January | 2010 | Andrew Redward's Blog

D2NZ Track Day, Hamtpon Downs, 9-1-10

Posted on January 17, 2010 by andrewredward

Hampton Downs is a brand new racetrack facility, located only 60km’s south of Auckland. The 2.8 FIA spec international ciruit was invaded by the drifters for the first time thanks to D2NZ. I was highly anticipating this event, it’s always exciting to drive on a new track for the first time, especially one built to such a high standard.

We arrived in the morning to a field of over 60 other drivers, ranging from first-timers to other seasoned proffessionals. After scruitineering and a track briefing, the pro’s were allowed out on the track for the first session. We all had a slow drive of the track on the first lap to suss out the corners, and were straight into it after that. The corners flowed very well with some interesting elevation changes and apexing points.

Most corners were 3rd gear, with the exception of two 2nd gear hairpins and the large 4th gear high speed sweeper.

Unfortunately i blew 3rd gear again on my second session out before lunch. We decided to change the gearbox out as i had a spare with me, and it payed off as i had heaps of fun in the afternoon sessions.

I can’t wait til we are allowed to have battles at this track, and hopefully the club circuit will be opening later this year.

Filed under: Event Reports | Tagged: achilles, achilles radial, alfa, cre8grafx, D1, d1nz, drift, drift max, drifting, eastern automotive, enkei, enkei racing, LS2, mad mike, redward, RX7, saito, tannock, V8 | Leave a Comment »

Full Throttle Event, Manukau City, Auckland

Posted on January 17, 2010 by andrewredward

Full Throttle Manukau was an event put on by Manukau City Council, 4&Rotary Promotions, and NZ Police. The event was intended to bring people of all ages together to appreciate the automotive culture and learn about safe racing on the track and how to correctly modify vehicles.

We were invited to do a drifting demonstration in the carpark along with Cole Armstrong and Jason Sellars. I decide to bring my recently built 180sx street car out as the s14 was getting some work done to it.

The coarse chipseal really tore through my Nankang tyres, but the enjoyment of putting on a show for the crowd offset that. There were hundreds of spectators at the completely free event.

Hopefully this is an event that stays around for years to come.

Powercruise, Taupo, 21st & 22nd November 2009

Posted on January 17, 2010 by andrewredward

This was the first time powercruise has ever come to New Zealand. Was a great weekend with many drift demos and other events happening both days.

Filed under: Uncategorized | Leave a Comment »

NZ Drift Series Round3, Taupo, August 30th

Posted on January 17, 2010 by andrewredward

Qualified 4th, running aggressive lines in the wet.

unfortunately took a spin on my chase in the first battle against Jono Bennett.

D1NZ Final Round, Whangarei Street, 14th & 15th August 2009

Posted on January 17, 2010 by andrewredward

Rundown:

Friday was hurricane weather and a lot of the other competitors were all over the place, going off into walls and having collisions. Due to this, I chose to only do the minimum amount of runs to get me into qualifying and just hope that Saturday was going to be dry. I ended up qualifying 13^th with patchy conditions and two spins, but my car was one of the only ones still in one piece.

Saturday morning we awoke to sunny skies and dry ground! Got to the track and went straight into my practice sessions driving on top of my game, couldn’t wait for battles.

First battle pitted me against Steve Sole who I was currently tied with for 6^th place in the championship, on my lead run I had a 7-3 advantage, and a 8-2 advantage on my chase.

Next battle was against current series leader Gaz Whiter in the Toyo Tyres S14, I had a great lead run with good line and angle, but gaz had a good chase so it went 6-4 to him, in my chase gaz ran really shallow through the last corner and I jumped in and was right on his bumper, they gave it to me with a 6.5-3.5.

My first top4 battle was against local Shaun Yearbury, shaun made a mistake in both his lead and chase run while I cruised through with clean lines.

The battle for 1^st and second was between myself and Jason Sellars, we went out to put a show on for the crowd and had one of the closest battles of the day, but my chase was what pulled it off being less than a foot away from his car at 140km/h. it was judged 5.5-4.5 jasons advantage on his chase, and 6-4 my advantage on my chase.

My first time winning an event and it couldn’t have been at a better round than Whangarei.

There were more people at this event than I have ever seen at a drifting event in new Zealand, people were still lining up a ¼ km down the road to get in when I was running my final battle at 130.

The team drifting after the battles was a NZ first, unfortunately I overheated my car in the second run and our team couldn’t continue.

I am now working on fixing my cooked motor for NZ Drift series in taupo on August 30^th.

D1NZ Round4, Taupo, 12th & 13th June 2009

Posted on January 17, 2010 by andrewredward

very wet weekend. qualified 2nd out of a strong field of drifters.

came up against mad mike whiddett in my first battle. ran a strong chase with no mistakes at 6-4 my advantage. mike had a few mistakes but stuck close behind in his chase, judges gave it to him.

NZ Drift Series Round2, Pukekohe Park, 12-7-09

Posted on January 17, 2010 by andrewredward

After finishing 4th at the first round of NZ Drift Series in Manfield, I was feeling very confident coming into the second round at the familiar Pukekohe Park Raceway. The weather didn’t want to cooperate, and bucketed down in the morning leaving the track patchy and with some rather dangerous puddles on the entry to the sweeper. However, the spectators still showed up in full force, and we were out on the track keeping it together the best we could.

I qualified 3rd with some clean passes in front of the judges in the ever-changing track conditions.

My first battle against Mark in the VR4. We both had really sketchy runs, as there was some different track conditions compared to when we last drove it. The judges put me through as my chase was slightly better.

second battle I was up against Carl Ruittermann who was currently 3rd in the championship. Our first run was pretty even, but Carl took a spin on his chase giving me the win.

3rd battle I was up against mad mike whiddett in his 666hp RX8. I had a good, clean chase getting really close through the sweeper but lost a bit of ground once he gained some grip. He took a spin behind me in his chase and went into the mud, putting me through to the finals.

final battle I was up against gaz whiter in his S14.5. I had a good chase on the first run, making it even. When i was leading, I hit the puddle on the inside of the sweeper which made my car understeer and I put two wheels off in the dirt and spun out. This handed Gaz the win, and placed me in second for the day.

NZ Drift Series Round1, Manfield, 16-5-09

Posted on January 17, 2010 by andrewredward

NZ Drift Series, round1, Saturday May 16^th, Manfield Raceway in Feilding. With thunderstorms and rain leading up to the event, we didn’t know what to expect. But Feilding surprised us with sun and nearly no clouds for the whole day of drifting. The morning sessions ran very smoothly, and I was able to dial my car in perfectly to the steady track conditions. For our 3lap qualifying, I ran two laps in the high 80’s and one run in the mid 90’s which saw me qualify 4^th.

My first battle in the top16 was against Sam Groombridge in his R32 Skyline, we won and advanced through to the top8.

For my top8 battle, I was pitted against Jonathon Bennett in his Corolla AE86 powered by a turbo s2000 motor. In my lead run, I hit all my clipping points and laid down a lot of smoke, Bennet made a slight mistake and straight-lined one of the switches. When chasing, I managed to keep up with the lightweight Corolla and impress the judges enough to get through to the top4.

I was up against Gaz Whiter in his s14.5 for my first battle in the top4. I’ve battled him at manfield previously, and he’s a tough competitor especially as he has 100kw more than myself. On my chase, I was able to catch him through turn two and three while also putting down one of my best runs of the day with huge smoke, angle and speed. When I went to lead, he was all over me through the sweeper, and even though I pulled a slight gap through turn3 and was closer to my clipping points, he was awarded the win. Was a great battle, one of the closest I’ve ever had.

My battle for 3^rd and 4^th place saw me up against Carl Ruittermann in his s14 Silvia. We had nearly identical chase and lead runs, but the judges voted in Carl’s favour and awarded him 3^rd place. We went out and performed some victory burnouts and twin donuts for the spectators after prizegiving.