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2005 DRIFT SESSION
– 7/9/05
Smooth running
event
Drift
Session organizers are happy with the continuing development of
their program and the continual advancement of drivers.
The changes that are still being made are the result of both
hours of refinement and incorporation of ideas from within the
organization combined with a continual response to pressure and
influences of outside entities.
This past Saturday’s event went smoothly even though some
additional changes were implemented as well as Drift Session
experiencing a shortage of group “A” drivers.
The event was held in a manner similar to the June 11th
event except there was no special group “A” drivers practice due
to the limited number of qualified drivers (most group “A”
drivers were competing in pro events on the mainland this weekend
and of those that remained behind were suffering from broken parts
and were unable to attend). Eventually
four drivers were selected from the nearly 40 short course
registered drivers, to compete in the group “A” competition held
at the end of the day. The
drivers were provided with a special 10-minute practice at 1:00 pm,
held in a continuous lapping format on the reverse layout of the
short course. Unfortunately, Chris Taylor experienced a “big
off” at the exit of the sweeper on the first lap causing
un-repairable damages to his 180 SX and was unable to continue.
An announcement was made just before noon that the long
course turn 1 competition had been re-instated and that all
non-group “A” drivers were welcome to participate.
Two drivers from the short course group joined three drivers
from the long course for this “buy-in” competition in which the
winner takes the pot.
Uninterrupted
Practice Format
The
morning saw continuous and nearly uninterrupted lapping with very
little delay or down time due to either vehicle recovery or crashes.
Overall, the staff did a great job of minimizing delays
caused by traffic crossing the course. With quick responses by
corner workers and the management we intentionally coordinated track
incidents (red flag situations) with releasing incoming and outgoing
traffic. Since no special group “A” practice was required it
allowed for 2 hours of uninterrupted practice for all short course
lappers and maximum track usage.
There were many shredded tires on this day, but in general,
everyone kept it off the guardrails and out of the bushes with a few
exceptions. Unfortunately, we see all too many drivers go off-road
and often rush back onto the track without planning causing
unnecessary damages to their cars that could have been easily
avoided. Drift Session
staff suggest that once “off road” a driver calm himself and
plan a safe re-entry back onto the racetrack surface at a shallow
angle thus minimizing the potential damage caused by the elevation
change (drop off) which is common at the edge of the road around the
whole track. In
addition, we suggest that you look to corner workers and event staff
when re-entering the track as they can assist you with doing this
safely and may save you a few dollars worth of potential unnecessary
damage.
The Return of the
Long Course Turn 1 Competition
Due
to what Drift Session organizers feel is “a need for a competition
platform for the masses” the original competition format was
re-established at long course turn 1.
The competition was held exactly like previous competitions
with a $10 buy in for all competitors, but unfortunately only five
drivers participated. In
addition to the “pot” a special prize of an auto-tint job was
announced by Mobile One Auto Tinting and added to the winnings.
The competition was judged and scored by Dave Shimokawa, Tom
Bryant and Chris Messer exactly the way it always has been done, but
results were not announced until after the group “A” competition
in an effort to encourage the long course drivers to attend the
competition and stick around for the awards.
For those of you who may not know this; one of the best ways
of getting skill recognition and catching the eye of organizers who
are always looking to advance drivers to group “A” is to be a
standout in the long course turn 1 competition.
Although the competition was brief it proved that Earl Huang
was worthy of the win. Earl
has been drifting with us since 2001 and currently his
“bumble-bee” yellow, Nissan 180sx is probably the best
competition built drift vehicle we've seen to this point (appearance,
engine, handling, wheel and tire combo, etc.
New
Group “A” Drivers
Drift
Session Management studied the short course drivers all through
morning practice to select additional group “A” drivers.
There were a few cars that came out that definitely fulfilled
our requirements, but Earl Huang struggled with his new car and was
unable to put together the consistent runs required for advancement.
Likewise, Keoni Rodrigues struggled with tire de-lamination
to his detriment and was unable to convince the staff to advance
him. Jensen Kona showed
up with a new silver paint job on his S13, which immediately caught
the attention of organizers who studied him hard before advancing
him to the group. The
other new driver to qualify was another “Red-Handed” driver,
Chris Taylor who really put a solid driving effort together to make
the advancement. This
is proof that the car’s looks alone will not prohibit advancement
if the driver’s and cars abilities are strong enough to overshadow
them (Chris spun his car on the way to the track due to the excess
weight of wheels in the back seat and stuffed the left rear corner
into the guardrail which left it looking more than a bit tattered).
Hopefully other drivers will recognize that a car’s looks
is only one of the criteria judged for advancement and we hope that
Chris can repair things and get the car painted so that he feels
comfortable running with the other “dressed up” group “A”
cars in the future competitions.
How
the Group “A” Competition Was Held
The
four drivers were announced at noon and the three eventual runners
were provided with their special practice on the reverse short
course track at 1:00 pm. Royce
Fujimoto, Gene Cho (6/11/05 winner) and Jensen Kona were given this
ten-minute opportunity to learn the finer points of the backwards
track and this should have been their first clue as to how the
competition was going to be held.
The drivers were arranged on the drag-strip near short course
turn 1 where they were to begin their assault on the course. Drift Session judges had explained that the competition would
be judged from the exit of the sweeper, up the hill and around the
off-camber, but that the chicane drifting would do nothing to
enhance their scores. During
the competition, it seemed that no one but Royce Fujimoto took
advantage of the speed that the sweeper had to offer as both other
competitors were off the pace exiting the corner into the staging
lanes. Performances
were nearly equal for all three drivers, but Royce ended up making
the fewest mistakes and showed the strongest attack.
Royce bobbled a little on the left-hander coming up the hill
and almost went off at the exit of the off camber, but managed to
hold on for a solid 77 points, a win and $100.
In second place, Gene laid out a huge drift as he crossed the
staging lanes and hit the uphill pretty strong, but a rear tire
started shredding as he got to the off-camber causing him a weaker
corner and loss of a few valuable points.
He scored a 75. Jensen was on his way to a solid and powerful looking
segment, but looped the car at the end of the course causing him a
disqualification and scored him zero points.
Without the spin all three drivers would have ended up
separated by less than five points as competition was nearly equal
throughout.
Good
Times Ahead
We
look forward to the next event as we can see the progress of drivers
and cars and anticipate group “A” continuing to grow as well as
development of drivers throughout the various levels of attendance.
We understand there is
still a lot of work to do ahead for both participants and
organizers, but we can assure you that we wouldn't be working as
hard as we do, if we didn't think it would be worth it all in the
end. We
encourage all of you to pursue your goals and make them a reality
because the returns on your personal investment will reward you in
ways that you would never imagine.
A big thank you goes out to the workers and staff and
especially to Tom and Dave for making all of this possible as the
results of our efforts are due to your input and hard work.
I look forward to seeing all of you at the next event.
Aloha!
Chris
Messer, Events General Manager, Drift Session, LLC
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