It might be the third strike for most people but Team Bridgestone’s Ivan Lau only needed two before he finally claimed overall victory in the Round Two of the Goodyear International Drift Series following his narrowest of losses in the final of the opening round.
The move to Malacca for the second round, which was held at the Malacca International Motorsport Circuit (MIMC), paid dividends as the crowd came in droves compared to the lower by comparison attendance at the inaugural round held in Putrajaya last month.
Currently, the Goodyear International Drift Series is the only sanctioned and affiliated drift series with Formula Drift Asia in the country. It acts as a feeder series and a platform for the drivers to earn their Formula Drift Pro Asia license for the upcoming Formula Drift Asia rounds that will require the license to participate from next year onwards.
Being tied in with Formula Drift Asia meant that once again, Formula Drift head judge Andy Yen was behind the judge’s table along with two other judges.
God must have an ‘I love Drift’ sticker somewhere on him because the weather today was nothing short of perfect for a day’s schedule of tyre-shredding and opposite-lock.
Formula Drift judging is tough-as-nails and no-nonsense. While overtaking is smiled upon in other drift competitions, it’s not necessarily a case of follow the crowd here. Mimicking the lead car’s line and sticking so close to it you can read the fine-print on the driver’s race suit tag is the order of the day.
Qualifying saw some usual suspects in the local drift scene head for an early shower with FX Open’s Johan Norman, Goodyear’s Azrina Jane and Khairul Anuar among the casualties.
However, the top 16 was full of the drifters you would bet your last dollar on to make it through. No surprise on the top qualifier, Bridgestone’s Tengku Djan. The Prince of Drift was back in his new Nissan 180SX to put on a good show after his car gave up the ghost at Round 1 and forced him into retirement.
The first Top 16 battle pitted Djan against Malaccan Lim Chee Leong. Nonetheless, local support wasn’t enough for Chee Leong as the Prince of Drift assassinated him on the track with some aggressive tailing and stuck close to his rear quarter panel. Chee Leong made it all the easier on the second run as Djan’s shadowing made him straighten on the first corner.
Next up was Toyo’s Lim Zee King and Goodyear’s Michael Gan. Although Zee pulled straight on the exit of the first corner, his experience and nimbler car made up for it and Goodyear had its first casualty of the Top 16.
Mervyn Nakamura of Federal Tyres lined up against Ng Chun Lai for the third square-off with Mervyn proving his semi-final spot in last year’s Formula Drift Malaysia was no fluke and made easy work of Chun Lai. The Federal Tyres drifter parked his front fender on Chun Lai’s quarter panel on the second run and forced the latter into overcooking it and spinning.
Bridgestone’s Tan Tat Wei in the loudest car on the grid, a rotary-powered Toyota Corolla AE86, was paired off with Zaiham Hamdan in a Nissan Silvia S15. The nimble AE86 with Tat Wei’s experienced fingers gripping the wheel was just too much for Zaiham, although not without a One-More-Time called by the judges. Tat Wei went for the kill during the OMT, overtaking cleanly on the first run as Zaiham went wide off the line and Zaiham himself spun on the second run trying to keep pace with the devilishly-quick AE86.
Another Goodyear driver, Hanizam ‘Loyai’ Hamzah, was up next against FX Open’s Fazreen Ismail, better known as ‘Along Rempit.’ Once again, an OMT was called with Along spinning on the initial run, having come up on Loyai too hot while chasing. However, he made amends while leading to fend off aggressive tailing from Loyai and claim a spot in the final eight.
Eventual champ Ivan Lau was paired with Indonesian drifter Rhenadi Arinton of GT Radial next. Ivan’s experience, coupled with the immense speed and angle of his Corolla AE86 was too much for Rhenadi as he went wide and kicked dirt on the exit of the first turn.
Singaporean Ivan Lim in the Goodyear Nissan Silvia S13 and Zul in his flat-blue Toyota Corolla KE70 made the ‘David vs. Goliath’ battle of the day. Size does matter if the result is anything to go by, Ivan making full use of his turbocharged power to open up a gap and leave Zul trailing.
Battling it out for the final top eight spot was Goodyear’s Ariff Johanis and Chester Lim. Ariff, himself having a torrid season cursed with bad luck, was on a mission to be at the top and put on a clean and neat display to make it through.
Next up was Djan and Zee, getting down and dirty for a semi-final spot. Djan drove like a man-possessed and got the judges vote. He was his usual aggressive and quick self, sticking to Zee’s rear on the tail and pulling away with some neat lines on the lead.
Mervyn and Tat Wei followed next. With a car that sounds like a paper-shredder going postal on a bee hive, Tat Wei made full use of the lightweight AE86 and opened a sizeable gap on the lead while making Mervyn’s rear view mirror his own on the follow.
The third semi-final spot was a toss up between Along Rempit and Ivan Lau. The Bridgestone driver was on top of his game, following close to Along and always laying in lieu to pounce on any mistake by Along. Ivan hardly gave Along a chance to breathe and moved on into the semis.
The second Ivan, Lim, was up against Ariff for the final semi spot. Entering a bit on the hot side, Ivan Lim ran wide on the second run and ate some dirt, allowing Ariff to neatly overtake and square up as the lone Goodyear drifter against three Bridgestone boys.
A teammate tussle saw Djan and Tat Wei go for a final’s spot. Crowd favourite Djan saw his day come to an end, much to the crowds dismay, as Tat Wei put in some impressive drifting to one-up his teammate. Although Djan was on fire, Tat Wei kept his cool and cleanly followed the lines, securing the judges favour.
Onto the next semi-final then, with Ivan Lau lining up against Ariff. There was just no stopping Ivan, as he did no-wrong and moved into the finals.
Before the finals, Djan and Ariff would square up for third spot. Following a strong first run that saw him hold an advantage, Djan got too close to Ariff while tailing and lost it, understeering into the gravel and allowing his front bumper to make acquaintances with the tyre barrier. The judges gave the win to Ariff, a consolation for Team Goodyear.
The final battle of the day was an all-Bridgestone affair between Tat Wei and Ivan Lau. Both of them kept it clean, following neatly and taking any risks or getting too hot. Nonetheless, Ivan seemed to be slightly ahead on the speed and tailed Tat Wei closer on the follow, earning him the win and title of ‘Champion’ for Round Two.
All that’s left now is the finale that will be in October and is the last-chance-saloon for drifters to earn their Formula Drift license for next year. Only the top 15 in the standings will get the license so we’re pretty sure it’s going to be epic.
Drift Report written by Dinesh
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