 Pukekohe’s Carl Ruiterman did everything right to take out Round 1 of the 2007 D1NZ National Drifting Championship held at Timaru International Motor Speedway last weekend.
With some of the top D1NZ drivers unable to compete due to travel arrangements, their cars only arriving back from the USA days before Round 1, the drivers who made the long journey south were rewarded for their efforts.
The drivers who attended, were pleasantly surprised with what they
found at Timaru. The facility was arguably the best the D1NZ series has
visited and the hospitality of the South Canterbury Car Club was
amazing. There aren’t too many events where the drivers and officials
are treated to a night out at a brewery before the event and BBQ’s
after the days drifting.
Dargavilles’ Gaz Whiter was on form, and with his new sponsor Toyo
Tyres on board he was confident of a strong showing. In practice and
qualifying he was the benchmark for all the other drivers to follow
hence the number one qualifying spot was his to claim.
The event was run in conjunction with the Super Truck class, TRANZAMS,
Tier 2 V8’s and Super Sedans. This variety of cars and classes proved
for some good racing. However it was the drifters who stole the show,
the South Canterbury car Club noted how many new fans the event brought
along. Some came very prepared; one group was spotted with a Ute full
of ice and beer with of course, the couch to watch the action from. The
judged section that was run proved great for spectators as the whole
section could be seen uninterrupted from the comfort of a nice grassy
bank.
A new innovation for the 2007 series is the Drift of the Day award.
This award is for either the best or just the most memorable drift of
the day. The prize, 10 Championship points! This is picked by the
judges but is based on the crowds response. The inaugural winner is G
Mutch, he had the most crowd appreciation, and “he drifted with his
heart” according to Justin Rood - judge.
 TOP 16
By taking out the number 1 qualifying position, Gaz Whiter earned the
right to have a bye into the first round of the Top 16. Carl Ruiterman
in the E & H motors Silvia was hot on Whiters heels and took the
number 2 spot in qualifying. However, he too earned a bye as he was due
to battle Christchurch’s Michael Court, but Court was let down by his
clutch and had to retire for the day. This retirement meant good news
for fellow Canterburian Glen Pulpich who had just blow his diff in
qualifying. As it was easier to swap the diff between the cars than the
clutch, Pulpich got the opportunity to do battle in the Top 16.
Auckland’s Nick Teeboon was a sensation at Timaru. The little light
weight AE86 Toyota Corolla was almost perfectly suited for the tight
track. The layout demanded drivers scrub off a lot of speed into the
Waldon Earthmoving hairpin, and the little Toyota could carry move
speed and brake later than anybody else which scored well with the
judges. In his Top 16 battle Teeboon took on Glen Michelle in the Turbo
City Nissan S14 Silvia. But this was no ordinary Silvia, this had a
QF45 Nissan V8 motor with quad throttle bodies and monster power. Glen
had used this car at many other events including Queenstown’s Race to
the Sky. Although Glen was in his first drift event, he did very well
against the experienced Teeboon, but the little AE86 prevailed and took
the win with smoother lines and faster overall speed.
Christchurch driver Tiger White qualified 4th which was a fantastic
result in his first attempt at a National drifting event. The young man
has been impressing those in the south Island drift scene with his
aggression and raw talent and showed his ability against Toyota driver
Keith Pun. Keith had secured the use of a ex rally Car for the event as
it proved too costly for the Palmerston North student to bring down his
own car. With a first up spin from Keith and a dominant second pass
from Tiger, Tiger White took the win and progressed to the Top 8.
Our next battle had “Crazy” Will Cook in his little DX Corolla battling
alongside Blair Pulpich in his Frankenstein AE85 Corolla. Blair’s car
was made up with a Nissan CA18DET engine, 5 stud Nissan brakes and a
Toyota Hilux diff, together this made a one tough little package. Will
Cook’s car was suffering from an oil leak all weekend, but in true
Crazy Will fashion he went on to take the battle even with his engine
bay on fire. The fire crew were quick to the scene and put the fire
out, but the foam itself did some damage and went into the turbo, and
meant Will had to find a replacement turbo for the Top 8 the next day.
Crowd favorite G Mutch qualified in the number 6 spot much to the
enjoyment of the fans. G Mutch had been going through tyres faster than
most and was lucky to make a set last 4 laps. With an arm out of the
car for most of the section G Mutch worked hard on his line and
produced plenty of smoke. Unit 23’s Brent Eatwell put in a good Chase
on the first lap and had a 7 to 3 advantage. On the second pass, G
Mutch put in a good run but his chase was not as close as Brent’s, and
was scored, 6 to 4 to G Mutch. Therefore Brent Eatwell took the battle
with a 1 point overall advantage.
Jamie Blair and Glen Pulpich lined up next. Glen led the first run and
Jamie Blair put in a very solid chase, with the judges awarding him the
advantage. On the second pass, back with his borrowed diff Glen Pulpich
looked strong however mistakes from both drivers meant the judges
couldn’t separate the drivers on the second pass. Therefore the win
went Blair’s way due to his first lap advantage.
The final battle of the Top 16 paired the brothers Kent and Nick
Shrimpton together. Neither driver was going to give any quarter, and
fought hard for the win. Both drivers have very similar setups and run
as the About Sound Drift Team. This battle was always going to be
close; on the first pass by the judges they were inseparable. A missed
apex and then a poor line from Kent on the second pass handed the win
to his younger brother Nick.
TOP 8
2006 D1NZ Championship runner up Gaz Whiter was out to score big points
at this event. After laying down some impressive runs in qualifying Gaz
Whiter was looking odds on to take the event honors. Christchurch local
Nick Shrimpton had other ideas though and battled hard with Gaz in the
first run of the Top 8. An equal first pass meant the battle hinged on
the second pass, and the talented Whiter took the advantage 7 to 3 and
with advanced through to another Top 4 appearance.
The second Top 8 battle had Nick Teeboon up against Brent Eatwell in
the Unit 23 Sil80. Eatwell had been plagued by engine problems, but
seemed to have them fixed for this battle. On the first pass however
Teeboon’s superior entry and corner speed caught Eatwell and forced him
into a spin. On the second pass, Teeboon only had to have a mistake
free run to advance into the Top 4, which he did without fuss.
The next Top 8 battle was a non event. After the fire in his engine bay
the day before, Will Cook had to replace his turbo on his DX Corolla.
Unfortunately the replacement was not working properly and he couldn’t
make any boost. So Cook went out in the battle anyway to try and do his
best, but realized straight away that he couldn’t do battle, so spent
the lap waving to fans. Tiger White therefore to the easy win and
progressed to the Top 4.
The Final Top 8 battle, was Carl Ruiterman versus Jamie Blair. Blair
had been pushing hard all weekend, so hard he was running out of tyres.
With a little less grip than previous runs, Jamie ran wide and off the
track at the hairpin on both runs. The double course outs, handed the
win to Ruiterman.
BOTTOM 4
The Bottom 4 ran very smoothly, Nick Shrimpton took on Jamie Blair for
a place in the 5th and 6th Battle. With a solid run from Blair who kept
his car on the track, he took the battle. Nick Shrimpton would then
take 7th place automatically over Will Cook as he could not compete
with his turbo problems.
Jamie Blair was starting to really get in the groove of the track, and
coming into the battle for 5th and 6th he put his opponent Brent
Eatwell under pressure on the first lap which forced a off track
excursion from Eatwell. Eatwell then knew he had to push extra hard to
force Blair into a spin or send him off track, he then won the pass but
Blair did enough to keep his Silvia on the track and didn’t make any
mistakes to take the points for 5th place.
TOP 4
 This is where the event becomes interesting! The Top 4 drivers had been
showing the rest of the field how it should be done all weekend. Number
1 qualifier Gaz Whiter was looking to take home a massive points haul
this round by taking out the number 1 spot. But Nick Teeboon had other
ideas. This lightweight Toyota had impressive speed through the judged
section and put the pressure on Gaz. The two drivers fought hard, Gaz
with massive smoke, but Teeboon with good speed. Gaz put in a very
tight first chase, but it was Nick Teeboon who put in the chase of the
day, pulling up along side the high power Nissan coming out of the
hairpin. The judges couldn’t spilt them, so a re run was called. The
next time through the drivers knew had they had to push each other
harder to get the win.
But in true David versus Goliath fashion the little Toyota of Nick
Teeboon took down Gaz Whiter in the S14 Silvia. On the first run of the
re run, Gaz lead out and a small mistake from Gaz meant he missed his
apex, which slowed him down through the rest of the section, this meant
Nicks chase looked even more impressive as he closed up right on the
rear quarter of Gaz’s car.
Up next Carl Ruiterman took on the young Tiger White. Tiger was out
being his super aggressive self, while Carl is getting a reputation for
putting in consistent clean runs, perhaps his previous drag racing
experience is starting to show? A solid first up run from Carl put him
in the lead with a 8 to 2 advantage. The second pass was much of the
same, with Carl hitting all of the clipping points and linking the
course with smooth switches which gave him the win.
That meant that Gaz Whiter would take on Tiger White for 3rd and 4th
place. Gaz knew that to increase his chances for a good championship
result he would have to do everything he could to take 3rd place. With
more experience and a cool head, Gaz put in too aggressive runs that
hit all the clipping points while maintaining good speed through the
judged section, where he managed to pull a slight lead on Tiger White.
In the end Gaz Whiter in the Toyo Tyres S14 took 3rd place overall and
young Tiger White took home 4th place in his first national drift event
which was an amazing achievement.
THE FINAL BATTLE
After all the traveling and the heated battles, it came down to the two
Aucklanders, Carl Ruiterman and Nick Teeboon to battle it our for D1NZ
2007 Round 1 honors. After the previous battle, Nick was confident that
he had the package to win. Carl had heard on the grid that Nick was on
fire and putting in really good chases. Carl knew he had to be at his
best to take his first Round win. Carl Ruiterman was solid once again,
and put in two flawless laps, while Nick Teeboon pushed a little too
hard, which meant his line and angle suffered. He also dropped a wheel
off the track a couple of times for his customary dirt drops. In the
end Carl Ruiterman took the victory and his first ever D1NZ Round
victory.
The series now moves to Manfeild for Round 2 of the series. Look out
for all the big names to be back in action now that their cars have
returned from the USA. All the drivers will be hungry for points to
catch up to the series leaders.
If you want high-octane excitement and a sideways good time, then
you've come to the right place! D1NZ is the first series of events to
showcase the competitive thrill-seeking, adrenalin fueled world of
drifting, providing an eye-popping trackside seat to this
tyre-screeching sport. In fact, the D1NZ National Drifting Championship
is the hottest and most extreme event around! So keep your pedal to the
metal and your eyes on D1NZTV and www.d1nz.com for extensive event
coverage.
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