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I didnt see anyone talking about this so I figgured I would start a post. This past week the final Track Drifting event in Hawaii took place. The track is being closed at the end of march so this was the last one. Team Juo Ni hosted the "Hawaii Drift Battle" you can view the website w/ info @ http://www.hawaiidriftbattle.com/
This event was an awesome end to the track scene in Hawaii. The event started around 9AM and the drivers had about 5-6 hours to practice and enjoy the track for the last time before the competition began. The weather in the beginning of the day was nice, average Hawaii day sunny and hot. But around the end of the open track time (5pm or so) the rain clouds started rolling in. Within no time the track was soaked with puddles everywhere. Over the course of the competition the track conditions would change from soaked to semi-wet with dry spots and back to soaked. The competition began around 6PM and ended around 11PM. The final battle for 1st place was crazyness, in the rain at night with lightning in the background. Awesome to watch!!
The pits were packed with drifters, there was literally not enough room for everyone to pit. I was majorly impressed by the caliber of cars and drivers we have here in Hawaii. I was really happy that pretty much everyone showed up to participate this one last time. We even had some guys from Maui ship their cars to Oahu to participate. There were a few unfortunate crashes (I think there was 5 total?) only 2 or 3 cars were not able to continue. There were also a few mechanical failures, at one point there were 2 tranny swaps going on in the pits. But all in all the drivers as a whole did awesome and had no problem adapting to the changing weather conditions. Even the drivers that had not practiced on our track before went 100% in the rain consistently. It was very impressive.
At the drivers meeting everyone crowded around Alex P, Moto P, and Ross Petty as the rules were laid out. This competition was judged mainly on one turn, what we call the sweeper. This is the highest speed turn on our track (usually 3rd gear) with guardrail/tirebarrier on one side and fence on the other. Alex P challenged the drivers really raising the bar. He wanted people to be hitting 4th gear through the sweeper and no letting off throttle allowed (automatic 0 points). I could tell this was going to be a tough night for the drivers.
The competition started right after the rain let up. First there were the qualifying runs until they came up with a top 16. From there it was battle format tandem drifting in the rain the usual battle style. I was really happy there was really not much "one more time" nonsense from the crowd, only from the judges when they felt it was necessary (I think thats how it should be! haha). I tell you guys, these drivers stepped up. The battles were very tight, at one point there was even a little contact between two cars (but the drivers all know eachother so its all G). There were some classic battles there, AE86 vs S13, S13 KA vs S13 SR, etc, etc. As mentioned earlier the final battle for 1st place had lightning in the background, awesome backdrop. Most importantly EVERYONE was hitting the sweeper hard in the rain. No joke. A few years ago nobody here was able to hit the sweeper like this. When the rain had settled there was one man the judges had decided on. Congrats to Jensen Kona from team Red Handed for taking 1st place. Jensen had rebounded from a hard crash earlier in the week, and was actually released from the hospital the day before this event. Talk about hard core! Jensen also happens to be on the cover of this months Drift Tengoku Magazine (#32). Big ups to the runner up Keoni Rodrigues from team Kamakazi with his crazy crazy style. Keoni really went all out at this event, simply amazing what he does with SR and stock turbo. He's crazy folks! Sponsors out there you really need to check out these two drivers! And finally a congrats to all the other drivers that participated. Regardless of what you guys placed, I was impressed by everyones skill because of the weather AND the bar being raised by Alex P and everyone stepping up. Good job everyone!!!
Now I need to find some pics/vids ... hehe.
This event was an awesome end to the track scene in Hawaii. The event started around 9AM and the drivers had about 5-6 hours to practice and enjoy the track for the last time before the competition began. The weather in the beginning of the day was nice, average Hawaii day sunny and hot. But around the end of the open track time (5pm or so) the rain clouds started rolling in. Within no time the track was soaked with puddles everywhere. Over the course of the competition the track conditions would change from soaked to semi-wet with dry spots and back to soaked. The competition began around 6PM and ended around 11PM. The final battle for 1st place was crazyness, in the rain at night with lightning in the background. Awesome to watch!!
The pits were packed with drifters, there was literally not enough room for everyone to pit. I was majorly impressed by the caliber of cars and drivers we have here in Hawaii. I was really happy that pretty much everyone showed up to participate this one last time. We even had some guys from Maui ship their cars to Oahu to participate. There were a few unfortunate crashes (I think there was 5 total?) only 2 or 3 cars were not able to continue. There were also a few mechanical failures, at one point there were 2 tranny swaps going on in the pits. But all in all the drivers as a whole did awesome and had no problem adapting to the changing weather conditions. Even the drivers that had not practiced on our track before went 100% in the rain consistently. It was very impressive.
At the drivers meeting everyone crowded around Alex P, Moto P, and Ross Petty as the rules were laid out. This competition was judged mainly on one turn, what we call the sweeper. This is the highest speed turn on our track (usually 3rd gear) with guardrail/tirebarrier on one side and fence on the other. Alex P challenged the drivers really raising the bar. He wanted people to be hitting 4th gear through the sweeper and no letting off throttle allowed (automatic 0 points). I could tell this was going to be a tough night for the drivers.
The competition started right after the rain let up. First there were the qualifying runs until they came up with a top 16. From there it was battle format tandem drifting in the rain the usual battle style. I was really happy there was really not much "one more time" nonsense from the crowd, only from the judges when they felt it was necessary (I think thats how it should be! haha). I tell you guys, these drivers stepped up. The battles were very tight, at one point there was even a little contact between two cars (but the drivers all know eachother so its all G). There were some classic battles there, AE86 vs S13, S13 KA vs S13 SR, etc, etc. As mentioned earlier the final battle for 1st place had lightning in the background, awesome backdrop. Most importantly EVERYONE was hitting the sweeper hard in the rain. No joke. A few years ago nobody here was able to hit the sweeper like this. When the rain had settled there was one man the judges had decided on. Congrats to Jensen Kona from team Red Handed for taking 1st place. Jensen had rebounded from a hard crash earlier in the week, and was actually released from the hospital the day before this event. Talk about hard core! Jensen also happens to be on the cover of this months Drift Tengoku Magazine (#32). Big ups to the runner up Keoni Rodrigues from team Kamakazi with his crazy crazy style. Keoni really went all out at this event, simply amazing what he does with SR and stock turbo. He's crazy folks! Sponsors out there you really need to check out these two drivers! And finally a congrats to all the other drivers that participated. Regardless of what you guys placed, I was impressed by everyones skill because of the weather AND the bar being raised by Alex P and everyone stepping up. Good job everyone!!!
Now I need to find some pics/vids ... hehe.
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