2007 StarDrift Finale

I said it then, and I’ll say it again, StarDrift has “THE” best drift course in Malaysia ever!

So here we are at the finale. “Bridgestone Drift Team” is in full force except for Faidzil Alang. I had to strip some parts off his 86 for spares during the World Championship. Sorry dude! next year.

Tat Wei couldn’t make it on Saturday due to work commitment, but the rest of us were there to setup pit and get some practice laps.

I wanted to make full use of Saturday’s session to test the Silvia. Only a handful of drifters turn up, which gives us good opportunity to work on setup without being harassed by other drivers.

Half way through the morning session, I realized a drop in torque and the car was idling @ 3000RPM. Definitely not normal, so i pulled into the pits for a check up. We checked the intercooler piping, all vacuum hoses and realized there was a crack on the intake manifold. Off all things! a cracked intake manifold! That was the end of our testing activities till we sorted out the problem.

It was a real blow. Took us half a day to repair it. The car was on it’s feet by 6pm. All we managed to do was fiddle around with damper settings for about an hour before sunset.

Sunday was the main competition day. Practice time was short, so we didn’t bother too much with setup and I concentrated more on “Tsuiso Battle” which is probably the most important aspect in drifting competitions.

The line up of teams and drivers were pretty impressive. It’s been a year since the “KINGS OF THE MALAYSIAN DRIFT SCENE” met in competition. I really miss D1GP Malaysia. The competition was intense and the battles, furious.

Ah-Fai, Arif, Team Toyo & Kumho Tires were all present not forgetting the hardcore NA competitors (mostly KE70′s) who are now just as quick as the front runners. Qualifying/driving standards have definitely improved. 16th qualifier had 92 points! Never in the history of StarDrift has it been so tough to qualify.

Few upsets. Ah-Fai (Team Goodyear Racing) didn’t qualify for Best 16. He was pretty pissed with his performance. He broke the rear diff on the 86 and had to jump into his team mates R34 lookalike. Better luck next year.
Arif was having fueling issues which robbed him of a spot in the Best 16, D-Wan from Team Toyo had engine failure and our beloved team mate, Eric Yeo still couldn’t impress the judges which put him out of contention for the final 16. I could feel his frustration. He’s been trying to qualify for 3 rounds now.

I qualified with 98 points which put me in 3rd position with both my team mates, Ivan Lau & Tan Tat Wei securing 1st and 2nd position respectively. “Bridgestone Drift Team” 1st, 2nd & 3rd, what a good end to the season. Maybe I’ll rename it “Bridgestone Dream Team” next year. hahahahaha

I got through Best 16. But next up was Ng Chun Lai from Team Kumho. We had an equal first run but the drama started when i was chasing. I missed a gear while shifting down which caused the car to straighten up. Totally my fault. Nevertheless, it was a good weekend for us. Me understanding the vehicle in more detail, and the Silvia finishing 5th in it’s maiden race.

Tan Tat Wei took the honours, followed by Ivan Lau in 2nd place. We could have made it “Team Bridgestone” 1st, 2nd & 3rd if I didn’t screw up. So far we’ve only managed 1st, 2nd & 4th placing. Ah well…. Try again next year.

Overall, it’s been a great year for “Bridgestone Drift Team” . We have dominated the drift scene in ’07 and we’ll definitely be up for the challenge in 2008. But for now, I’ll be focusing on the World Championship.

For more info on StarDrift, pls log on to:
- www.drift.com.my
- www.angle-d5.com

Silvia Test Report: The car lacks lateral grip especially on transition from high speed to low speed. Traction at high speed corners is acceptable with room for improvement, but what bothered me the most is transition. It’s difficult to change direction with confidence. We’ll be making more geometry changes & testing will be resumed after U.S. round……