Mad Mike Whiddett couldn’t have wished for a better start to the 2011/2012 D1NZ National Drifting Championship. Hot from his win at the 2011 NZ Drift Nationals held at Hampton Downs Motorsport Park in early October, the talented Auckland driver put on an unmatched sideways show of smoke and speed at D1NZ’s season-opener to be duly rewarded with the top spot on the podium, crucial Championship points, and a $5000 prize payout to boot.
The Manfeild event might have begun in atrocious weather conditions on Friday October 24th, but right from the practice session’s get-go it was evident that an on-form Whiddett would be the man to beat. For the main event Saturday dawned clear and dry, and in stark contrast to Friday where one pair of rear tyres lasted the entire day, Whiddett’s ‘MADBULL’ Mazda RX-7 would burn through no less than 10 pairs of Nitto NT05 tyres by the time its victory donut smoke had subsided.
From lessons learnt competing on the US Formula D pro circuit last year Whiddett instigated a number of changes to the RX-7 during the lead-up to the D1NZ season. Most notable have been custom upgrades to the chassis and suspension and steering systems to improve forward grip for speed and increase steering lock for angle, as well as a re-work of its globally-renowned quad-rotor engine. The latter was undertaken by Alec Bell of Kiwi-RE, and according to Whiddett the naturally-aspirated rotary has never performed better, with more power everywhere through the rev range and peak output of 578 rear-wheel horsepower (431 rear-wheel kilowatt).
After qualifying in second spot behind Tauranga’s Cole Armstrong, Whiddett went into the battles with clear intentions. “Everyone knows the car for the way it looks and sounds,” he says. “Now I’m focussed on winning with it too. I came third overall in the 2009 D1NZ championship but missed a round that year and have done so at least one round every other year since I started drifting because of other driving commitments. This year it’s looking like we’ll finally get to do a full Championship season. I’m hungry for this.”
If anything proved that sentiment more it was his face-off against D1NZ rookie, Nico Reid, in the Top 16. One of the closest car-to-car drift battles ever seen in New Zealand ensued, and Whiddett not only walked away with the win, but a front bumper smeared with stickers swapped off Reid’s back bumper. Promising newcomer Darren Benjamin was dispatched in the Top 8 and Northland stalwart Daniel ‘Fanga’ Woolhouse was beaten in the Top 4, leading Whiddett into a final shootout with consistant Auckland driver, Andrew Redward, for round honours. Unsurprisingly, Redward put up a good fight, but Whiddett – too strong – bagged the deserving win.
“The car was so fast, and the chassis grip is just phenomonel,” says Whiddett on MADBULL’s performance. “It’s so different – so much better – to drive than it has been before. You can just rake on more and more angle and it just drives it out. But because of all the grip, kicking the clutch to initiate the drift doesn’t really work. Now have to flick it and stab the handbrake just enough to snap [the rear of the car] out a little bit, and then get on the gas. Because we don’t have a whole heap of torque I still have to work hard behind the wheel to keep it [the engine] on song. The car felt like it was part of my body, and through by fingertips I could just put it right where I wanted it to be. I’m so stoked with it.”
The second round of the 2011/2012 D1NZ National Drifting Championship will play out on November 25 and 26 at New Zealand’s spiritual home of drifting: Pukekohe Park Raceway. Although the track is one of the Championship’s least technical, the high speed nature of the judged drifting section – which begins with a 200km/h entry into the long right-hand sweeper at the end of the front straight – adds an unerving aspect for both drivers and spectators alike. “It’s my favourite track for sure,” says Whiddett. “I just hope that D1NZ does what the NZ Drift Series did in 2009 and opts to run a ‘clip’ [point to aim the car at] on the outside of the sweeper. Many of the drivers probably wouldn’t want that because you have to be fully committed to pull it off – but it really gets my adrenalin going and the crowd loves it!”
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