A solid performance at the third round of the 2011/2012 Cody’s D1NZ National Drifting Championship held at Taupo Motorsport Park has helped Red Bull’s Mad Mike Whiddett hold onto second place in the standings at the series’ halfway mark.
Although weather conditions were less than favourable when the series rolled into Taupo on December 16-17, more than two-dozen of the country’s top drifters were geared-up to put it all on the line for D1NZ glory. Within the ranks Whiddett was one driver looking to reclaim some crucial championship points after a driveline breakage had destroyed any hope of a good result at the second round.
As Friday’s practice session had been, Saturday’s shakedown was run in fine and dry track conditions. And with stacks of fresh Nitto rubber at the ready, things were looking good for Whiddett. “Our new NT05 tyres feel amazing,” he commented, “the amount of side grip and the amount of lateral grip going straight ahead is just unbelievable.”
The reverse track judged course was to Whiddett’s liking too, taking in four corners before running onto Taupo’s front straight in front of the main spectator vantage point above pit lane. While many of the drivers were able to complete the section using mostly third gear, Whiddett got more of a workout making no less than eights shifts up and down through the gearbox keeping the Mazda’s highly-strung quad-rotor rotary engine at its high-RPM boil point.
As the all-important qualifying session began, ominous-looking clouds loomed over the circuit. Most of the drivers got through their first of three solo runs in favourable dry conditions, and although the rain began to fall just as Whiddett drove his machine out on to the track for his initial pass, there was still enough grip in the tarmac for him to bring the noise in ways the car more commonly known as ‘MADBUL’ only can. Eighty-four and half points out of a possible 100 was the result – his best off all three passes – and a good enough score to bag fourth spot on the scoreboard by the time qualifying was over.
A free pass through the Top 32 meant Whiddett’s first battle was against D1NZ Pro newcomer Dimitri Amos in the Top 16. On a drying track Whiddett led first, dropping the hammer through the section and instantly engulfing Amos’s Nissan Silvia in a thick white cloak of tyre smoke that was only interrupted by intermittent three-foot long flames shooting from the Mazda’s exhaust pipe. Both the lead and chase passes went Whiddett’s way and he moved up to the Top 8 to battle experienced wheelman Jason Sellers for a spot in the semis.
Once again Whiddett led first – charging hard and pulling deep angles and hitting the clip points with precision. But Sellers wasn’t going down without a fight – he hung on in MADBUL’s jet stream and forced Whiddett to error into the final right-hand turn. The next pass would be make or break for the Red Bull driver, and he certainly didn’t hold back, throwing down the most exciting battle of the round – bar none. But it wasn’t enough to peg back Sellers’ first pass advantage leaving Whiddett to settle for a Top 8 finish. “That was seriously fun,” he commented back in the Red Bull pit garage. “Honestly, I don’t think I could have been any closer to him [Sellers] on that last pass without hitting his car. It was my mistake on the lead lap though. I could hear his engine banging on the [rev] limiter and looked behind to see how close he was. When I turned back it was obvious that I had really straightened up, and that cost me points.”
Fortunately for Whiddett top-ranked Pro drivers Cole Armstrong and Curt Whittaker were two competitors that also failed to make the podium at Taupo. That means Whiddett retains second position in the series, trailing Armstrong by just one point going into the fourth round – a custom-designed car park course under lights at Auckland’s Mount Smart Stadium. Of all the Championship events the Mount Smart stop on February 10-11, 2012 is not only the most tight and technical, but when factoring in darkness, a bumpy bitumen surface and solid concrete barriers mere meters off the drifting line, it’s also the most unforgiving. Car set up is crucial here, and that’s something that Whiddett and his team have certainly proven they’re on top of this season.
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