NZ Drift Series

The NZ Drift Series was a five-round motorsport series organised by Parkside Media, publisher of NZ Performance Car magazine. Competing against D1NZ it achieved greater success because of NZ Performance Car and NZ Performance Car TV's marketing power.

NZ Drift Series
NZ Drift Series logo (2008)
CategoryDrifting
CountryNew Zealand
Inaugural season2007
Drivers48

The inaugural season was in 2007 and consisted of two rounds at Manfeild Autocourse and Pukekohe Park Raceway.

The 2008 season expanded the number of rounds to five and the number of tracks to four, including Taupo Motorsport Park, and a round in the South Island at Powerbuilt Tools International Raceway, Ruapuna.

The 2009 season continued with five rounds, including the new Hampton Downs Raceway.

The series helped propel some New Zealand drivers into the world arena,[1] with top drivers such as Carl Ruiterman, Gary Whiter and Mike Whiddett[2] being invited to compete overseas in events such as D1GP World Allstars, Red Bull Drifting World Championship,[3] Formula D[4] and European Drift Championship[5]

Television

NZ Drift Series is shown on the TVNZ network as part of Powerbuilt Tools Motorsport and NZ Performance Car TV, and TVNZ ondemand.[6] Battle highlights are available on NZ Performance Car's Youtube channel.

Technical specifications[7]

All vehicles must be a ‘series production vehicle’ of ‘closed vehicle’ unitary construction, rear-wheel drive only. The engine can be at the front (FR) or mid-mounted (MR). The type and manufacturer of the vehicle is not restricted. Superchargers and turbochargers are permitted, but nitrous oxide is not. The vehicle's engine does not have to be the original, and significant modifications can be made to the lubrication, cooling and exhaust systems, suspension, brakes and steering as long as series regulations are met, and maximum decibel (dB) levels are not exceeded at the track. Maximum tyre width is 265.

The cars must comply with Motorsport New Zealand[8] regulations for closed racing cars, including a rollcage, fire extinguisher and safety harness.

Points system

The basic points system is as follows:

Final battles
  • 1st – 200 points,
  • 2nd – 160
  • 3rd – 140
  • 4th – 120
  • 5th – 100
  • 6th – 80
  • 7th – 60
  • 8th – 40
  • First Round losers – 20 points each

Qualifying

Qualifying works on a descending points system with the top qualifier receiving 32 points and the 32nd qualifier receiving one point.

Event entry
  • Event Entry 20
  • Pre-Entered Competitors minus 30 points for non-attendance per event.

Miscellaneous
  • Hard Yards Award – 5 points
  • Flag infringements - minus 50 series points
  • Drifting or speeding outside allocated areas on track – minus 20 series points per infringement.
  • Burnouts outside allocated areas or specified times – minus 20 series points per infringement.
  • Bodywork infringement – minus 5 series points

How drifting is judged

Qualifying point scoring
  • Speed: 0 – 30 Points
  • Angle: 0 – 30 Points
  • Line: 0 – 30 Points
  • Smoke/Noise: 0 – 10 Points

Battle point scoring
  • Speed – 25 Points
  • Angle – 25 Points
  • Chase – 50 Points

2009 season

Dates
  • Round 1: May 16 - Manfeild
  • Round 2: July 12 - Pukekohe Park Raceway
  • Round 3: September 13 - Hampton Downs Motorsport Park
  • Round 4: October 17 - Taupo Motorsport Park
  • Round 5 (Grand Final): November 21 - Hampton Downs Motorsport Park

2008 season

Dates

Series dates for the 2008 season:

Results[9]
Round 1 Round 2 Round 3 Round 4 Final Total
Entrant Car No. Pukekohe Manfeild Christchurch Taupo Pukekohe
Carl Ruiterman 1 211 211 150 144 20 736
Steven Sole 22 165 241 62 82 180 730
Tiger White 6 63 67 249 67 124 570
Dan Woolhouse 2 0 192 211 60 71 534
Mike Whiddett 4 146 -10 106 212 20 474
Darren McDonald 3 109 104 121 65 68 467
Jason Sellers 15 248 25 59 68 62 462
Nick Teeboon 5 67 65 185 63 69 449
Gary Whiter 8 92 20 63 251 20 446
Hamish Marsden 44 190 27 23 34 170 444
Takeshi Teruya 57 64 142 20 59 143 428
Curt Whittaker 9 59 66 64 190 29 408
Kyle Jackways 13 32 58 -10 36 237 353
Jonathan Bennett 62 30 75 68 161 -10 324
Aaron Bennett 12 61 30 92 58 72 313
Cole Armstrong 81 0 0 0 114 198 312
Daynom Templeman 71 0 0 65 126 87 278
Brad Smith 17 60 129 -10 32 66 277
Johnny Udy 30 0 0 167 0 106 273
Sam Groombridge 26 24 159 36 -10 59 268
Shane Rutland 21 33 60 27 29 31 180
Brendan Duncker 59 57 57 57 -10 -10 151
Gee Mutch 11 34 68 -10 -10 65 147
Shaun Yearbury 56 102 35 0 0 0 137
Vinny Ryan 60 35 28 28 25 20 136
Rian Herrick 14 31 21 -10 57 36 135
Nathan Stalker 69 0 83 0 30 0 113
Sam Bleakley 48 25 31 -10 33 30 109
Bradley Lauder 64 26 24 -10 27 26 93
Dave Steedman 40 28 29 -10 26 20 93
Andre Stanway 0 0 0 35 35 70
Lee McLean 66 -10 33 30 23 -10 66
Chris Protheroe 45 0 32 29 0 0 61
Troy Forsythe 32 0 0 58 0 0 58
Nick Callagher 63 27 23 -10 -10 27 57
Blair Martin 67 0 36 0 0 20 56
Andrew Redwood 56 63 -10 -10 -10 20 53
Richard Lunn 47 29 20 0 0 0 49
Cody Collis 68 0 22 26 0 0 48
Jesse Porter 27 23 20 0 0 0 43
Mark O'Hara 74 0 0 35 0 0 35
Dwayne Rhind 0 0 0 0 34 34
Hans Ruiterman 70 0 34 0 0 0 34
Nick Shrimpton 31 0 0 34 0 0 34
Gene Rhodes 23 0 0 33 0 0 33
Marcus King 0 0 0 0 32 32
Simon Hunter 73 0 0 32 0 0 32
Matai Watson 76 0 0 31 0 0 31
Matt Jackson 16 36 -10 -10 24 -10 30
Alu Mutch 37 22 26 -10 -10 0 28
Bruce Tannock 79 0 0 0 28 0 28
Shane Harris 0 0 0 0 28 28
Matthew Smith 75 0 0 25 0 0 25
Anthony McQuoid 72 0 0 24 0 0 24
Micah Hoebers 80 0 0 0 22 0 22
Nikki Pilcher 78 0 0 22 0 0 22
Tony Breman 49 0 0 21 0 0 21
Nick McConcie 77 0 0 -10 0 0 -10
Mark Holland 57 -10 -10 -10 -10 -10 -50

2007 season

Results
Position Car No. Entrant Manfeild (2 Jun) Pukekohe (15 Jul) Total
1 14 Carl Ruiterman 211 241 452
2 24 Curt Whittaker 224 85 309
3 30 Adam Richards 169 127 296
4 1 Daniel Woolhouse 150 132 282
5 12 Tiger White 60 190 250
6 15 Mike Whiddett 167 46 213
7 29 Nick Teeboon 133 68 201
8 3 Darren McDonald 20 171 191
9 7 Jairus Wharerau 72 63 135
10 2 Gary Whiter DNS 129 129
11 8 Rian Herrick 62 39 101
12 6 Francis Aro 106 -30 76
13 20 Gee Mutch 63 30 93
14 21 Steve Mitchell 34 58 92
15 17 Aaron Bennett 58 20 78
16 16 Shane Rutland 57 10 67
17 22 Jonny Udy 65 DNS 65
18 13 Jamie Blair DNS 62 62
19 33 Andre Stanway 61 DNS 61
20 4 Matt Jackson DNS 57 57
21 69 Brad Smith DNS 55 55
22 31 Matt Clark 35 14 49
23 18 Kyle Jackways -30 69 39
24 33 Mike Turley 39 0 39
25 57 Jason Sellers DNS 36 36
26 58 Keith Punn 36 DNS 36
27 60 Greg Munt 13 20 33
28 28 Jesse Porter DNS 32 32
29 32 Clay Buskermolen DNS 26 26
30 34 Victor Chapman 20 DNS 20
31 23 Shane Harris DNS 15 15
32 26 Hamish Marsden DNS 8 8

Demise

Parkside Media decided in 2009 not to run NZ Drift Series in 2010 and began coverage of D1NZ in NZ Performance Car starting with the final round in August 2009.[10]

NZ Drift Series is included as one of the country series in the iPhone game Drift Legends

References
  1. "Kiwi drifters to take on the big boys". The Press. 22 April 2008. Retrieved 1 November 2011.
  2. http://www.formuladrift.com.sg/profile_nz1.htm
  3. http://www.formulad.com/redbull/drifting-world-championship/
  4. "Motorsport: Mad Mike goes drifting for NZ". The New Zealand Herald. 22 April 2008. Retrieved 1 November 2011.
  5. Speedhunters event report
  6. NZ Drift Series on TVNZ ondemand
  7. http://www.performancecar.co.nz/events/nz-drift-series/competitor-information/competitor-information
  8. Motorsport New Zealand
  9. 2008 results
  10. "Shooting D1NZ this weekend". NZ Performance Car. 13 August 2009. Retrieved 13 May 2012.
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