D1RC European Championships
Drift racer Kevin Dent gave his all at the first Euro Cup for 1/10 scale electric drift cars held at the fantastic Snetterton Park track in the UK.
Read his race diary of the CML sponsored Euro Cup below.
Saturday 28th
After a blurry eyed start due to the very heavy wind and rain, the talk soon turned to car setup and tyre choice. With only the use of the practice area, before your allocated practice on the competition drift track, trying to find the ideal setup was going to be tricky. Many people opted for the HPI T drifts but I believed that the Yokomo Zero Two R tyres could prove very difficult to race against in the twin drift.
The first few laps of official practice time showed up a small amount of understear into the first and very long corner that tightened up into a hair pin. A few turns on the turnbuckle to give a degree more camber on the front and a touch more of the rubber outer edge was in use (this not being at all possible on the HPI tyre) and the Yokomo tyre had done it. Now time to sit back in the sun and wait for the qualification slot.
Qualifying
It soon came to my attention that I was going to be the first one up in qualifying for the biggest drift meeting in Europe and, thanks to the D1RC`s very own commentator, all the fellow 44 competitors also knew it. THE MR4-TC SD gave perfect turn in control at high speed and a great effortless drift all the way through the first corner. The Zero Two R tyres were tightening up into the first corner perfectly making a snappy transition into the next right hand and hugging the clipping point till a late flick back into the last corner. The Yokomo D1spn 19T at full power let the car run out wide and across the line to score a 92 out of 100 putting me into 8th for the finals on Sunday.
Sunday 29th
Being as proud as punch with my qualifying position I was brought down to earth with a bang as I had a look at my first twin drift and the fear set in. I was to race against one of the best drivers in Britain. I lined up for twin drift, got the nod from the judge looked down and went for it. Getting up my speed then initiating the drift early I could see the car following me hunting down the tight line. Thanks to the Yokomo tyres I managed to scrub the speed and tighten it up into corner one getting close to the clipping point then moving the weight to enter the drift into corner 2 and keeping the the line. I punched it to get into corner 3 hugged the island pushed it wide and held it sideways across the line to get a 7-3 score to me. A quick swap over of lanes and race 2 got underway and I have to admit it I lost my cool thinking that I had just beaten one of the best. As we came out of corner 1 into 2 I got too close and then backed off and turned in far to early and put it up an island.
I`ve only been racing drift cars for 4 rounds now to qualify that high and to finish 12th overall out of the best in Europe has to show that the combined package of Yokomo products has to play a huge part in the future of drifting from the beginner to the highest level.
The first few laps of official practice time showed up a small amount of understear into the first and very long corner that tightened up into a hair pin. A few turns on the turnbuckle to give a degree more camber on the front and a touch more of the rubber outer edge was in use (this not being at all possible on the HPI tyre) and the Yokomo tyre had done it. Now time to sit back in the sun and wait for the qualification slot.
Qualifying
It soon came to my attention that I was going to be the first one up in qualifying for the biggest drift meeting in Europe and, thanks to the D1RC`s very own commentator, all the fellow 44 competitors also knew it. THE MR4-TC SD gave perfect turn in control at high speed and a great effortless drift all the way through the first corner. The Zero Two R tyres were tightening up into the first corner perfectly making a snappy transition into the next right hand and hugging the clipping point till a late flick back into the last corner. The Yokomo D1spn 19T at full power let the car run out wide and across the line to score a 92 out of 100 putting me into 8th for the finals on Sunday.
Sunday 29th
Being as proud as punch with my qualifying position I was brought down to earth with a bang as I had a look at my first twin drift and the fear set in. I was to race against one of the best drivers in Britain. I lined up for twin drift, got the nod from the judge looked down and went for it. Getting up my speed then initiating the drift early I could see the car following me hunting down the tight line. Thanks to the Yokomo tyres I managed to scrub the speed and tighten it up into corner one getting close to the clipping point then moving the weight to enter the drift into corner 2 and keeping the the line. I punched it to get into corner 3 hugged the island pushed it wide and held it sideways across the line to get a 7-3 score to me. A quick swap over of lanes and race 2 got underway and I have to admit it I lost my cool thinking that I had just beaten one of the best. As we came out of corner 1 into 2 I got too close and then backed off and turned in far to early and put it up an island.
I`ve only been racing drift cars for 4 rounds now to qualify that high and to finish 12th overall out of the best in Europe has to show that the combined package of Yokomo products has to play a huge part in the future of drifting from the beginner to the highest level.
