Last Saturday the 20th of February saw the first drift practice day of 2010 run by driftireland.com, the online home of drifting in Ireland. The venue was Goldstone race track in Kikenny, just over an hour south west of Dublin.

Goldstone is a small 2nd and 3rd gear circuit perfectly suited to novice and amateur drivers.With the majority of the web sites members falling into this category it was no surprise to see a great turnout of over twenty cars despite the freezing cold February weather.

I was on hand to support Amy and run her FC  Rx7 for the day.It had been a couple of months since she and the car has last run and I was hoping some of the the engine problems we encountered previously were now resolved. Unfortunately after only a few laps things were still not right and she was struggling with a handbrake problem and what sounded like a misfire.

The track was busy all day long, from the 12 o clock opening time to 6 in the evening there was a constant line of drift machinery waiting to get out and try hit the clipping points that the DI crew had strategically placed. A small competition was run in the afternoon to encourage all the drivers to push their limits and really nail all three clips.

I took some laps in the FC after trying to get it running right but it still wasn’t 100% and Amy would have to try and work with it for the day.All things considered she did great and I will definitely have it right for the next practice day in early March.

At around 4:30 the winter weather turned even worse as it began to snow !. We loaded up in preparation to leave but the Goldstone staff let the guys run for another couple of hours, the AE86 corolla crew owned the track, good work !.

Big thanks to all the Driftireland.com crew and the Goldstone staff for running a fun, relaxed day.Hopefully this year will see us at many more in maybe a little warmer weather !.

Few more pics, thanks to Shane Macken for the use of some of his great shots of the day

No sign of any sun all day. Good man Nixon !

Amy making friends with the security staff………

Heading home,

I’ve recently secured support from Action Cameras in the UK to help me capture much of what I’ll be up to in 2010 and I wanted to fill you in on what equipment I will be using.

In the past I’ve used every type of on board camera system, from bullet cams plugged into camcorders to go-pro, and in truth i’ve never been 100% happy . Some of you will know that I like to get out on 2 wheels too so I use cameras on the downhill bike also. I’ll explain this post though from the point of view of drifting.

In general I want a camera who’s lens will capture as much of the cockpit in as possible, has good resolution or clarity, doesn’t require rocket science to setup and one that I can line up the shot before I press record. Nothing worse than getting home with 30mins of footage of the dash or the tax disc holder (Believe me its happened). And finally, one that makes it as easy as possible to get the footage online.

So, the kit I’m using this year is the ‘Drift Innovation’ X170 Cam (Nice name eh?). Couple of reasons we went for this one, particularly with drifting in mind.

1. Its 720p resolution in 16:9 – for everyone else that means its great quality and records in widescreen mode.

2. It has a lcd screen built in meaning that before i press record or secure the clamp, I know im getting the right angle. Also you can play the movies back on the LCD.

3. Very important – it comes with the standard thread for roll cage mounts unlike go-pro which seem to have their own fiddly mounts that I hate. Standard thread means that there are 100’s of universal mounts on the market for this camera.

4. The remote Control – Genius. Im sitting on the line in Formula D , all strapped in, 1 min to go and Ive to turn a camera on in the far side of the car? Nightmare. The X170 has a remote that works from 5m away – major problem solved right there.

5. Construction – built of tuff stuff and water resistant. Essential for Downhill or Irish Drifting.

6. Price – I researched them all and to be honest, at approx £200, you wont find a better suited cam for drifting.

7. Comes standard with a load of mounts (Helmet strap, handle bar) and the connector cables to PC or direct to your tv.

I hope to get out with the camera soon to get some actual footage – cant wait to give it a good once over.

A also got separately a roll cage mount, a 4gb card and some spare batteries. (All of these cameras like to use batteries).

If any of you are interested in getting on board gear, the guys at action cameras are specialists in this area and the delivery was with me in 24hrs. As a bonus they’ve offered anyone willing to make a purchase a 10% discount code on the back of supporting me. The Code is “ERICDRIFT10″ which can be used against ANY of their products until the end of the year. It would be great if you could show these guys some support.

Look forward to posting up some videos. If you’ve any questions or comments please feel free.

Sample rally video of this camera in Action.

There was also a specific motorsport engineering hall with all the latest equipment and technologies available form the worlds leading manufacturers.It was a lot to take in in one day but I came home loaded with ideas and plenty of info about some cool new parts I can use in the re build of my Corolla.

I managed to get a few pics of some of my show favourites, no prizes for guessing my next favourite motorsport to drifting !

My favorite WRC car, the WRC99 spec 3 door Impreza seen here in its Safari Rally set up.

The Peugeot 207 rally car that Chris Meeke won the 2009 IRC with.Chris actually drove in a round of the Prodrift series back in ‘08 and did pretty good for his first ever drift event.He also teaches at a rally school here in Ireland and I’ve been lucky enough to be instructed by him once in a fully prepped impreza. Unfortunately he crashed out of the opening round of the IRC today in Monte Carlo when he hit ice, no doubt he’ll be back kicking ass at round 2 in Brazil.

Some of the old Group B rally cars were also on display and even though its some 25 years since they were developed they still draw a crowd alongside the most modern machines.Possibly my favorite era of motorsport, these things pushed the boundaries so much that the Group A and WRC regulations were brought in to slow things down a bit !. If  like me you were too young to ever see them in action, check out some online footage and turn it up loud !

Although the UK drifting scene hasn’t got the same level of machinery as Formula D in the states, the UK time attack series certainly has some cars that could compete at world level.The Roger Clark Motorsport Impreza won the title in 2008 and is my favorite car in the series, there has been some great on board footage online and its well worth checking out.The driver Olly Clark is not afraid to use all the 500+ hp to get it loose !

There were a number of F1 cars present and of course the UK’s Jenson Button’s Brawn GP Championship winning car took pride of place.Its nice to get up close with these cars and check out that rear diffuser that basically gave Brawn GP such an advantage early in the season they had the championship wrapped up.

Finally, a pic of the craziest race simulator  I have ever seen !.I could have sworn that if this one kid wasn’t strapped in when he took a hit on the track he would have been catapulted clean out of there. There was a big line to get a few laps in this thing but I had a flight to catch back to Dublin, next time !

Happy New Year !
Its been a quiet few months since the Formula D finale in Irwindale but with the start of a new year its time to get back in gear for another season.
Mondello Park racing circuit just outside Dublin had for the first time began to hold drift practice days last year.If there was ever any doubt of the growing popularity of the sport then the number of cars at these sessions prove otherwise.
The final run of the year was on the 13th of December and despite the miserable weather conditions there was a huge turnout including some of the top Prodrift Drivers who’s cars had survived the season.

I was once again on duty for the day as my girl Amy G’s pit crew / instructor.Since deciding to make the switch from circuit racing to drifting a couple of years ago I have been developing her FC RX-7 alongside her drifting skills.
The car right now looks almost completely stock since I don’t consider aero kits much use for a beginner but under the skin the suspension has been fully sorted thanks to a lot of advise from Kyle and Ash over at Mazdatrix.

I fabbed up a custom v mount intercooler set up and 3 inch exhaust for the motor and of course all the right safety equipment is in there, custom 8 point cage with seats and harnesses etc.
Im lucky enough to get some laps in the car at most practice days and it now feels very competitive, plenty of power and almost capable of as much angle as my corolla.The scream of a rotary has been sadly missing from the Irish drift scene for some time but hopefully Amy G will make it to the Prodrift ranks this season and show the boys whats up.

more

Motor Mavens have been killing it all season with excellent content and coverage of the FD Series. Heres a sweet vid they produced from the event.

Motormavens also featured this great video. Abbitt Wilkerson managed to capture my wall rub in qualifying.