On Sunday I headed down to Rockingham for another of their fantastic Outer Paddock drift days. I was gutted not to be driving but, with so many cool cars in attendance, I was looking forward to watching the action and filming some good footage (make sure you check out my video here).
The track layout for the day was open, large and flowing which, on paper, didn’t seem like it would make for great spectating; how wrong I was! The first corner was a medium sized right hander with a wall for spectators to stand along and encourage the drivers closer and closer as the day progressed. This alone made the day brilliant fun for those of us on the sidelines.
It didn’t matter how clean your car was; everyone was getting involved, including this super clean JZX100 Mark II.
Dan and his Low Origin S15 were ready for a good day of twinning, drift trains and wall runs.
326POWER 9cm wheel nuts still going strong on the WORK CR Ultimate Kiwamis.
Ashley‘s super cool JZX100 Chaser was also no stranger to the wall, with some brilliant runs where I was certain he was going to lose a bumper or a rear light. I’m not sure how he managed to pull it off without causing any damage.
I spotted this HM-Sports kitted E36 Coupe in the pits too.
A similarly green Rocket Bunny-kitted S13.
Bronze on black is such a great look for S-bodies; the mix of 7Twenty and MB Battle/CST wheels on this PS13 being a good example.
The Slipwheel guys were out in force, with Perry‘s S14 starting the day out looking clean.
An S-body with big bumpers and deep dish polished wheels will never go out of style. 2001 forever.
5cm 326POWER wheel nuts keeping the front VSKFs sitting straight and true.
The rear end of Tom‘s Onevia had been hastily put back together, with the rear bumper (that was sprayed the night before and previously belonged to me and was found dumped down the side of my parents’ house) and STL! fibreglass rear panel replacing the previously mangled items.
Tom’s driving really came on well during the day, culminating in him getting involved in some pretty big trains.
To an outsider this might not seem like much of a big deal but, trust me, when well renowned drivers are breathing down your neck on the start line you begin to panic and overthink, which ultimately results in you making mistakes. Once you’ve got over this mental hurdle you just need to stay cool, stick to your line and make sure you don’t spin out and cause a pile-up (nobody wants to be that guy).
I really liked this C33 Laurel but I felt a few tweaks here and there were needed to get it looking perfect. Ideally, it could do with being lower to make the wheels look less small but, speaking from experience, driving low with the Final Konnexion C33 bumpers is a nightmare. Personally, I think a shallower kit or bigger wheels would be the best choices.
The rear wing is unique and very 90s looking. I don’t think it’d suit my C33 unfortunately.
Adam‘s S15 was back on track. Never one to shy away from the action, I saw Adam getting in the thick of it with a number of much more experienced drivers towards the end of the day.
The 15″ boys: Mikey (S14) and Rory (Sileighty) were in attendance and ready to scrape their way around the circuit with their 15″ wheel-equipped S-bodies.
Rory’s Sileighty runs a CA18, while Mikey’s S14 has an SR20DE.
I got loads more photos of these two cars so I’ll post a proper feature in the near future.
Rob (R32) and Huxley (S14) from Team Bustin’ Loose.
The HM-Sports S14 aero will be available in the STL shop soon, I promise!
4-door R32s are just so cool.
The king of Buddyclub P1s (and Tinder), Dan from Destroy or Die was in attendance with his PS13 and was constantly in the middle of trains of cars, be they S-bodies and/or MX5s.
I didn’t see it on track but Bolf‘s JZX100 Chaser looked aggressive parked up.
Alex‘s Low Origin S14 giving me a wave.
It’s almost time for Alex’s yearly winter refresh, as you can probably tell from the slightly battered rear left quarter. In fairness, this is about the tattiest that it’s ever looked and Alex wasn’t afraid to trade some light blows with Huxley during the day, rubbing tyres and wheel lips.
I might get this shot framed and send it to Dan as a Christmas present. It’s so deep.
Michael‘s liveried-up S13 was going well too, with one wall run in particular giving the crowd something to take a step backwards for.
It’s not just drift cars, vans and recovery trucks that you see in the pits.
Unfortunately, running a wall as a clipping point can never realistically happen without it claiming some victims. This S14 was one of them, although it looked more like it understeered into the wall as opposed to hitting it with the rear and then being pulled into the concrete.
This E36 on three spoke Advans was beautiful. The fitment, the front lip, the bonnet vents…awesome.
This JZX100 Chaser looked fantastic on VSKFs. I do really like KFs when they’re painted in darker finishes as opposed to the usual full polished look.
A look under the bonnet of Dan’s S15; TD06 turbo still going strong.
As the hours went by the trains got longer and crazier until it was time to call it a day.
I’ve added this photo to my ever growing “Keeve reaction faces” folder.
Conor‘s boosted MX5 sounded incredible and went so well. He was still getting used to the extra power and figuring out how to be accurate with it but this little roadster is going to be an absolute weapon once he’s got it dialled in. It looks fantastic too; I loved the new rear wing.
Before I knew it the day was over and we were loading up our respective cars and vans. Spectating at drift days can be quite tedious sometimes but that was definitely not the case at Sunday’s Rockingham event. In particular, the crowd participation with egging the drivers on to get closer to the wall provided hours of entertainment.
Sure, I came home with heaps of budget tyre rubber wedged in my hair and ears but who cares; I got to stand on a wall and watch my mates drift just feet away from me while getting a face full of smoke and exploding fibreglass for hours on end. It was awesome.