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!
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