Championship event drifts into Feilding venue
Smokey circles, deafening engines and the stink of burnt rubber will ring out from a Manawatu¯ raceway as it gears up to host New Zealand’s coveted drifting championship.
The D1NZ grand final will come to Feilding’s Manfeild Park for the first time when it rolls into town on April 26.
The event’s finale has spent the past four years at Pukekohe Park Raceway – a track regarded as the spiritual home of drifting – although the Auckland venue will only host round four of the competition this season.
Organiser Brendon White said the event would be brought forward by two months to seek warmer weather for spectators and better track conditions for drivers to tackle some of the fastest drifting corners in the world.
The series is a sanctioned championship under Motorsport New Zealand, the country’s official governing body for motor racing.
It began in 2003 as a small competition, consisting of several teams from around the country to organise and regulate drifting meets. It has since grown larger and turned professional, involving international-ranked drivers.
The sport, first popularised in Japan in the 1970s, sees drivers oversteer their vehicles with a loss of traction, while maintaining control and driving the car through corners. Competitions are judged on line, show, angle and speed.
White said Manfeild’s circuit featured a fast-paced drift section with a technical last sector, and it would be somewhat of a homecoming for the popular event.
‘‘D1NZ has had a longstanding relationship with Manfeild. It’s where some of the first events were held over 15 years ago, and it feels fitting to close this chapter out with a track that has a rich history with our drivers.
‘‘It would be good to see drivers in top gear battling for those final championship points.’’
The D1NZ championship began on Saturday, with round one held at Trustpower Baypark Stadium in Bay of Plenty.