot in the rear-view mirror its hard not to have a quick look back to see how close he really is.

Among the sea of cars within Vic Drift is a little ford escort with the heart of a Nissan! We have been watching this car appear and disappear over the last three years and it is always a joy to watch.

The true meaning of relationship goals! That’s right what you are looking at here is boyfriend vs girlfriend with some rather close tandem action.

The peoples choice award went to a strong character of the sport Sharky in a battle that was re-run several times and each time Sharky was on door.

Showing the same form that he had in Round one, Bonney’s transition’s while chasing where so insanely close that he was only leaving centimeters between him and his competition. Bonney’s driving was flawless! It was great to see a well deserved win especially when he has been working so hard this season of the Vic Drift Championship.
Thanks for reading,
Grant.

VicDrift :: Rolling With The Punches Round #2

Grant — Thu, 09 Jun 2016 01:25:55 +0000

In typical Melbourne fashion things looked gloomy and overcast on the way to the track, was it going to rain? was it going to snow? or where we going to see sunshine? All signs pointed to rain! As i parked my van on the grass i herd a splash sound! i instantly tried to reverse but it was too late I had dug myself in!

Bogged within 5 minutes of arriving was not the start i had hoped for, things where about get better as I heard the beautiful song of an RB motor.

With drift practice on the Saturday and the main competition spread across two days there was almost 20 hours of drifting action to be seen at Calder park over the weekend.

Many of the local favorites showed up to defend their turf against the interstate invaders! Some even appeared out of the wood work. Stirling Wright is one of those drivers we haven’t seen for a good couple of years but when he heard VicDrift was running the FD ADGP layout he quickly signed on to drive.

It was great to see the classic layout back at the Thunderdome with the crowd super close eating smoke and cheering on their heroes.

3 Fingers Neat had made the drive from Sydney to support their mates Matty Hill and Scotty P, both cars looked amazing! Along for the ride was the large 3 Fingers Neat merchandise store with their huge clothing range on sale at the event.

The VicDrift president was having a great time on his mini quad bike until later in the day when it refused to start!
VicDrift popularity is really on the rise! This has to be one of the biggest attendances at a round that I have seen for a very long time!

Shortly after morning practice the drivers briefing was held on track, Chris Dejager told all the drivers they were approaching the drift line completely wrong. The judges wanted to see real commitment around the tight section! Marks were made on track to prompt the drivers where to place their front wheels to set the car up for the correct line.

Shortly after the briefing it took a while for the drivers to adjust their approach to the course layout. Those drivers who still babied their cars around the hairpin where soon kicked out of the top 16.

It didn’t take too long for everybody to get more confident entering the hairpin at speed with much better battles happening in the late afternoon.

With all the action close to the crowd they even get a chance to see the drivers return to the pits after their runs. This means the drivers get a good gauge for what the crowd enjoys and does not enjoy.

Unfortunately Adrian Ing got knocked out on a technicality! I had not heard of this rule until now, “if a driver consistently runs a tire of the rim throughout the day because of low pressure or too much stretch and gets warned but also does it during battles then they don’t get to take advantage of the new tire safety rule”. This was sad because Adrian Ing had been preforming well up until the indecent.

Many drivers where familiar with this track layout almost 20% of the drivers had never driven it. There were lots of spins early in the morning as the new drivers adjusted to this technical layout.

Michael Bonney was pushing hard early trying to scare the interstate guests and force mistakes!
With plenty of momentum from round one Bonney had his sights set on a podium finish.

Part 4wd part R34 four door this surprise entry from Sleeka spares had many peoples attention with its unusually high rear end but boy did it have some lock! And plenty of power to match.

Drifting with a live axle is no joke and takes a lot of skill. This SR20 powered Escort has been in the scene for many years but still proves to be competitive.

Bonney was pulling off some really quick entry’s into the large sweeper and his car wasn’t complaining about it unlike Khudr Elhaouli S14 which broke a tie rod on the dip at the exit of the large sweeping corner.

Over the years we have seen a few cars take flight on the barriers on the outside of the hairpin of this layout. This is the first dramatic roll we have seen off the barrier. Driver and passenger jumped out shortly after the roll and both where fine thanks to their full roll cadge!

After the track was clear of oil and car parts the drifting resumed with everyone being a lot more cautious about throwing the car wide around the hairpin.

With no qualifying during the main event the day ran above schedule, allowing the drivers an extra expression session which meant the driver’s who had been knocked out of the top 32/16 had a chance to burn off some more rubber.

Known as (The Peoples Champ) Michael Prosenik is one of only a handful of drivers to have ever represented Australia in overseas competition and he was back home competing in the very club that helped to launch his driving career.

VicDrift have has finally moved into the modern age by deciding to finally live stream their events! This is the first ever live stream of VicDrift! And the best part is you can watch all the action again! Right here

The Best part of the live stream is the fact the drivers will be able to re-watch their runs, see their mistakes and learn from the experience which will create better driving for all.

Michael Prosenik had lent his backup practice car to a friend from New Zealand who wasted no time getting used to the S13 in the warm up area. This car is known for having a mystery gremlin that like’s to turn off the power steering intermediately midway through drifts!

Matt Russell is one of the main organizers of VicDrift yet he still finds time to throw down laps and burn some tires.

Taking too much speed into the fist corner often throws the drivers across a deep edge and into the mud. Some drivers hold the drift others are not so lucky.

Drivers where rushed into the dummy grid for the top 16 where the cars were matched up for the next set of battles.

Michael Prosenik vs Jason Ferron was one hell of a battle! So good the judges couldn’t not determine a winner so the battle was re-run! With Jason Ferron coming out on top.

During the battle for second place Jason Ferron made an error on his chase run. Jason’s late turn in left him no time to get the car sideways this caused him to slam on the brakes to avoid more damage to both cars, Khudr’s door took the majority of the hit! this mistake handed the win to Khudr.

The one driver who was consistent and preformed flawlessly was Stirling Wright. He made it look easy while other drivers looked like they were struggling.

The day was full of action and with a huge crowd the atmosphere was amazing. The crew behind VicDrift has been putting in a lot of work behind the scenes to make the Vicdrift Championship the best it can be, the club’s momentum continues to impress with every event. Driver entries are continually maxing out the capacity for the current events scheduled leaving a huge waiting list! I have not seen the club so popular in the 5 years that I have been following their events!

Round 2 of the 2016 VicDrift Championship was one of the best rounds we have ever seen!
With 69 drivers competing over 2 days of competition and some very impressive driving the drivers who stood at the top over the weekend are:
1st – Stirling Wright
2nd – Khudr Elhaouli
3rd – Jason Ferron
Forced Motorworx Peoples Choice Award – Justin Gruener.

BONUS IMAGES

Winton :: Wet 'n' Wild

Grant — Mon, 12 Sep 2011 11:36:13 +0000

The clouds rolled in and it rained! Then the weather decided to do a 180 and the cycle continued,
a great day for a drift practice..

Its an escort, you do not see these everyday. The mighty escort was back at winton again and pushing hard.

A sideways Hi-torque R33 was mixing it up on the track and looking good around a lot of new potential talent.

Entry class was full on, everyone was pushing their limits, some a little to far.

Did someone say professional? Pro class was totally dominated by Nigel from engineered to slide!

The chase was on! everyone wanted to mix it with nigel but he was to fast and too smooth.

Speed and angle, he had both !

The safety crew was kept busy all day with many guys breaking stuff and needing a tow.

Exhaust mounts who need them?

Many R31’s where out and about, and lovin it!

Splash goes the s15!

This guy did not want me to take photos of the tofu delivery vehicle.

Rain makes for better angle, the wet track made the intermediate drivers look like pros. Some where pulling of some amazing drifts.

p plater” with style, this guy looked really impressive the whole day and defiantly needs to move up a class.

Just Holding it on the edge of the road!

Tuffcore, enough said.

When it rained, it RAINED!

Best performance of the day, this guy started off not doing so well, but by the end he was hitting extreme angles like nigel and cuting sick all over the track with little to no errors.

Beached as bro!

The circuit was full the whole day.

Most photogenic car of the day!

The crowd was small, but spirits where high despite the rain.

Even up hill these cars where getting good speed.

The drifters kept lining up even after a long day when many of them had been up since the early hours of the morning.
It was a great day with lots of new talent and many different weather conditions. This Vic Drift practice day is a great lead up to the Australian Drift GP At Calder, we hope to see you all there!
– Grant