Dramatic Nature And Talent-Packed Field Makes Australian Drift Championship The Most Hotly-Contested
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Aug 08, 2007
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Successfully picking the winner of the penultimate round of the 2007 Toyo Drift Australia Series at Queensland Raceway this weekend could almost prove as difficult as winning the event itself.
Featuring 32 of the top Drifters in Australia, the series boasts a massive talent pool, with a new winner or breakthrough performance never far away.
The field at Queensland Raceway will include seven drivers who have won a round of the national championship, including 2006 champion Beau Yates (Peer Industries Toyota Sprinter), Robbie Bolger (VIP Petfoods Holden) and Leighton Fine (Peer Industries Nissan Onevia) who are the only multiple event winners since the series started in 2005.
In three rounds of the 2007 series to date, there have been three different winners and eight different drivers have visited the podium, highlighting increased competition among the series’ array of talent.
Winner of the most recent round at Eastern Creek in July, Tom Monkhouse (Wheelworx Nissan 180SX) showed that reputations mean little, easily eclipsing his previous best result of 11th to discard some of the biggest names in the series en-route to his breakthrough victory.
The dramatic nature of Drift competitions and the talent-packed field means the battle to win the series and become the Australian Drift Champion is the most hotly-contested yet.
At the top of the standings, Brisbane resident Darren Appleton (Peer Industries Nissan 180SX) enters his home round holding a slender 10-point advantage over Christian Pickering (Commercial Truck Sales Nissan 180SX), with Pickering the only driver to have visited the podium more than once this year.
It’s a congested championship table featuring narrow gaps throughout the order, with a maximum 1000 points on offer at the remaining two rounds - 500 at each event, with 32 for the top-qualifier and 468 for the winner.
Leading into round four of five in 2006, 101 points covered the top three drivers.
At the same stage this year, with an even more competitive field, 102 points cover the top six drivers.
Just 170 points separate Appleton and ninth-placed Nathan Weissel (Gatorz Nissan Skyline), while 297 points split first and ninth this time last season.
A win this weekend can propel any driver within the top-half of the points table into championship contention, as Monkhouse demonstrated at Eastern Creek.
He jumped from 15th to seventh, while a fourth-place finish at the Sydney circuit vaulted Khudar Elhaouli (JDS Imports Chev V8-powered Nissan Silvia) from 32nd to 14th, proving plenty of incentives for strong performances to drivers in the full field.
With on-track action all day from 10am Saturday and 9am Sunday, the Queensland Raceway event also includes round four of the Super Drift series feeder class, expression sessions, team Drift action and a Show ‘n’ Shine presented by Ignition DVD.
Toyo Drift Australia Series standings after Round 3
1. Darren Appleton (QLD, Team Peer Nissan 180SX) 1243
2. Christian Pickering (SA, Commercial Truck Sales Nissan 180SX) 1232
3. Adam Trewhella (WA, Japanese Wholesale Spares Nissan Cefiro) 1195
4. Leighton Fine (SA, Team Peer Nissan Onevia) 1162
5. Robbie Bolger (QLD, VIP Petfoods Holden Monaro) 1158
6. Beau Yates (NSW, Team Peer Toyota AE86 Sprinter) 1140
7. Tom Monkhouse (SA, WheelWorx Nissan 180SX) 1121
8. Chris Easton (NSW, JustJap.com Nissan Skyline) 1091
About Drifting
Originating in Japan, Drifting is a form of motorsport where drivers are judged on their speed, line and angle through each corner on a course.
Like extreme sports such as freestyle motocross, surfing and skateboarding, drivers are awarded points by judges, based on a number of factors.
Two cars battle at a time, with the driver who scores the most points in a battle - two passes of the course - advancing to the next phase.
Competition starts with an elimination round of 32, then progresses through Top 16, Top 8 and Top 4 rounds before two drivers battle to determine the event winner.
Since it first arrived in Australia just a handful of years ago, Drifting has become one of the fastest growing forms of sport in the country, and now has a strong following of spectator and commercial support.
The Toyo Drift Australia Series is the official Australian Drifting Championship.
