Drift Training Day #2
After the success of the first event in January, another Skid Pan Drift Day has been booked with http://fifthgear.com.au/ on Sunday 13th March 2016 at the Sutton Road Training Centre in ACT. We suggest you get in early if you are interested as the 16 available places filled up very quickly for the first event.
The day is run on a wet skid pan with instructors available all day to sit in with the driver if you wish (advisable on at least the first run). The track is taken in 1st or 2nd gear with a high grip surface running around the outside of the skid pan so if you are sliding to the edge of the track your tyres will grip. A maximum of 16 cars can enter with 2 cars on the skid pan at any time. Dual entered cars are allowed. The facility has strict noise limits. All cars must be below 85db at 30 metres and road registered. No safety gear required, other than to wear sensible closed shoes. T-shirts and shorts are permitted.
We are starting from 9:30am, to allow enough time for Sydney people to travel down. The facility is on the outskirts of Canberra. We suggest you get there by 9am to allow enough time to empty loose contents from your car and for you to settle into the day. Fifth Gear provide drinks and snacks on the day. There will be no break for lunch so it is advisable to bring your lunch along. The day will finish around 4pm.
A report on the last drift day is avalable here.
The event is being run by Fifth Gear Motoring, and they will be supplying the drift instructors. They provided the following information:
- Low powered cars like MX-5s can be used for drifting. The skid pan is a wet, slippery concrete, with a high grip surface surrounding the skid pan. The slippery surface is more than enough to get an MX-5 sliding. You will be sufficiently challenged to control the drift in an MX-5 due to the short wheelbase.
- An LSD is preferred, but cars with an open diff can still have lots of fun. An LSD will allow better predictability when attempting to catch a slide.
- Having 2 drivers per car is possible. As cars will go out on the skidpan in pairs, the second driver simply goes in a later pair. With 16 people, we will have 8 pairs. So for example, driver 1 can go in the 2nd pairing, driver 2 in the 5th pairing. A run lasts 8 minutes.
- Fifth Gear will grade pairs on the day as best they can, so advanced drivers can go together, beginners together. This gives a fairer opportunity for track time.
- For safety reasons, when one car spins, the other car on the skidpan must stop. The instructors will also make sure that cars do not get too close to one another and try to remain on opposite sides of the skid pan.
- The facility has strict noise limits. All cars must be below 85db at 30 metres and be road registered.
- There is a drivers brief in the morning. Tuition is via 1 on 1 sessions with the instructor either driving or a passenger. Entirely up to the driver what happens.
- They will slowly build up the driver to link each turn on the skid pan. Starting with getting the hang of a drift in one corner and slowly working towards being able to keep momentum and link the corners together.
- No safety gear required, other than to wear sensible closed shoes. T-shirts and shorts are permitted.
- We are starting from 9:30am, to allow enough time for Sydney people to travel down. We suggest you get there by 9am to allow enough time to empty loose contents from your car and for you to settle into the day.
- There are viewing and photography platforms for spectators
Cost for the day is $155. To enter, please email competition@mx5.com.au, or use the RSVP button provided. Places are limited to the first 16 replies received.
