Rotorua's Ra Heyder is loving his first foray into the national drifting scene, especially when the smoke is billowing into his face.
In his first season in the second tier Pro Sport class of the D1NZ national drifting series, he is looking forward to the series' third round that starts at Tauranga's ASB Baypark Stadium tomorrow.Results-wise the series hasn't gone so well for the 27-year-old Nissan Cefiro driver, but that has done nothing to dampen his enthusiasm.
"I'm hoping that at Baypark I can make some ground up. I want to go really well at Baypark. My crew's told me to give it everything, try and rub up some walls and hit those clipping points in qualifying, and then go hard for medals," he said.
Heyder is part of the three-car Central Equipment Movers team with Tokoroa brothers Taylor and Matt James.
"This season is just to get our heads around it and see where we're at and have as much fun as possible, and then next season come in a bit more serious, but still be in it for the fun," Heyder said.
Being in a team has its benefits.
"At events we all work together to get our cars sorted. If one car's got a mechanical issue, we all focus on the one car, get it sorted and get it back out on the track. It also helps with accommodation and expenses too when we're out of town.
"It definitely has its perks being in a team and there's always a lot of you, so it's fun wherever you go."
The first round of this year's series was on a temporary track built inside Dunedin's Forsyth-Barr Stadium, with the second at the Manfeild race track.
Previous Baypark rounds have been held in the speedway pits but this weekend the action moves into the stadium, on another track built specifically for the event.
"No one else has seen the track before, so it's a level playing field. You could tell the people who knew Manfeild, but the Dunedin track was new and no one knew what to expect and it will be the same at Baypark.''
Heyder said he liked drifting since the day he first saw it on TV.
"Eventually I bought a car and did a turbo conversion, worked on the motor and gearbox and then a mate of mine got one as well and we ended up seeing Taupo Motorsport Park were holding track days for beginners so me and my mate got onto that with [D1NZ competitor] Drew [Donovan] who was running the days.
"Our skills progressed and I always had dreams of being in D1NZ, so this is my initial step in doing it."
He said the hardest part of the sport was the battling, with two cars on the track together at the same time.
"You are hard chasing and I suppose it's the pressure as well, but the smoke's billowing through your face and you're trying to get as close as you can to their car without hitting them; that will be the most challenging part of drifting."
Heyder has several sponsors as well as the team sponsor, including Rotorua Cooper Tyres, Redstar Signs My Barber, Madmax Photography, Avery Auto Electrical and Bling Company.
The third round of the Demon Energy D1NZ National Drifting Championship takes place Friday and Saturday at ASB Baypark Stadium, with tickets available on the gate or through iTicket.co.nz.