Round 1 – Drift Pro Championship
Rounds 1 & 2 of the Drift Pro Championship at Cadwell Park was the first outing in the all new 1JZ powered Silvia S14 representing Tegiwa Racing with Coilovers.co.uk.
The car was absolutely flawless all weekend with no issues, no breakages, nothing. Just simply changing tyres and adding fuel, which for a brand new build, I’m very very proud of.
It had been 3 years out of competition for me. I don’t get nervous, and I certainly wasn’t, however I did feel very out of practice, and had to be respectful of the Cadwell layout that ducks and dives through the Hall Bends, especially as I’ve never driven it.
This Cadwell track is completely new to me with its crazy ups and downs, whilst also being very narrow with little run off. It’s not the place to make any mistake when chucking it in at 60mph!
After a sketchy damp practice, I learnt the car and track enough to feel confident we would qualify. The track had completely dried out for qualifying which meant that I could drive the car to the fullest. I qualified 10th with a score of 77.67, which I was happy about given how new everything is.
My top 16 battle was against the formidable LWI Edwards and his supercharged LS BMW E36. I was no where near aggressive enough on the run in to stay with his torquey V8 on the straight. However the ’14 is showing huge potential of being very fast in a drift environment, as we gained the ground lost very quickly.
On my lead, I was very happy to have put in probably my best lead line so far, and LWI did an awesome job of staying right with me throughout, giving him the rightful win.
Round 2 – Drift Pro Championship
In practice I wanted to make the effort of twinning right from the off, and try to learn the new car as much as possible. I managed to do exactly that, picking battle with some of the fastest cars on the grid and we stayed with them all!
During qualifying I was blessed with a dry track again. I managed to score a 81, slightly improving from round 1, but still securing 10th position again.
The top 16 battle put me up against Dave Bastin in the ‘little Corolla that could’. His AE86 is an extremely fast car, and Dave being someone in my earlier years of drifting I’ve spent a lot of time with driving together. So it was safe to say I was very excited about this one.
Dave lead first, and I wasn’t prepared for just how quick out of the gate that car could be, next time I know to jump him. However a little dive on corner 2 and the ’14 was back on him, and by the last corner we where very near to pushing him around the last bend.
On my lead run, I did my best to give Dave all the opportunities to chase me close. He was with me from the off, then towards the end he lost a little of that proximity. Again, this showed me just how much potential is in the car.
My girlfriend on the newly appointed spotting duties gave me great advise prior to both the runs made with Dave.
The judging favoured Dave as I agreed with, however, head judge Maz spoke to me afterwards and said it was actually at lot closer than you think, and we nearly clinched it if it wasn’t for the initial separation.
I’m happy with both results and especially happy with the car. The YSR suspension worked well and the newest addition of YSR big front brake kit was a game changer. It gave me so much more confidence in the dives to make up ground on the lead car.
The way the steering feels is the biggest adjustment I need to change. I’ve never actually driven a S chassis before, as I usually drive BMW’s so I know I need to improve too. The parts have already been purchased; a Wisefab V2 front angle kit to replace the more basic cut hubs and extended arm current setup.
With that changed out, and the addition of the car running on ethanol for the next time out at Brands Hatch, we will definitely be aiming for a better finish.
