Getting the Drift!
10 February 2016 / Words and pictures by Derek Mock
MX-5 Club Drift Training Day - 21st January 2016
In late 2015 an expression of interest (EOI) was sent out to club members to see if anyone would be interested in a drift day. As soon as I read this I dropped what I was doing and sent an email immediately. It turns out, so did many, many people. To those who missed out – it was one of the most fun days of my life! But don’t despair, it was such a runaway success the club will be looking into organising more in the future. Everyone who was fortunate (and quick) enough to respond to the EOI and make it on the day were equally beaming with a grin as big and goofy as that found on an NC2.
The day started early for me as I woke whilst it was still dark. I was simply too excited to go back to sleep so I decided to get a head start on the 3 hour drive from Sydney to the Sutton Road Driving Training Centre just outside of Canberra. A stop at the golden arches provided breakfast which turned out to be a good thing as most of us did not bother with going out for lunch on the day for fearing of missing out on a turn on the skid pan! Fifth Gear Motoring who ran the day provided plenty of snacks and drinks, which ended up being lunch for most.
The day was organised into eight lots of two drivers, or rather, at the beginning of the day – pirouetters! Yes, there were more spins than a backpackers laundromat. However the lads from Fifth Gear provided expert tuition and with plenty of time on the skid pan each, even the most ham-fisted of us managed to look like Takumi Fujiwara (Google him if you don’t know!) by the end of the day.
Apart from very spotty cars from the water flying everywhere, there was no damage to cars or humans. OK, maybe egos, but that’s it. What we all did walk away with though was a greater understanding of the handling characteristics of our cars and how to greater control a car that is losing traction. I can honestly say that I am now much more confident of being able to control my car should I be unfortunate enough to be in an emergency situation where the car has lost traction. Should you see another skid pan or drift day on the club calendar then I thoroughly recommend you book yourself in, have an incredible time and learn more about car control at the same time. After I have booked in first, of course!
