D1RC Drift Series Round 2 - Silverstone
Written by John Turner
The onlookers wishing they were competing.
Silverstone. Hallowed soil! Home of F1 and now, for the second year running, we were there alongside the D1! Our competition day was the Saturday, run alongside our D1GB sponsors, but those that could would be staying over for the D1GP Sunday exhibition round too. All that and hot, sunny weather, the D1 teams and drivers to mix with chat to, the ‘promotion chics’, pink shirts, the Toyo tyre stage (chuckle) – all just too good to be true? Nah! This was a D1RC event where everything is super cool!!!
It all started very early on Saturday – about 6am when we rolled through the Silverstone ‘Fort Knox’ security to claim our pitch in the paddock, next to the Paddock Café and shop, about 20ft from the D1GP pit garages and opposite Race Control….and too close to the Toyo Tyre stage!! (I will explain…). The perimeter fencing arrived in the nick of time and by 7.30 the track was laid, complete with the Abbey Motorsports motorised rostrum (thanks again guys). Why, we even had our own private toilets and showers! By 8.30 practice had commenced and we found that, for our pleasure, Eddie had designed another stinker of a track! A slight slope across the paddock was to blame, the judged section of the track snaking downwards such that tail out drifts could be reluctant to flick back. Nice one!
Concours for body and chassis took part before the qualifying started, Brad Hurr taking Best Drift shell with his Sumo Power 350Z replica and Paul Edwards taking Best Chassis with his much modified Drift Package. Phil Chambers won the Time Attack from Stew Noble by 1/100th of a second over the five short laps – at least, that’s what my finger operated Casio wrist stopwatch said. We’ll never really know!
Brad Hurr's great replication.
Qualifying
To our surprise, qualifying got underway on time with all 14 drivers making an appearance. The usual format of one practice lap followed by three standing start judged circuits was employed. From the start line each driver entered the judged section on full throttle, drifting slightly uphill into a 180 degree left followed by a short straight and then a 90 degree right, immediately followed by another, the two taken as a loose 180, followed by another short straight to the finish line. A further 180 left led into a straight and then a very long, wide 180 pass the front of the rostrum to the start line, the full circuit being used for Time Attack. Qualifying was very close with all drivers putting in a good show with no mechanical failures spoiling the fun but Eddie Turner was the shining example with 98pts ahead of Chris Brooke 96pts and Stewart Noble 95pts.
Tsuiso Top 16
With 14 drivers available, it was decided to adopt a 16 driver final, allowing Eddie and Chris byes to the 2nd round, this giving all drivers the chance to take part in the twin car battles. The first round saw series leader John Turner eliminated after taking to the curb in favour of Paul Edward’s rear bumper when Paul all but parked as his differential let go in the first corner! Brad, Peter, Richard, Mark, and seven year old Jack Barnes joined John to watch out the quarter finals.
Tsuiso Quarter Finals
First up were Eddie and Steve with Steve going through after a spin from Eddie. Stew took out Paul who had still not sorted his diff problem and Jimmy won through over Phil after a ‘one more time’ very close battle. Finally Dez went through over Chris exploiting his full throttle technique to good effect!
Tsuiso Semi Finals
In the semis Stew took on and beat spinning Steve with an 8-2 & 10-0 and Jimmy just managed to remove Dez with a 9-1, 2-8, a very close battle.
Tsuiso Finals
Jimmy and Stew side by side.
This just left the two finals, judged by two of the top D1GP drivers, Ueno and Okamura. First off was the 3rd/4th battle between Dez and Steve. Due to translation problems (I must learn Japanese for Colchester…..?) we were unable to determine the actual scores but Dez took third place after another spirited drive and ….wait for it….. after some very classy drifting…… Stew took the podium from Jimmy in a very close and exciting final.
Stew Noble - 1st Place Drift
Jimmy Lam - 2nd Place Drift
Dez Chand - 3rd Place Drift
Phil Chambers - 1st Place TA
Brad Hurr - Best Bodyshell
Eddie played host through the trophy and prize ceremony, ably assisted again by Ueno and Okamura despite distractions from Nomura who, being uninvited, felt the need to stamp his mark on proceedings by inspecting the prizes and generally creating chaos! What a guy – an honourary member of D1RC! Must send him a shirt.
Nomura with Dez's Car
Group Shot
Throughout the day we were treated to the sounds of the Toyo Tyre promo stage – deafening! But we are most grateful for the continuous plugs the DJ was giving us as the crowds around our barriers thickened. Arguably the best bit of the day was the end when we didn’t have the chore of knocking down the track and facilities (as we were back again in just a few hours) and being leaked information from the D1GP officials that the D1GP drivers would be going out after the public had left. Boy, can those guys make your pulse quicken when they all go out together, circulating the short circuit without any officials dictating safe gaps, drifting in threes and fours!
Sunday provided us the opportunity to relax a little with most staying over for a free format day of RC Drifting and D1GP watching. Wes and Dave from CML joined in with the new Yokomo 350Z shell drift package and the Microtech stand boasted one of the first Yokomo Scooby shells in the UK. The D1GP was, as expected, just an awesome display of driver skills with the final shootout of Kawabata and Kazama S15s looking too close to call, both cars threatening to remove the Silverstone wall, so wide was their entry to the first left hand sweeper. It was, as you’ll probably by now know, Kazama who took the trophy and bubbly and very well deserved it was too.
Kawabata smoking it up.
We’re now all looking forward to the D1GP ’07 show but, long before then, we have the third round of the D1RC Drift Series at Colchester to focus on. It happens on Saturday 22 July. Miss it at your peril!
Thank You.
Results
Drift Competition
- 1st - Stew Noble
- 2nd - Jimmy Lam
- 3rd - Dez Chand
- 4th - Steve Brooke
- 5th - Eddie Turner
- 6th - Chris Brooke
- 7th - Phil Chambers
- 8th - John Turner
Time Attack
- 1st - Phil Chambers
- 2nd - Stew Noble
- 3rd - Dez Chand
Concours
- Best Bodyshell - Brad Hurr
- Best Chassis - Paul Edwards
2004/05