'Fanga' out to tear up track

Northland's Daniel "Fanga Dan" Woolhouse will be hoping he can still get his wheels spinning after the Christmas break.

At the halfway stage of the Cody's D1NZ National Drifting Championships, Woolhouse sits first, 30 points clear of his nearest rival, ahead of this weekend's third round in Tauranga.

Woolhouse will be looking to carry on his form he showed at Whangarei's Toll United truck yard in December, when he finished on top of the podium ahead of fellow local driver Gaz Whiter and defending champion Curt Whittaker.

Woolhouse and Whiter will be in the company of New Zealand V8 Supercar ace Shane van Gisbergen, who will try his hand at drifting on the weekend.

Having been keen to try drifting for some time, van Gisbergen jumped at the opportunity offered late last year by friend Shane Allen to contest selected rounds of the D1NZ championship in Allen's Rattla Motorsport Ford Falcon.

At the first round of the series at Manfeild in October, the 24-year-old overcame last-minute power steering issues to qualify for the top 32 before proving his potential by running established series star Woolhouse close in van Gisbergen's first battle.

"The more I do the more confident I get but I've still only done one proper battle [against Woolhouse at Manfeild]," said van Gisbergen.

"The single car stuff is good, but I've still got a lot to learn as far as the battles are concerned."

D1NZ Points after two rounds: Daniel Woolhouse, 204, 1; Curt Whittaker, 174, 2; Nico Reid, 146.5, 3; Andrew Redward, 143, 4; Daynom Templeman, 129, 5; Ben Belcher, 127.5, 6; Gaz Whiter, 127, 7; Carl Ruiterman, 124.5, 8; Sky Zhao, 116.5, 9; Brad Lauder, 115, 10.