Drifting your way to the top!

Well on the back of a good result at the Euro drift event I got in touch with CML and purchased a YOKOMO LCG upgrade for my RAYSPEED MR4-TC SD chassis. With the upgrade kit fitted (I must add it was a dream to do and the YOKOMO instructions very easy to follow) I departed for the latest round of the D1RC UK. After a very early start due to work commitments I got to track with 5 minutes left in club structured practice so jumped out and got on track to have a run on the event circuit at the very fast and flowing Snetterton track. Even with only one lap the Yokomo LCG chassis paired with the Yokomo drift single rings felt very stable, and nicely neutral, a very good starting point for a good drift car. After not having a great deal of time in practice and a new car I managed to get mid-field in qualifying. Very happy with this I went off to the free practice area to fine tune the car and tyres. With camber gauge in hand the real excellence of the Yokomo tyres shone through as with these tyres you can increase the camber to give yourself a small amount more of the inner rubber edge to contact the track and giving you the edge over those on HPI the other tyre allowed. The finals, as I said before, I qualified mid pack so had it all to do. For those who don't know the final goes as follows...

The highest qualifier gets the choice to lead or follow on the first run... each run the judge has 10 points to start with awards them to each driver on there control speed and how close they can get and stay on the tail of the lead car trying to pressure them into a mistake or to simply out drive the chasing car if leading.

My first race went to plan with a 5/5 first run followed by a 10/0 to send me through to the next round. My next race was the make or break one for me as it was against the points leader. With a crafty little move tightening up into the first clipping point I made the chasing car have to straighten up and get off the power (sorry Pete) sending me into the semi finals. Now, going up against a driver I`d never raced before I didn't know his driving style so as I had the Yokomo tyres I used there great tweaking ability and gave myself some extra grip and hit every clipping point and went on into the final. The first national D1RC final of my career! During the first run of the final I felt I neede to get a good lead. Off I went, hit the full power line, and got some real angle in the long left hander. The Yokomo tyres let me really start to tighten up the drift and scrub the speed into the left hand hairpin. An early transition and lots of angle meant my opponent wasn't coming round me and I nailed the second right hand clipping point while holding the drift. I then flicked it late into the last point hidden partly by a large track island and pushed hard to the line. Run 2 and I`ve got to chase off the line. Something's not well with my car but the leading car is all over the place and I try to keep the drift as his line chops and changes. To my amazement he ends up facing towards me in the second corner and that's it, i've just got to get my car back to the finish line with no spins or off track moments. The lead car is still trying to scupper my chances and stays out front but with its HPI tyre coming of the wheel it's not easy to get past. As i'm using the trusty Yokomo tyres they stayed on the wheels and took me to my first national win! Congratulations to Kevin on his victory from all the team at CML. We're sure it's the first of many to come.