Monthly Archives: September 2010

GOODYEAR INTERNATIONAL DRIFT SERIES ROUND 1 & 2

Goodyear International Drift Series round 1, PUTRA JAYA 12th-13th June 2010

With a horrendous Formula Drift Malaysia 2009 and the Formula Drift Singapore 2010, Team Goodyear Sync Optima was really looking forward to the Goodyear International Drift Series . We had the cars prepared and preserve ( ie:not using on competitions following to it) as this competition  is on the top of our priority list for this year!

picture taken from paultan.org

First day of practice went by perfectly as Jane and I basically got the course wired within a couple of tries and we were confident on doing well the next day.

Day two had us split into two groups whith us in the first group of practice.Having 1 hour of practice each group we had more than enough time to practice for the qualifying scheduled later.  As my ‘wonderful’ luck had it, 15 minutes before our groups practice ends, my prop shaft had twisted to a pretzel!!

With only slightly over  an hour before qualifying to get the parts and fix it. I knew it would be  an impossible task ( which my crew did try anyway..thanks guys) and my day was over. So its a DNS ( Did Not Start) for me which I think is even worse than not qualifying 😛

Jane ,once again ,had her nerves get the best of her and fumbled during qualifying…oh well …call me a sadist but bring on round 2!!!

Results

DNS: Ariff Johanis Ahmad

DNQ: Azrina Jane Abdullah


Goodyear International Drift Series Round 2, MIMC Malacca 31st July-1st August 2010

photo from paultan.org
 

It was back to MIMC Malacca but this time for Goodyear International Drift Series Round 2. Having exprience the short comings of the car here , we had the s13 set up differently and was eager to see how it handles. Car handled alot better  but we  reckon that there were alot  more we could do to improve on . As always that will have to wait till after this event, once we get back to the shop .

photo taken by sham Tom
photo taken by Sham Tom

Jane had also improve remarkably with her runs now being more consistent and aggressive. We did practice tsuiso togather but she spent the bulk of  the the practice session with Tan Tat Wei .

Qualifying

Held the next day, qualifying had me leading during the first round with 87.5 points. However I was knocked off by Djan who had a 91.6 on the 2nd run!

Jane’s runs were smooth with  uninterrupted drifts . However her distance from the clipping points and zones  had caused a huge deduction in points hence having her failed to get to the Best 16. Nailing the points and zones is something I believe she well get better with easily, at the rate she is improving now.

photo from paultan.org

Top 16

Having qualified 2nd had placed me on the other corner of the tandem chart which means I had to go out last!The waiting gave me the opportunity to get to know my tandem partner,Chester.He was driving a borrowed s14 since he car was badly damage during a crash at round 1! During our tandem battle I had managed to pull a gap when I was infront  .While following, Chester had straighten slightly at the first rear clipping which forced me to back down my pace.However there wasn’t any interruption of my drift all the way to the finish.

photo from paultan.org 

Top 8

For the next round , I had to go against a friend and fellow Goodyear mate, Ivan Lim. He was struggling  of setup issues through out the event!! This had him straightening  and taking the inner line while I was leading and going off course during initiation during his turn to  lead.

photo from paultan.org

Top 4

Ivan Lau and I always joked about how we never get to go against each other during competition.For this round we both got ourwish. While leading, I managed to get ‘an advantage’ when Ivan straighten and with me pulling a gap between us. During my turn to follow, Ivan had controlled his pace during the start forcing me to initiate at a much slower speed than I was used to. This made me  having to down shift immediately after initiation and fumbled during the up shift causing me straighten considerably longer than Ivan’s during the 1st run. The win was awarded to Ivan. I will definitely be wiser the next time around!!


photo from paultan.org 

3rd and 4th

The final spot on the podium had me against Djan. He had qualified first , so he had the first lead run. I managed to narrow the gap though he had gained a healthy lead at the start. However I felt my line wasnt as good . Going into the 2nd run being unsure of who had the advantage, had me doing  my best qualifying run only to see Djan in the barrier when I was approaching the rear clipping zone.Thankfully the crash was minor and no one was hurt!

photo from paultan.org 

Though this wasn’t the first time being on the podium this year, I felt that this occasion  was something special as it is   Goodyear’s event..Hopefully my luck holds and do good  for the up coming events!


Videos by eddie ZAKUMALAYA

RESULTS

1st Place IVAN LAU (Bridgestone)

2nd Place TAN TAT WEI (Bridgestone)

3rd Place ARIFF JOHANIS AHMAD (Goodyear Sync Optima)