D1GB Round One - Phil

D1GB Round 1 at Rockingham was just the start to the season we needed, the weather was kind to us, the day ran very smoothly, and most importantly the action on track was without a doubt the best we have ever seen in the UK.


Drivers were given two practice sessions on the Saturday before the event where along with the help of the D1 Corporation\'s Mr Ken Nomura the track layout was refined. I wasn\'t there on the Saturday as we wanted to ensure the Driftworks S14 was 100% ready for competition, but when we arrive on the Sunday all drivers had an additional two practice sessions before qualification that ran very smoothly despite a couple of impacts.



During qualification I really tried to up my game after taking into account Mr Nomura\'s advice in the morning breifing. He really wanted to see big angle and high speed, so I went out to show him exactly that! Qualification allows one sighting lap to warm the tyres and prepare, then 3 judged runs of which the best score was taken. I span on the 1st, aced the 2nd and stalled the drift on the 3rd run, but was happy to learn that out of the 34 cars I was joint first highest scoring qualifier with Brett Castle.
My first Battle (Tsuisou) was set against Steven Evens (Stiggy) in the Autoglym R32 Skyline which had been suffering a hesitation on full power throughout the day. I pushed hard in the first part of the battle against him, and felt like I pulled a couple of car lengths, stiggy then span out behind me thanks to his intermitant problem with the car, so I had the advantage going into the second part of the battle. We then reversed positions and stiggy lead, I pushed real hard behind him despite him warning me that the cars problem could suddenly cause him to slow down dramatically and result in a crash. Stiggy drove ever so slightly deep into the hairpin and I took full advantage and overtook him on the inside, which put me through to the top eight..




This meant I was up against Mark Luney (Buff) in the RWD GTR. I\'ve got to say that although I haven\'t seen any footage from it yet, it felt like a really fast and quite well matched battle. I think it was my second run that I went into a full completely controlled four wheel slide into the final hairpin, which resulted in the points between us being even and continuing into two more battles. Despite still being matched very well, Marks consistancy shone through and he very deservedly progressed through to the top four.



After getting through the next battle as well, Mark ended up in the final against Brett Castle, who for some reason seemed to have lost all compassion for his previously mint S14, and had thrown it into the wall twice and once into the back of Ben Broke Smith\'s R32. Brett really was on fire, and although he was driving against Buff with a 200 horsepower disadvantage, really drove an absolute storm and went on to take the win. Well done Brett! and well done to all drivers, the organisers and supporters of the event. I honestly felt it couldn\'t have been a better start to the season (well, unless I\'d won ;))







 

Brett Castle

Brett Castle

Ian Coyne

Brett Castle

James Hudson

Ben Broke-Smith

Ben Broke-Smith

Brett Castle

Damien Mulvey

Damien Mulvey

Mat Steele

Tim Marshall

Tim Marshall

Tim Marshall

Paul Vlasblom

Brett Castle

Darren Mcnamara

Ralph Crampton

Ralph Crampton

Ralph Crampton

Declan Hicks

Declan Hicks

Maciej Polody

Mark Luney

Mark Luney

Mark Luney

Mike Deane

Mark Luney

Phil Morrison

Phil Morrison

Stephen Evans

Result				The Points Ranking
Winner	Brett Castle	200SX S14A		1st	Brett Castle	20p
2nd	Mark Luney	BNR32		2nd	Mark Luney	18p
3rd	Ralph Crampton	350Z Z33		3rd	Ralph Crampton	16p
4th	Tim Marshall	350Z Z33		4th	Tim Marshall	14p
5th	Damien Mulvey	180SX PS13		5th	Damien Mulvey	12p
6th	Ben Broke-Smith	HCR32		6th	Ben Broke-Smith	10p
7th	Phil Morrison	200SX S14A		7th	Phil Morrison	8p
8th	Declan Hicks	GZ20		8th	Declan Hicks	6p
9th	Maciej Polody	200SX S14A		9th	Maciej Polody	4p
10th	Mat Steele	200SX S14		10th	Mat Steele	2p