D1NZ National Drifting Champs - Round 1 Manfield Breakdown

Manfield Autocourse in Feilding was once again to play host to Round One of the 2009 D1NZ National Drifting Championship. Now in its seventh season, the D1NZ crew put on an epic day where New Zealand’s top drifters set out to entertain the keen supporters of the NZ drift scene.

Day one started off with the Rookie drivers getting a feel for the track - half of which had never even experienced Manfield before! They picked it up fairly quickly considering how technical the track can be whilst the top level D1 drivers offering all the help they could to see the Rookies blast it!

The unforgiving heat led to a few mechanical failures, some of which could be repaired but in the end a solid line-up of cars circled the track with some impressive drifting on display. The full field of cars and top drifting skills definitely made it a spectacular opener for the season.

Roll on day two and we awoke to find another beautiful day in the Manawatu. Once we reached the track it was apparent that it was going to be an awesome day of drifting with all of the drivers already prepped and ready to go. With drivers briefing out of the way, they were straight out onto the track for some fast tyre shredding!

Lunchtime brought on the pit walk and the fans were super keen! From mid-morning the spectators had been queuing at the pit entry just itching to get a close up of the drivers and their machines. Mad Mike had a fantastic set-up with posters readily available for signing, not to mention his gears on display as did a number of the other D1 drivers also! The look and professionalism of this thrilling motorsport is continuously on the rise with every event - watch out Formula 1!

After lunch it was time for the main event - the D1 Battles. The Top 16 drivers lined themselves up on the grid in their paired battles ready to fight it out. You have to love the atmosphere at these events - the drivers are all one big family but as soon as the flag drops it’s down to business and 110% effort is put in every time.

The D1NZ crew blasted the battles out, running them two at a time so the crowd was constantly entertained adding to the value of the day. In the end it came down to an intense battle between top drivers Gaz Whiter and Mike Whiddet which was closely fought out. 2008 Drift King Gaz Whiter took it out in the end by a mere one point advantage to claim the first top spot of the year.

Finishing off the day were the “Hot Laps” where spectators have their chance to ride with the drifters for a few laps to experience the madness that is drifting. All proceeds from this are passed onto the drivers and apart from ensuring a thrilling and fun ride, they love to scare the pants off a few passionate fans!

Rounding up, it was an excellent start to the season and we will be working hard to bring you more exciting action throughout 2009 - onwards and upwards!

A huge thanks to our series sponsors for supporting NZ Drifting from start to finish:

Turtle Wax F21 (car care products) - www.turtlewax.co.nz
Castrol Edge Oil (available at all good Service outlets) - www.castrol.com
Demon Energy Drink - www.demonenergy.co.nz
Dodson’s Autospares - www.dodsons.co.nz
StreetProKits (aero-styling specialists) – ph. 0275 873 499 / www.streetprokits.com
The NZ Truth - www.nztruth.co.nz - suppliers of 24,000 official programs Nationwide

Stay tuned for awesome full length Round One exposure due to be aired on Prime TV in March to coincide with Round Two.

Stay tuned for the new hub of drifting in NZ launching soon – www.d1nz.com