D1NZ
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| Category | Drifting |
|---|---|
| Country | New Zealand |
| Inaugural season | 2003 |
| Constructors | Nissan • Toyota • Mazda • Holden • Ford |
| Drivers' champion | Curt Whittaker (2015 - '16) |
| Official website | d1nz.com |
D1NZ is a production car drifting series in New Zealand. There is currently no New Zealand drifting championship so D1NZ is the premier series running as a clubsport advanced event under MotorSport New Zealand. It began early in 2003 as a small competition consisting of several drifting teams from all over the country in order to organise and regulate Drifting events on the circuit. Since then it has continued to grow larger and more professional, now involving professional drivers with sponsored cars. The series now includes two championships: Pro and ProAm. New competitors generally need to prove themselves in the ProAm championship before entering the Pro championship (unless coming from an equivalent international series). Organizers aim to promote and educate Drifting in New Zealand, with a regulated safe environment. Despite similar moniker, the series is not related to the Japanese D1 Grand Prix series. It has been recognised as the longest running drifting series in the world.
The format of a round consists of scrutineering and a drivers briefing in the morning. This is followed by a test sessions with cars being allowed out onto the track to practice and adjust settings for the particular track.
Qualifying is then held with the competitors allowed two passes to try qualify for the Top 32 competition. The drivers are judged based on line, angle, and style. Line involves taking a predetermined line set by the judges at drivers briefing. The line generally includes apexing each corner, or "inside clip", and may include "outside clip" points. The closer to these points, the higher the line score. Angle means maintaining an aggressive angle throughout the judged section and aggressive direction switches (aka transitions). Style refers to how aggressive the driving is during the run, the amount of smoke produced, how hard the car is pushed and the presentation of the vehicle.
The judging takes place on just a small part of the circuit, a few corners that provide good viewing and lend themselves to be ideal for drifting. The rest of the circuit is irrelevant, except as it pertains to gridding the vehicles by marshalls and setting up the car for the first judged corner.
The competition is held after the qualifying session, with only the Top 32 drivers competing, as per the judges decision in the qualifying. Drivers are entered into a battle tree (competition order) and paired off, and each battle comprises two passes with each driver taking a turn to lead. The best of the 16 battles go to the top 8 battles, then to the top 4, and then to the final or 3rd/4th place. The passes are judged as explained above, however there are a few new rules such as:
Sometimes the judges cannot agree or cannot decide. In such cases more passes may be run (i.e.: a re-run) until a winner is produced. Sometimes mechanical failure determines the battle's outcome, either during or preceding a battle. If a car cannot enter a tandem battle, the remaining entrant (who automatically advances) will drive a solo demonstration pass. In the event of apparently close or tied runs, crowds often demonstrate their desire for another run with chants of 'one more time'. It is also extremely important that crowd members pull gang signs whilst their favorite driver drifts by, this will vastly increase their chance of winning.
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Wikipedia