Japan Auto Drift Series: Round 2

Saturday 03 April 2011 The Rock Raceway hosted the second round of The Japan Auto Series.

What started off as a hot, sunny day later turned around in a cloud burst that left a lot of people worried. Spectators were concerned that the races would be cancelled due to the rain. The beauty of drifting is that it is an all weather motor sport so it was easy to assure the spectators that racing will continue regardless. Worries were that spectators were going to be chased away by the rain but it was proven that drift spectators are true supporters and, come rain or snow, they will stick it through to the end.

Before qualifying rounds there was promise of 21 competitors but due to mechanical problems and the weather only 19 competitors remained to take part in qualifying. A late start to proceedings gave a few competitors the opportunity to fine tune and prepare their vehicle for what was to be a testing qualifying session. The half wet, half dry track tested the driver’s concentration with the wet sections catching many out. Two such competitors, Roelien du Toit and Imtiaz Dali fell prey to the damp sections and spun out on both their official qualifying runs, resulting in a zero score. They were not the only ones to suffer at the hand of the testing conditions. This resulted in a sudden death qualifying session for the two final spots in the top 16. Richard Holtzhausen secured the top spot in a brilliant display of concentration and discipline.

We saw impressive runs from Lee-Roy Frans who fought the track without the aid of power steering and Corne Pretorius who campaigned a N/A R33 Skyline instead of his usual Toyota Supra. Shaun Lamprecht returned to the track in a weapon he knows well, a Chevrolet Lumina SS Ute. Theuns Pretorius dropped a few jaws when he pitched up in an odd combination. While the Fast and Furious method is to drop a Jap motor into a Muscle car, Theuns flipped that on its head by dropping a Chev 327cu V8 muscle motor into a Nissan R32 GTR. The suspension still needs a little tweaking but we look forward to seeing the final product.

A short delay in the proceedings to dry a particularly wet section of the track stunted the flow of the event and gave a few of the drivers a chance to mull over their pairings, something that is not always desirable.

The first round eliminations threw a few cats in amongst the pigeons. Stalwart Juan du Toit was knocked out in the first round in a tight fought battle against Mozambican Zanil Satar. Hannes Frans was dispatched by Shaun Lamprecht in the Chev SS and Quinton Theron lost all boost on his Nissan S14, rendering his vehicle nigh on useless and costing him the race against Ernest Simpson. Zein Raiden and Lee-Roy Frans battled tooth and nail and in the end it was Frans that secured passage into the Top 8. Corne Pretorius was left to fight off a hungry Richat Khan but didn’t manage to escape and Richat was awarded victory. Des Pienaar was paired up against Issufo Ussuman which deemed to be challenging and held it together nicely but was unfortunately not enough to secure his spot as Des spun out in the first solo run, handing the win over to Issufo who progressed to the next round. Tim Stevens went up against Komatipoort’s very own Raja Kamisarra. Small technical difficulties and a few straight lines from Raja made it difficult to give Tim a go. Tim progressed to take the last and final spot in the Top 8 qualifiers.

By this time the track had dried out for the most part but one last drying session took place and the Top 8 round commenced, building tension. Spots on the track made for some well needed skill and technique and the guys proved that they wanted a win. The races that stood out of the Top 8 was the battle between Richard Holtzhausen and Zanil Satar as Richard drifted his way into the semi finals and Zanil spun his way out. What was an unfortunate mistake ended up costing Zanil the race as he spun out a meter or two from the finish line. The battle between Shaun Lamprecht and Ernest Simpson made for just as much entertainment as these two drivers proved that they were forces to be reckoned with. Ernest, having more seat time of late than Shaun, managed to flair his way into the semi final as Shaun missed the opportunity with a few straight lines.

It was crunch time and it was now, make or break. It was the final and left in the Top 4 qualifiers was Richard Holtzhausen, Ernest Simpson, Richat Khan and Mr Rock, Tim Stephens himself. At this point of the race, the track had dried up completely and that promised for a nail biting final. Speeds got faster, drivers got closers and podium positions were waiting.

Richard Holtzhausen and Ernest Simpson barreled into the tandem at high speed. With the first solo run awarded to Richard with a 6 – 4 due to a twitch on the infield from Ernest and the second solo awarded with a 5 – 5, a 1-point difference gave Richard the win, passage into the final as well as the final step closer to victory.

Richat Khan and Tim Stephens were the last two drivers that went up against each other in the semi-finals. With some brilliant drifting from both these drivers, deciding who was better was a tall order. The win was however awarded to Richat as he showed a lot of aggression in the tandem run and wasn’t going to let Tim slip out of his sight.

Tim Stephens and Ernest Simpson went back on track to battle it out for 3^rd and 4^th. With action from two very skilled drivers, decision making was difficult and all the finer details were looked at. Ernest secured 3^rd as he gained the extra point for the monsterous angle that he managed to keep, giving Time Stevens 4^th place.

Last, but not least, Richard and Richat were left and the battle for 1^st and 2^nd was only moments away. Some of the best tandem drifting of the day took place between these two drivers. Both of these drivers left their brains in the pits and brought only their balls to the track. The switches from both drivers were spectacular and well managed. Neither one of these drivers had any intension of backing down and if it meant exchanging paint… then so be it. They were breathing down each other’s necks and frankly made it very difficult to separate the two. As a result, a ‘one more time’ was given and both drivers had to do it all over again.

With motors still hovering in the red from their first encounter, it was only a matter of time before something, or someone, gave way. This was the case with Richard Holtzhausen’s Toyota Supra that breathed its final sigh through the first corner of the last pass. Mechanical failure saw him exit the course, leaving Khan to bask in the glory of a well deserved victory.

Hats off to all that braved the conditions and the rain to put on a spectacle worthy of mention. See them in action again on the 7^th March for the next drift event at The Rock Raceway.