On Sunday I headed down to Rockingham with Adam for another of their outer paddock practice days. Once again I’d be watching from the sidelines rather than driving myself but, having managed a whole hour of sleep the night before, I wasn’t too fussed.
Alfred‘s IS200 was looking lower and more cambered than ever before. It’s awesome to see a well styled SXE10 that also gets drifted.
I’ve seen some tyre stretch in my time and this is definitely at the stronger end of the scale!
Lee‘s PS13 looked awesome on its new Weds Kranze Cerberus wheels.
Jib‘s R34 looked as fantastic as ever. Midnight Purple is always a winner.
Ashley‘s PS13.
And of course, Alex‘s Mk3 Supra with its usual jealousy-inducing VS-KFs.
Oh, just an XJ220. You know, like you see parked up at every drift day.
There was a grip day going on on the main Rockingham circuit while the drifting was taking place which meant that there were quite a few supercars to be seen driving through the pits every now and then. They all left in a big procession at lunchtime which was great to watch, although people visibly took a few steps back when the Mustang owners prepared for their respective departures.
This E36 was so cool. I don’t know anything about it other than it being awesome.
Alex‘s Low Origin S14 took part in its final drift day of the year, although I guarantee it’ll be back out again in a few weeks as Alex has been promising to retire the car for the winter only to find himself tempted to book in for another event a handful of times now.
Sam‘s awesome S14 Zenki.
Not pictured: Sam’s ridiculous collection of wide and deep dish 17″ wheels.
Pictured: Sam’s incorrect application of UKATEN side skirt stickers (c’mon guys, the reversed sticker goes on the drivers’ side, everyone knows this…haha).
Also pictured: spacial awareness.
Phil from Driftworks was taking part in his S15 which, when he first bought it, was all that Dan needed to see before he decided to part out his PS13 and build his own S15, also pictured above.
Paz‘s AE86 (that I’ve previously featured here) now belongs to movie making man Al who had decided to try his hand at drifting once again. He can usually be found on a proper race track driving a Porsche really fast so it was cool to see him kicking the little 4AGE’s head in at Rockingham.
There was also some sort of mini car show running alongside the drift and track proceedings, which ultimately meant that lots of Astra VXRs and cars with assorted Paul Walker stickers were in attendance. This bone stock R33 GT-R was very cool though, although I’m not sure what these wheels are…maybe they’d look better fitted to pretty much any other car ever made?
Aggressive looking Soarer with lots of pokey out aero bits.
Another Soarer, albeit with a more rounded and subtle look.
I wasn’t sure who this AE86 belonged too but it certainly looked the part.
This S14 Zenki was parked up but it wasn’t drifting which was a bit of a shame. This was actually Daze‘s old car (it used to be black), complete with Red Top SR20 and TD06 turbo setup. I’m not 100% sure who owns it now.
Compared to the track layout at the last event, this time round it wasn’t quite as entertaining from a spectator’s point of view. It was, however, perfect for practicing close quarters driving, something loads of the entrants were getting involved with. There were plenty of big trains full of cool cars during the afternoon, complete with some pretty lairy incidents and bumps.
Tom‘s Onevia was looking extra girthy thanks to his new rear wheels…
…although a mishap with the wall on the last corner put a bit of a downer on his day.
I was pleased to see that the fibreglass STL! Rear Lower Light Panel remained in one piece though!
It’s been a good while since I’ve seen an S2000 drifting. They can sometimes be really hit or miss but this one actually looked really comfortable and balanced on the circuit.
Random GS300 that I spotted parked up. No drifting for this one though.
Bolf‘s new E90 335 was being given its first drifting shakedown with nothing but a diff and coilovers. Considering that these are now cheaper than the average S-body, I wouldn’t mind betting that they become the next generation of “off-the-shelf” drift cars. Initial testing was positive and Bolf is looking forward to putting in more seat time with it.
Cady popped down to do some spectating in his recently acquired 180SX, complete with 240Z front end conversion. It’s certainly a unique look and has been dividing opinion.
I reckon it’ll look pretty cool one the car’s slammed to the floor.
A random find in the pits was Freddie‘s makeshift shift knob, made using a 326POWER 9cm wheel nut. This was possible due to the 6-speed S15 gearboxe using an M12x1.25 threaded shifter, which is handy.
As a result of this ingenuity, I’ve made 326POWER Shift Knobs (aka individually packaged wheel nuts) available on the shop now.
This S13 wasn’t to be seen on track during the day but that didn’t really matter when it looked this good.
With the day wrapped up we headed home and came across the Slipwheel guys on the way. First, Perry…
…and then Tom, who got really freaked out by us tailgating and honking at him in the hope that he’d move over. I think he was a bit angry but then he saw the incoming internet fame and was all smiles.
Looking at it, you wouldn’t have believed that the rear end had been in a wall just a few hours earlier. Top work lads.