Motorsport fanatics and adrenaline junkies alike will be in their element with the first ever D1NZ National Drifting Championships staged in Whangarei.
Fifty competitors are set to take centre stage at Port Rd, which will be closed off for the two-day event.
Drifting was established in 2003 and had grown exponentially over
the past few years, championship organiser Brendon White said.
The sport is complex, increasingly popular and competitive and involves sliding rear-wheel drive vehicles, mostly turbocharged Japanese imports, through the corners of racing circuits.
The Whangarei circuit will be the first street course of its kind in the country to allow drift battling in a legal situation, involving two cars simultaneously drifting on the circuit. The two-day event was expected to attract up to 8000 spectators, White said.
"It is hard to predict how many will be there watching as it has never been run in Whangarei before," the organiser said.
Five legs make up the National Drifting Championship, which features the D1 Rookie class and the D1NZ section.
"We have raced at Manfeild, Waikaraka Park, Pukekohe, Taupo and now Whangarei, which is the grand final event for the year," White said.
Leading rookie Marcus Davies-King of Hamilton and frontrunner in the D1NZ class and defending champion Gaz Whiter will be trying to maintain their pole position, while a number of Whangarei drivers will be in action.
Port Rd will be closed from 6am tomorrow until Saturday at 7pm and anywhere along the 400m track will be ideal for viewing the action.
Drifting action gets under way at 9am tomorrow and on Saturday.
There will be plenty to keep everyone entertained with freestyle motocross, BMX racing and paintball also happening over the two days.
