Drift brothers still top 10 after Whangarei

Waipapa brothers Tom and Joe Marshall continued their good run of rookie form in the second round of the Cody's D1NZ National Drifting Championship in Whangarei last weekend.

In his first run in his new ex Cody Collis Nissan S13, the older Marshall, Tom at age 23, qualified 15th and ended up eighth, while 20-year-old Joe, driving his Nissan 180SX, qualified sixth and eventually finished seventh overall. The pair were both battled out in the remaining runs in the day, thus were prevented from qualifying for the second and final day of racing on Sunday where the top four in the pro-am series faced off.

While the younger Marshall's performance left him sitting in fourth place on the pro-am standings, and Tom now sitting just outside the top six, the latter noted the season was far from over.

And while it was pleasing for both to stay in the upper half of the pro-am rankings among a field of over 30 drivers, Tom said the overall reaction was one of disappointment.

The top four qualifiers had the distinction of battling off in front of the largest crowds of the weekend, with an estimated 3,500 pouring through the gates of the Toll station facility on the Sunday.

"When we started doing this, we thought that if we got into the top 10 we would be doing really well. Now we're not really happy unless we're in the top five," Tom said with a laugh, admitting the pair didn't quite manage to repeat the success they had enjoyed in the first round of the series in Hampton Downs last month. "Some people find it a tricky track, but we loved it there," he said of Hampton Downs, while noting in comparison, the Whangarei venue on Rewa Rewa Rd was a far less forgiving environment.

"I was taking it easy, playing it safe in the new car ... With concrete barriers lining the drift section there was absolutely no room for error and I didn't want to end my weekend in the wall," Tom told the Age on Tuesday. And only given eight laps to test the new car in the practise round early on the Saturday, Tom said it was always going to be a struggle to repeat the success enjoyed at Hampton Downs.

The pair had only recently taken up the sideways sport.

"I lost my licence twice so decided to build a track car, then my brother decided to get one as well," Tom said, adding that the brothers are on a steep learning curve and that at the moment, any result is a bonus.

Of the drifting scene in the Far North, Tom said the pair had yet to find the right space to practice with a lack of decent/unused roads near or in their hometown.

At the moment, they were grateful to have permission to give their cars a blast in the car park at Affco meatworks in Moerewa - whenever that's empty of course - although the small amount of gravel on there makes it hard to perfect drifting techniques.

The pair are now facing an expensive, time-consuming and resource draining schedule if they plan to improve or maintain their standings in their inaugural season.

Both are planning to contest most, if not all, of the remaining events in the series in Tauranga in January, Taupo in February, Christchurch in April, and the grand finals in Pukekohe.