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January
21, 2006 Group A Competition Video
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January
21, 2006 Open Practice Video
Music by "Golfkart Rebellion"
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2006 Group A Competition Scores & Season Points
Aloha race fans and
welcome back to the Drift Session. It’s the start of the Drift
Session’s 6th season of events and hopefully the start
of another great year.
As
is tradition at the Drift Session, the Reverend from the Izumo
Taisha shrine in Downtown Honolulu came out to visit us on this
first event of the year. The Drift Session received a blessing for
good luck and our vehicles were blessed as well. Everyone that’s
been to the Drift Session knows that we can use as much good luck as
we can get.
Also
visiting us this month were our friends Ryusuke Kawasaki and Kenji
Yamanaka from Drift Tengoku magazine (aka Doriten) in Japan.
Kawasaki and Kenji took us around while we were in Japan last week
for the Tokyo Auto Salon so we were happy to see them again in
Hawaii. They had both heard so much about Hawaii drift life and
wanted to experience it for themselves.
While
we were in Japan a week ago, Kawasaki told us that he would be
coming to Hawaii to check out the Drift Session. When asked why
he’s interested in us, he said that he likes Hawaii drivers and
wanted to do a story on them. He said that after watching numerous
videos off the DS website, he was amazed at the level of skill our
drivers display. He also said that even though the DS drivers are
not from Japan, they have “kamikaze” style, and bomb the corners
with lots of throttle. Big ups to the guys out here for putting us
on the map.
“Shaggy”
Matt Scarfone allowed Mr. Kawasaki to borrow his Tomei powered 240sx
hatchback for use at this Drift Session. Kawasaki mounted a set of
Advan Neovas on Tom Bryant’s wheels and he was ready to go. Mr.
Kawasaki was also issued an honorary Group A license for
competition, making him the first foreign driver to compete in our
series.
At
9am, we looked out the gates and saw that a line had already built
up, stretching from the entrance gate to the highway outside. It’s
been a 7 week intermission since the last Drift Session on December
3rd, 2005 and Hawaii drivers were anxious to return to
the track.
Once
the gates opened, drivers poured into the racetrack in mostly 240s
and AE86’s. Pit areas were quickly established and soon cars were
up on jacks as wheels were changed in order to get onto the track as
quickly as possible. During
setup, Kawasaki was running around with Kenji and his photographer
talking to various drivers, taking pictures and video, and getting a
feel for the Drift Session’s drivers.
After
months of abuse, the chasm on the outside edge of Short Course Turn
1 had been filled, giving our drivers a little more leeway on that
corner. Hopefully, the patching will last a little longer this year
and prevent vehicles from getting stuck in the gravel pit.
Once
the drivers were ready, the track went hot and some of our top
drivers hit the Short Course. The Drift Session operates on a
“continuous run” format allowing drivers to enter and exit the
course at will. Drivers are instructed to be responsible and
courteous to prevent the track from overcrowding and drivers need to
be aware of other vehicles on the track to avoid slowing down the
faster drivers.
Nearly
2 hours of uninterrupted drifting went by before we shut the track
down for our daily drivers’ meeting. Kawasaki and his staff were
introduced to everyone and Kawasaki managed to give a brief hello
and announcement to the drivers in English. Our umbrella girls for
this month were also brought out: KC and Tsuki, thanks to our
friends at Racesauce.com.
After
the meeting ended, the course was opened up for the Drift Session
Group A drivers special session. Starting in 2005, the Group A
category is a selection of our best drivers picked to participate in
monthly competition. Since, these are our fastest drivers, 2 special
sessions are set aside for them at 12pm and 1pm for them to run on
the Short Course without worrying about getting held up by slower
drivers.
The
rest of the day continued without much incident. Several cars ended
up making contact with the outside tire barrier in the Sweeper, but
no major damage. Kawasaki and Kenji were having a blast, pounding
Matt Scarfone’s car all over the track and going for rides with
several Group A drivers.
Since
there seemed to be a lack of participation in past months for the
Beginner Competition held at Long Course Turn 1, the staff decided
not to hold the competition this month. However, when several
drivers came to Chris Messer and asked about the competition, Chris
said that he would go down to Long Course Turn 1 to hold the
competition only if the drivers could organize the competition
themselves with a minimum $10 buy in and 6 drivers participating.
The
beginner drivers managed to get a field of 8 drivers to compete,
getting the pot up to $80 for the day. David Shimokawa and Chris
Messer went down to judge the competition and umbrella girls Tsuki
and KC went down as well to provide shade for the starting line
staff person, Avery. Despite telling the drivers what we’re
looking for, most of them decided to slow-speed manji the
straightaway and set up for a shallow drift from the middle of the
roadway. Oh well, it’s just the beginner competition.
At
2:30pm, the Short Course shut down for the Group A competition. 2005
season champ Steve Oliberos would not be able to compete due to
vehicle problems and 3rd place finisher Shige Hirabayashi
could not attend the competition today due to an injury sustained
the night before. Paul Umholtz finally returned to the track after
an engine blow sidelined his vehicle since Spetember 2005. 3 new
additions to the Group A category this month as Maui boys Ron
Freitas and Keeks (?) joined in as well as special honorary Group A
license holder Ryusuke Kawasaki.
As
the drivers took to the track for a 5 minute warm up, Royce Fujimoto
was worried that his tires would not last and opted to sit out of
the warm up and participate in the judged competition lap only. 4th
place season finisher Keoni Rodrigues was also busy trying to get
his vehicle ready for the competition and forfeit his warm up laps
as well. Keoni went into the outside of the Sweeper exit while
practicing reverse course earlier in the day, causing minor cosmetic
damage to his vehicle.
To
find out how the competition unfolded stay tuned for the Group A
Competition video to be posted soon.
All
in all, it was a great start for the beginning of the 2006 season.
300+ spectators and 80+ drivers at this Drift Session. Mahalo
everyone for making the Drift Session the fastest growing motorsport
in the state of Hawaii! Special thanks to our friends at Drift
Tengoku Magazine; pick up a copy in March to see the Drift Session
feature.
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