It's been a long, cold wait but at last it's underway..... the D1RC Drift Series started it's 2012 season with round 1 at Colchester MCC's great island based circuit with another old favourite drift course being used. The sun stayed out and gave both the experienced Pro Class and the newer Club Class drivers a great days drifting, a mix of serious competition and serious fun too.
Whilst my fellow Team HPI driver, Simon, was otherwise busy at the Gadget Shop exhibition, after a morning of setting up and practicing, I found the groove and put in three good scored runs and qualified second in the Pro Class and then battled through to take second place in the finals to last year's Champion, Stu ‘Iceman' Sissons, my Hot Bodies Cyclone TC Drift chassis performing faultlessly throughout the day. It was a tiny winning margin that gave Stu the win, a pair of 6/4 runs, but it was very well deserved and I enjoyed making him earn it! In the Club Class the battles were just as fierce with top honours being taken by Darcy Meadows in his first full season from Mark Rix, another relative newcomer. Indeed, there are many new faces in Club this year though not all are new to drifting but all are glad they took the plunge and competed in D1RC, giving the dusty car parks a rest! The mix of chassis brands present was varied and the HPI/Hot Bodies cars acquitted themselves well. All cars were running on the HPI slick T-Drift control tyre #4406, a great all rounder, stable in all weather conditions and long lasting, normally that is. However, we got through a few of them over the competition, the combination of the abrasive Colchester tarmac mixed with aggressive settings being enjoyed on the programmable ESCs resulting in at least one ‘through the carcass' example in the hands of Richard Lincoln Smith – although he was seen to be enjoying himself out there! The popularity of the budget priced Sprint2 is beginning to experience a second wind this year as a number of owners are ‘reversing' their old chassis, a rebuild that puts the motor immediately behind the front axle line which moves the centre of gravity further forwards, a must for drifting these days. Take note HPI, there could be a sudden call for extra spares as this makes for a very reasonably priced but effective drifter! Results Top 5 Pro Qualifying: 1st Stu Sissons - 90,91,90 2nd John Turner - 88,87,87 3rd Ben Smith - 87,86,85 4th Rick Lincoln Smith - 87,85,0 5th Matt Clarke - 86,86,84 Top 5 Club Qualifying: 1st Bradley Giles - 83,82,0 2nd Mark Rix - 83,81,0 3rd Rhys Maskell - 82,78,0 4th Andy Brunton - 81,0,0 5th Darcy Meadows - 80,80,0 Top 5 Pro Finals: 1st Stu Sissons 2nd John Turner 3rd Steve Gravett 4th Rick Lincoln Smith 5th Ben Smith Top Club Finals: 1st Darcy Meadows 2nd Mark Rix 3rd Bradley Giles 4th Billy Hards 5th Andy Brunton Our next round will be at Eastbourne's picturesque but challenging circuit over the weekend of 12/13 May. For more information on the D1RC Drift Series, visit the website at www.drccentral.com! John Turner Team HPI Racing
