- Posted 15 Dec 2011 by Kyle
- Tags: 180sx, 35mm, calder, commodore, drift, evo, f2, hilux, nikon, nissan, track
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On an usually hot spring day late in September this year Victoria’s iconic Calder Park Thunderdome was host to the inaugural round of the Track Battle Time Attack Series as well as the Australian Drifting GP.
Peter Wrench from HPF Rally Drive fame was my host for the day as he punted his well prepared Mitsubishi Evo X in the Track Battle series. This is his Australian Tarmac Challenge round winning EVO built by TMR and HPF.
Pete was impressive to watch in what is essentially a street car, the car has been fitted with a roll cage, race seats, and upgraded with exhaust, HPF tune, Ohlins suspension and some R Spec tyres. Unfortunately an issue with vehicle classification ruled him out of competition.
Winner of the tuner class at the end of the day was Adam Newton, driving the Tech Sport Evo X with a blistering 0:53.875 run.
Also participating in the Track Battle was Harrop Engineering in their LS7 powered VE fresh from the Motor Magazine Hot Tuner Challenge in Sydney. All competition miles are important for Harrop to test and fine tune their products in the harshest conditions.
I had seen drift demos at plenty of events but seeing these amazing creations sprawled all around the pit area was a site to see!
Watching them in action took things to a whole new level. The complete lack of mechanical sympathy the drivers give to their cars is as awe inspiring as the vehicles that take it all day long!
Luke Fink would take honours at the end of the day, seen here lining up with Nigel Petrie in the Engineered to Slide 180.
As with a lot of these kind of events some of the most interesting and unique cars are behind the scenes. This RB30ET powered Australian R31 Skyline Ti was slammed over a set of beautifully restored vintage BBS rims and dressed with venetions, roof racks and the obligatory import spoiler. I’ve seen this styling a lot in the international scenes but this is the first time I’ve see it done tastefully locally.
Nigel Petrie not only managed to place well in his 180SX drift machine he also brought his in development Engineered to Slide drift Hilux for all to see. The engineering and craftsmanship that has gone into this build is captivating and well worth subscribing to updates via his blog at www.engineeredtoslide.com.
This was my first foray into the Australian professional drift competition and I was definitely entertained! Make sure you check out all the photos below….
Photography Details
All shots taken with D300S and either 35m f2.0 or 18-200VR. Most static shots with 35mm shot at f2 with the inbuilt ND filter in the D300 activated for correct exposure in bright daylight. Minor retouching in Lightroom 3.
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