'MAD MIKE' $5000 RICHER AFTER FIRST D1NZ SERIES ROUND WIN AT MANFEILD
'MAD MIKE' $5000 RICHER AFTER FIRST D1NZ SERIES ROUND WIN AT MANFEILD
Auckland's 'Mad Mike' Whiddett (Mazda RX7) is $5000 richer after winning the opening round of the 2011/12 D1NZ National Drifting Championship Series at Feilding's Manfeild motor racing circuit on Saturday.
At each round of this season's D1NZ Championship there will be a $5,000 prize pool up for grabs, the cash prize at Manfeild won by Whiddett put up by Wellington modification and tuning specialist Shred Motorsport.
In a day of surprises at Manfeild in which defending D1NZ champion Gaz Whiter (Nissan Silvia S14) from Dargaville was knocked out in the second round of elimination battles (Top 16) by Taranaki driver Steve Sole, Whiddett made every move a winning one, first beating last year's Rookie series standouts Nico Reid (Nissan S13) and Darren Benjamin (Toyota 2JZ-engined Nissan Laurel), then taking on and beating 2006 New Zealand champion Daniel 'Fanga Dan' Woolhouse (Holden Commodore) and Andrew Redward (Nissan Silvia S14).
Tauranga's Cole Armstrong gave his hastily prepared new four-door Nissan Skyline R34 (his two-door model was written off after an accident at the Tectaloy International Drift Challenge in Sydney in August) the best possible start when he topped the 27-strong field in qualifying earlier in the day but lost to Andrew Redward in their Top 4 battle.
Whiddett and Woolhouse completed the top three in qualifying ahead of Redward, Curt Whittaker (Toyota 2JZ-engined Nissan Skyline R34), Bruce Tannock (Nissan S13) and Darren Benjamin.