Tengku Djan

Great video overview of the 2008 Red Bull Drifting World Championship thanks to

clashproductions.com

After finishing 2nd in the inaugural Formula DRIFT Singapore, I received an invitation from Formula DRIFT USA to participate in the Red Bull Drifting World Championship. If you are curious about what went down at Long Beach, let me tell you it was nothing short of dramas! It even rained ash on Saturday caused by forest fires in Orange County.

This year I decided to head down a couple of days earlier to get over jet lag and chill out before the actual event. It was a blessing in disguise as our forwarding agent was experiencing problems with custom clearance. Since I was already in the US, I managed to communicate directly with the agent. We gave them as much information needed to help speed up clearance with the US customs. Till now I’m not sure if it was these logistic issues or jet lag that caused my sleepless nights. The vessel was supposed to arrive at Long Beach on the 3rd. It was however delayed, and only arrived on the 6th. By the time the agent called to tell us we’ve got a problem, it was the 10th. Never mind that we then found out it was a public holiday on the 11th! So nothing could be done till Wednesday the 12th! With no guarantees that we’d be able to get the car the next day! All official Formula D activities started on Thursday.. so just imagine the state of our minds!

After countless phone calls, we finally received good news on Thursday morning. The car cleared customs and was on it’s way to “Pier S”. Oh how relieved we were! All sorts of things went through my mind the past couple of days. All that money spent on flying the team over,  inspite of the lack of sponsorship due to the global financial crisis and political woes, the anticipation of economic downturn next year, many rounds of conversations of should we, or should we not. And after all the uncertainty, we bit the bullet and got our asses to California. It would have been a big blow to the team if the car got stuck at customs.

The container arrived late morning. We offloaded our stuff immediately and prepped the car for technical inspection later that afternoon. What a relief!

While the boys were unpacking & sorting out the car, I took the opportunity to view the circuit from the judging booth. Checkout the view. Massive!

After tech inspection, I managed to squeeze in a couple of laps during a video/photo shoot session with the media before heading down to LBC (Long Beach City) for the “Drivers Parade”. A total of 32 drift cars cruising down the streets of Long Beach with Police escort. Check out the video below.

We parked our cars in the heart of town and all 32 drivers adjourned to “Smooths” cafe for the “Qualifying Draw”. To keep everything & everyone equal, all drivers had to ballot for their qualifying position. I ended up in 17th spot, which was ok. Forsberg was in the best position (no.32) which gave him the chance to view all the runs before his turn was up.

“Friday, 1st Official Practice”

Friday was the 1st official practice for all teams. Things went pretty smooth during the 1st hour till i started experiencing clutch slip. Due to the nature of the course, I had to keep it in 4th all the way through the first sweeper. To keep the turbo spooling, I had to half clutch and then dump it once the car has stabilized mid drift.

Ueo was experiencing clutch issues too and smoked his single plate. I mean literally. The car looked like it was on fire! I managed to save mine just in time before it started spewing out smoke.

I decided to skip the last hour of practice and save the car. We still had 2 hours worth of practice on Saturday before qualifying. So I headed down to the stands to watch the rest of practice.

“Saturday, Qualifying”

I got up at 5am, drivers briefing was at 730am, followed by official practice 45mins later. A Couple of important point were brought up for tandem battle. Line is very important. The “inside” line will not be tolerated and points will be deducted. Something quite different compared to D1, where ‘Door to Door’ action is important.

I used the morning session to practice tandem since all 32 drivers will qualify for the event anyway. Tandem is most important & also my favourite aspect of drifting. But I struggled in practice & ended up screwing up my confidence moving forward to the main event. I found it very difficult to adjust my position & speed behind the front car. I couldn’t follow too close as the speed difference going into the first sweeper was huge on few occasions. Many times i was gaining too much speed and headed towards the door of the car in front. It was so difficult to adjust. Paul Vlasblom speed was 87MPH and I was on average 10MPH quicker. This is an example of differences in speed. Initiation was also a factor. Majority of the drivers killed their speed right from the time of initiation by using the e-brake. I approached the first corner with a clutch kick before I grab a handful of e-brake to control my speed and line entering the first sweeper.

Qualifying started soon after. I’ve been making the same mistakes over and over again throughout 2008 season. I tend to overdrive the car on the first lap causing a spin out. This doesn’t help the situation at all as we only have 2 judged runs in Formula DRIFT. On top of that, you have to wait in line till your turn is up for the 2nd run. D1on the other hand, gives each driver 3 consecutive runs which allows you to get into rhythm.

Anyway, after the first spin, I had no choice but to be conservative on my 2nd run. I kept it as clean as possible and ended up in 17th position.

Not too bad considering the f**k up in run no.1. I’ve got to work on my qualifying for 2009. It’s my biggest down fall in major competitions.

“Sunday, The Show Begins”

My confidence level was at an all time low going into the tandem battles. Morning practice was again uninspiring. No clean runs, still having difficulty adjusting speed & distance to the car in front etc. I started to feel pressured to perform. Ueo brought up a good point though. Drifting is about having fun. Don’t stress yourself. Relax & enjoy it!

Formula DRIFT organized an autograph session for all the drivers and to my surprise, I met a Malaysian family who came to support Team Malaysia!

“Dirty 32″

Best 32 started before lunch. I was pitted against the youngest drifter from Ireland. 2008 Prodrift Ireland & European Champion. James was very consistent throughout practice. I knew he felt confident but I wasn’t going to go down without a fight. James qualified 16th which put him in front for the first tandem run. It was a clean run and I managed to keep the distance equal throughout the course. I picked up my pace in run 2 and the judges called for a 1 more time.

The 2nd run was the decider when James carried slightly too much speed and headed towards the wall sideways, taking me with him. I managed to continue drifting, but the left rear upright cracked and resulted with the wheel towing out.

“Sweet 16″

We had just over an hour to fix the car before the next session starts. We never thought the upright would break and we didn’t pack a spare set. With some help, we managed to ‘loan’ the part from a ProAm car. We had just enough time to put everything together ready for the next round.

Now here comes the hard part. I was paired up with 2x Formula DRIFT Champion & MOPAR works driver, Samuel Hubinette. Sam is quick & consistent. I had to pull off a solid run to even stand a chance in advancing to the Best 8. I knew Sam would be quick going into turn 1, so I sucked up right behind him and we initiated simultaneously. I carried slightly too much speed and closed in on Sam rapidly. I had to make a slight adjustment but it didn’t affect my run adversely.

In the 2nd run I tapped the wall at initiation point, which threw me offline. But Sam kept his distance and the judges called for a ’1 More Time’. The tap on the wall twisted the left rear upright and the wheel was towing out again. I was down on speed and Sam took the advantage  in the next run. I pushed real hard for the final but it wasn’t enough, and the judges awarded the win to Sam Hubinette.

It turn out pretty well after all the issues we went through. The experience gained is invaluable. It’s also my first time out in the Silvia at an international event. There’s more work & changes to be made to further improve the car, team & driver. Be sure we’ll be back next year stronger, faster & most importantly consistent.

I would like to thank all my sponsors. Bridgestone Tyres Malaysia, NISMO (ETCM), Active AAMW, Soo Yeen Auto Parts, SRF, GT Auto and everyone else who helped make our trip a success.

Not forgetting the organizer (Formula DRIFT USA) for pulling off an awesome event. Marcus Lim (Formula DRIFT Asia) for bring FD to our shores and keeping the sport of drifting alive in this part of the world.

Last but not least, the team members of DRIFT Team Malaysia. Be prepared for an exciting 2009 season.

For more updates on RBDWC, log on to:

EDrift.com

Speedhunters.com

Wrecked Magazine

You’d never guess what I found while surfing the net. A replica of my Hachi! Great job Willy. This livery was from the 2007 D1GP World Series held at Irwindale Speedway. As of 2008, my Hachi is officially retired from the international drifting arena. But I still use it occasionally for local events. Enjoy the pics.

For more info, pls log on to: eastcoastdrift.net