When making their debut in any motorsport series, a driver’s weekend can go in any direction. It can be something to forget, or something to look back on with satisfaction and pride.
2003 World BMX Street Champion Luke Fink had a debut weekend of the latter variety in the Toyo Drift Australia Series at Symmons Plains Raceway last month.
Like most competitors in the Toyo Drift Australia Series, the 23 year-old is a relative newcomer to the sport, and has only been driving on the road for two years.
“I found out about drifting through friends of mine, Insane Drifters,
that I used to ride BMX with,” Fink said. “A couple of them got cars
and got into it.
“I was very interested in cars, but was never a license holder until I
was 21, so when I got my license I started drifting with them in my VL
Holden Calais. I went to Calder Park for a drift practice night and
it’s all gone from there.
“There weren’t any goals at all that I had set myself; it was just having a bit of fun with the cars really.”
While fitting occasional track time in with his BMX commitments, Fink
caught the eye of Holford Motors’ Domenic Scarpari and an opportunity
beckoned to further his drifting career.
“Late last year I was overseas for four months, and I didn’t get to
drive a car at all in that time,” he explains, “but while I was
overseas I found out I was going to be driving the Holford Motors car
when I got back.
“We wanted to do the full Drift Australia season this year, but it
snuck up on us so quickly. We missed the first round, and elected to
miss Queensland and wait for Eastern Creek round [Round 3 in July] but
that didn’t quite turn out to plan...”
In early July, a bike fall meant Fink’s debut in the Toyo Drift Australia Series would be further postponed.
“The day after I got the call from Drift Australia to say I had a
wildcard entry for Eastern Creek, I broke the tibia and fibula in my
right leg.
“I was sliding across the bottom of the ramp, holding my leg, knowing
that I’d stuffed up our DA plans. So I had to withdraw from Eastern
Creek which was very upsetting.
“In seven years of doing BMX, it was the first time I’d broken a bone.
I knew I’d get hurt eventually, but the timing couldn’t have been
worse.”
Still confined to crutches, Fink got medical clearance from doctors to
compete at Symmons Plains in the week before the round. As the record
books now show, he put in one of the performances of the year to win
the round.
“Symmons was a dream weekend,” Fink says. “Mucking around before the
weekend, we were joking between our crew that we were going to win it,
that there’d be no problems.
“Just joking amongst the guys, really, that the day was going to be
perfect, that the car wasn’t going to have a scratch on it, but it
turned out to be completely right which was pretty crazy.
“I didn’t really have any flexibility in my ankle because of the
injury, but once I got into the car, it was all pretty straight forward
and didn’t pose a problem.”
Despite his sensational debut, Fink won’t be changing his mindset ahead
of the season finale at Oran Park Raceway on September 23-24.
“I’m here to have a good time,” he enthused. “I’ll just go to Oran Park and do the same thing; have fun.
“If you start taking it too seriously it’s not going to be fun anymore, and I don’t see much point if it’s not fun.
“Obviously I’m a competitive guy, so I like to be up there whether it’s
in a car or on a bike, but if it all gets too serious, what’s the
point?”
Coming from the extreme sport world of BMX riding, Fink is one of a
number of competitors in the Toyo Drift Australia Series to have taken
to drifting from other forms of sport.
“They’re both extreme sports, so are definitely similar,” he explains.
“They're both really about your line, being smooth and being fast.
“I think that background has helped me a bit in drifting. When I started in drifting, I sort of just did my own thing.
“Probably the biggest thing that helped me develop my drifting was the auto, naturally aspirated VL I started out in.
“I had no handbrake, I didn’t have any power to save me, I didn’t have
anything. So my line had to be perfect and I had to have maximum speed
to drift the thing, to even make it slide, so learning in that
challenging way really helped.”
While the new ex-D1GP Nissan S14 Silvia he was expecting to debut at
Oran Park won’t quite be ready in time, Fink is excited about the
season finale and the 2007 season.
“We decided not to risk taking it to the round untested, which is a
shame because we badly wanted to run it at Oran Park,” he said. “The
engine was on the dyno the other night and it was making 210kw on like
8 pounds of boost.
“The current car makes about 230kw on 18 pounds of boost, so there’s
absolutely massive potential there. I cannot wait until we’ve got it on
the track. It’s all going to be very fun.”
On-track battles for the Toyo Drift Australia Series title featuring
Fink and another 31 of Australia’s best drifters will result in the
2006 Australian Drift Champion being crowned, while the Super Drift
title will be decided. It will be the final Xtreme Team Drifting
showdown for 2006, with other activities including Stunt Bike shows,
Expression Sessions, pit babes and the Auto Salon Show ‘n’ Shine.
Making it a great double-header of motorsport, Round 2 of the East
Coast Supermoto Series will be run on the Oran Park North Circuit at
the same weekend.
Tickets are great value at $25 on Sunday and $15 on Saturday for adults, with a weekend pass available for $35.
Kids between 11 and 16 get in at a discounted rate of $20 on Sunday,
$10 on Saturday and $25 for the weekend, and kids under 10 are free all
weekend.
For more about the Toyo Drift Australia Series, head to www.driftaustralia.com.au
Championship points, after four of five rounds
| Pos. |
Driver |
State |
Car |
Points |
| 1 |
Leighton Fine |
SA |
Toyota Sprinter |
1769 |
| 2 |
Robbie Bolger |
QLD |
Holden Monaro |
1643 |
| 3 |
Beau Yates |
NSW |
Toyota Sprinter |
1637 |
| 4 |
Kelly McKinnon |
SA |
Nissan Skyline |
1424 |
| 5 |
Darren Mews |
NSW |
Nissan 200SX |
1387 |
| 6 |
Adam Trewhella |
WA |
Nissan Cefiro |
1373 |
| 7 |
Nathan Weissel |
NSW |
Nissan Skyline |
1366 |
| 8 |
Eugene Arendsen |
QLD |
Nissan 180SX |
1363 |
|
