NEVER LOCKED OUT

Ahead of an impending health pandemic and as most other events around the country fell for the foreseeable future, there was one last chance to get a taste of normality before the entire country went into lockdown: Summer Drift Matsuri 2020 (21–22 March). Hosted by the team at Zeroclass Drift, it was exactly what we’d come to expect from these premier grassroots drifting events: one hell of a wild weekend that combines the fast and loose adrenaline rush of full-send style drifting with the professionalism and organization of a legitimate series.

Bruce Mclaren Motorsport Park became the playground for drivers of all skill levels — not just the seasoned pedallers but also those getting their first experience behind the wheel in a closed environment. There aren’t many other places where you can be green around the gills and share pit space with the likes of drivers from the national drifting championship, shoot the shit, and learn a few things.

With learning being the aim of the game for many, the two-day format that encourages compounding seat time saw many progress their driving rapidly within a short space of time. Door-to-door tandem battles got the crowds on the fences frothing while the drivers attempted to contain the natural hype-juices punching through their bloodstreams.

Better yet, track time was seemingly endless; if you could keep your car going to last every session, you were treated to a smorgasbord of tyre-frying, apex-smashing, and angle-stacking ecstasy.

All the entrants made the most of this feast, too; between the plumes of thick smoke we were lucky to see less than a handful of cars out there at any given time — those who frequent track days of the sideways kind will be well aware of the serious amount of dead time events can find themselves with, especially towards the end of the day.

With a serious amount of space on and off track, numbers quickly soar into the triple figures, and it’s a real mixed bag of available machinery as well as of those that drive it. With Summer Drift Matsuri looking like one of the last events we may attend for some time, you bet your ass we were there and caught up with a few of those who had the same idea, to bring you exclusive info on what they run and why they do it — if that doesn’t whet your appetite to get amongst it again once this is all over, then we don’t know what will!