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Group A Competition Video
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Group
A Competition Scores & Season Points
New
drivers added to the Group A competition class:
Mitchell Precht
Nissan 240sx (S14 Kouki style)
After taking several months off to save up money for tires and
vehicle repairs Mitch quickly advanced into Group A.
Keoni Rodrigues
Nissan 240sx Hatchback (180sx style)
Even though not able to make it into Group A for the first 2 months
of competition, regular competitor Keoni Rodrigues had earned enough
points through the first half of the year to put him within striking
distance of the lead once he made Group A in August. Keoni returned
to the track this month with a fresh, SR-20 DET motor swap, giving
him the power he needed to separate himself from the rest of the
drivers on the Short Course.
Earl Huang
Nissan 240sx Hatchback (180sx style)
After a rough month of trial and error vehicle tuning, veteran
driver Earl Huang returned in his new vehicle after swapping out
most of his performance parts from his previous Nissan 240sx (Silvia
style) vehicle. Earl is no stranger to competition and has been
drifting since the early days of the Drift Session back in early
2001.
Justin Kikkawa
Toyota Corolla SR5 Hatchback (Trueno-style AE86)
Returning to the Drift Session after months at practice in private
track days, Justin Kikkawa finally unveiled his new vehicle to the
public. After years of dominance in his individual-throttle-bodied,
maroon AE86, Justin's has finally adjusted to his new vehicle and
returned with a vengeance. It was expected that this former 5-time
Drift Session champion would definitely be a threat to the rest of
his competition in Group A; however, a transmission blow kept Justin
and his vehicle sidelined when competition time came.
Denny
Cabal (no picture), Nissan
240sx Coupe (One-via style)
Another veteran driver, Denny Cabal broke into Group A with the only
non-turbo powered 240sx in the field. A major disadvantage in
horsepower and torque was compensated by Denny's consistent
performances on the Short Course.
Previously
Qualified Group A Drivers in Attendance:
Jensen Kona
Nissan 240sx Coupe (Silvia style)
One month after returning to the Drift Session sporting a brand new
paint job, Jensen Kona is definitely a competitor on the rise. After
being noticed in July for consistent, flat-out drifting through the
Sweeper, Jensen was bumped up to Group A.
Shige
Hirabayashi Nissan 240sx
Hatchback (180sx style)
Although often seen running alongside Barry Wong, Shige Hirabayashi
is sure to attract attention in his own right. Once a Formula
racecar driver, Shige has turned his roadracing skills towards
drifting and hasn't looked back since. Shige's outstanding driving
through the 2005 season has put him into the top spot of the points
championship several times.
Royce Fujimoto
Toyota Corolla GTS Hatchback (Trueno style)
A competitor since 2001, Royce Fujimoto has remained an ever-present
force at the Drift Session. After taking home 1st place in the
Toyota Class at the 2004 Streetcar Showoff, Royce goes on to prove
that he and his car can both "show" and "go."
After years of competition, Royce finally walked away with a
championship win in the July 2005 Drift Session.
Barry Wong
Nissan 240sx Hatchback (180sx style)
Arguably the most dominant competitor in the Drift Session points
championship to date, Barry Wong remains the driver with the most
total wins to his record. His signature Kaaz 240sx hatchback is an
almost exact replica of the vehicle he drivers regularly on the US
Mainland in the USA D1 Grand Prix and Formula D competitions.
Chris Taylor Nissan
240sx Hatchback (180sx style)
A newcomer to the Group A class from the July 2005 competition, not
much is known about driver Chris Taylor. After competing
infrequently at the monthly competitions in the 2004 season, Chris
transplanted a new motor into his Nissan 240sx and set his sights on
Group A competition. Last month a crash severely smashed the rear of
Chris' vehicle and and going off road at the exit of the Sweeper
smashed his oil pan and kept him out of competition. This month,
Chris returned not only with his vehicle fixed mechanically, but he
also repaired his crash damage and threw on a fresh new coat of
paint as well.
Steve Oliberos
Nissan 240sx Coupe (Silvia style)
One of the most flamboyant drivers in the sport of drifting today,
Steve Oliberos is no stranger to competition. While competing
regularly in the USA D1 Grand Prix and Formula D drift competitions,
Steve returns home to Hawaii to protect his season points standing
in the Drift Session points championship. Owner of Niztech, Steve is
a master tuner of the Nissan SR20 DET motor and is responsible for
many of the SR motors in operation today at the Drift Session.
Gene Cho
Nissan 240sx Coupe (One-via style)
While previously unknown to the Drift Session judges, Gene Cho
seemed to come out of nowhere to dominate the June 2005 Drift
Competition. Although packing some serious punch, Gene's Nissan
240sx is very understated in its appearance, perhaps contributing to
him being overlooked in the past.
We
had a late arrival for many participants, but a good turn out
nevertheless for this past Drift Session event. The gates opened at 9:00 am but most teams and drivers
didn’t show before 10:00 am now that the driver’s meeting is
held at noon. The event
mirrored last month almost identically, except for a much larger
turnout of "Group A” drivers.
A total of eleven competitors were selected for "Group
A”. Practices held at
12:00 noon and 1:00 pm and the competition at the days end. The long course competition was once again held at noon and
is intended to give everyone a taste of competition and the
heightened stress levels associated with it.
The competition was open to all non "Group A” drivers
and in the end 13 competitors battled it out for the $1.00 buy in
that produced a whopping $13:00 purse, but we all know that it’s
never been money we compete for, but more the prestige of being able
to say that “I have won a competition”.
Practice had its
usual moments with a few cars meeting up with guardrails, bushes and
tires, but in general there were no major accidents, which helped
things move along smoothly. Chris Taylor had made repairs to his damaged car from the
past event, Keoni Rodrigues had his new motor in, Shige was sporting
some new bodywork so it appears as though the push to enter and
maintain "Group A” status is being made by many competitors
and allowing the field to grow.
For this past event, Drift Session toyed with the concept of
a bigger field for the "Group A” competition and allowed for
a broader base of drivers to compete in order to see the diversity
of cars and drivers and evaluate their performances in a competition
format. It was
interesting because some of the top drivers over-excelled, ruining
their chances of winning, whereas some of the more junior drivers
kind of under-excelled. Well,
this is exactly what we expected and I think the crowd became very
aware of the level of the performances and hopefully they would
agree with the final results.
In the main event,
held towards the end of the day, ten of the eleven groups “A”
drivers were assembled at Turn One for a reverse parade lap around
the .75 short course. As
in racing, the parade lap not only gives the opportunity for
spectators to view all of the competitors together, but also allows
for the drivers to make the final checks of equipment in preparation
for the intensity of competition.
First in line were Stevo, Gene Cho, Keoni and Denny Cabal,
while Shige and Barry hung back at the Sweeper exit to spin some
donuts as a small tandem drift exhibit prior to the rest of the cars
continued their parade lap with Mitch Precht bringing up the rear of
the field. This was our first opportunity to see this many quality
cars and drivers all together and a special moment for all who were
there.
Chosen for the Aug. 7th event
was a course exactly the same as the previous event.
The cars were to start at Turn One while the course started
at the exit of the Sweeper, ran up the hill and finished at the exit
of the Off-Camber. The
starting point was intended to allow for competitors to gain maximum
speed for the exit of the Sweeper.
This was the highest speed opportunity for the drivers and,
just as was the case in the last event, most drivers did not take
advantage of this. One
of the most technically difficult corners of the competition is the
off camber and very few drivers have learned the technique of
rotating the car coming up the hill in order to maintain maximum
speed for the cresting right hander.
This is an extremely difficult corner to do properly, but we
are sure that with time everyone will perfect it.
Of course it’s easy to sit back as a spectator and point
out what others do wrong, but if you watch closely you will see the
difference in styles of attack and line from the various drivers and
it’s these small subtleties that the judges often need to use to
determine who they feel had the most dominant performance,
especially when it is close.
First off was Steve Oliberos, who used
the racing line and smooth sliding to grab 3rd place with
72 points and take the championship lead by two points over Barry
Wong. We think that Barry will struggle a bit to win the
championship due to missing events when competing on the mainland,
but he is putting in a valiant effort non-the less.
Next up was Keoni Rodrigues, who impressed everyone with a
strong attack on the reverse course, with which he is completely
unfamiliar. Keoni, managed to score 62 points although he had the
misfortune of the car jumping out of gear in the middle of the
Off-Camber. Third up
was Denny Cabal who drove a good line, but did not have the speed to
carry the exit Sweeper drift up the hill and straightened out for
too long, still he did the Off-Camber nicely and managed 60 points.
Then it was up to
Jensen Kona to see what kind of score he could put down.
What he put down was the best drifting of the competition.
The car was very strong and fast, the angle was excellent and
the line and speed were good. Jensen’s
only weakness was the beginning of the course, but he managed to
score 75 points, just two points more than the second place
finisher. Next in line was, Gene Cho, who gave it his best effort.
Gene struggled coming up the hill and seemed to lose power
and although he managed 40 points we’re sure he isn’t very happy
with his performance or his score.
Chris Taylor, who advanced to group “A” at the previous
competition, was the sixth car up.
Chris’ game was really not on this day and he struggled
coming up the hill and nearly under-steered off the course at the
exit of the Off-Camber, which scored him only 42 points.
Then it was Barry Wong’s turn to let it all hang out, which
he did; starting with a long drift across the apex of the Sweeper
exit all they way to the very edge of the road before slicing back
across the track. Barry’s
line was good and the Off-Camber nearly perfect, except for what
sounded to the judges like a struggle with the second gear downshift
and what seemed to be a little more conservative attack than
Jensen’s in the latter portion of the course.
Spectators need to know that at this point it was very
difficult for the judges, but the feeling was that the run lacked
the attack and some of the visual impressiveness that had been felt
when watching Jensen’s run.
Shige
held nothing back in his total assault of the course.
Shigeomi held the throttle down and kept the car sliding up
the exit of the Sweeper longer than anyone, determined to stand out
above the other competitors, but overshot the left hander putting
him into the gravel and ruining his chances at scoring points.
This was by far the fastest and longest drift we’ve ever
seen at this point on the track and if he is able to perfect it,
Shige may be a force to contend with in the future.
Last events winner, Royce Fujimoto suffered a similar fate
while almost collecting the guardrail at the Off-Camber exit.
For those who haven’t driven the track backwards, the car
gets very light as it crests the hill for the right hander and more
than one car has gone straight into the barrier here before.
Royce had the fastest Sweeper exit that we’ve seen to date
and really has the rhythm down for this section of the reverse
course, but he just over cooked it a little bit this time and got no
points because of it.
Earl
Huang did quite nicely for his first "Group A” competition.
He held back just enough to not make mistakes but was strong
enough to take 5th place, which is a good first outing.
He had the “rookie bobble” between the Sweeper and the
Off-Camber, but otherwise a fairly solid run.
Just as most of the crowd at Drift Session, we really like
the way his car looks and his performance continues to progress on a
daily basis so we expect more from Earl in the future.
Last driver up was another latest addition to "Group
A”, Mitch Precht. His
effort was strong but he failed to drift out to the edge of the road
at the blind Sweeper exit. He
added a long hard drift that almost gave him the perfect “up the
hill” approach for the Off-Camber and it nearly paid off although
there was a slight hesitation.
Mitch was very strong at his Off-Camber corner, which helped
him score enough points for 4th place.
It
was a great day of drifting for all and the camaraderie amongst
drivers has never been higher.
The smoothness of the events is starting to return after all
of the changes that management has made as well as the intenseness
of the competitions improving as we had hoped for.
We’d like to let all participants know how much we
appreciate your seriousness and devotion to the sport in general and
Drift Session events in particular and we promise that we will
continue to strive to be the most competitive drifting event in
America.
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