Top stars set for battle

DRIFTING AWAY: Europe's No1 female drifter Danielle Murphy and Aussie ace Levi Clarke suit up in Whanganui ahead of the main event in Taupo on Sunday.PHOTO/STUART MUNRO

Whanganui drifter Ricky Lee set himself some lofty goals last year building on the success of his creation Battlemania and his efforts have attracted the attention of two top line internationals.

This year the event has attracted top international drifters, Australian ace Levi Clarke and Irish driver Danielle Murphy, widely regarded as the best female drifter in the world.

The event is the brainchild Lee launched in 2014 with Whanganui-born race designer Andrew Stewart. The pair introduced a new-look competition to the Diesel, Demons and Daredevils motorsport festival at Taupo Motorsport Park. Last year Battlemania ran in conjunction with the New Zealand Truck Racing Festival.

Battlemania this year includes 30 invite-only drivers and will run as a stand alone event this Sunday at Taupo Motorsport Park.

Over the day on Sunday more than 150 battles will take place with more than 15,000 pieces of data from the judges being processed to find the overall Battlemania champion. Last year's winner Bruce Tannock, the winner of the 2014 Silver pool, stepped up a class and won the Gold division, taking the Mouthfresh Cup as the Battlemania Grand Champion and a $2500 BOC Gas Welder. He is back again this year to try to stop the overseas drivers taking home the silverware.

That, however, may be a big ask given the quality of the internationals.

Murphy was the first female to achieve a pro-level drift license in Ireland and is known as the world's best female drifter.

"She is the current Queen of Drift Europe Champion. She has many notable achievements throughout Europe and is a fierce competitor commanding a lot of respect from the guys," Lee said yesterday.

Murphy's other achievements include:

-Queen of Europe Championship winner 2013

-Queen of Europe Rd 1 2014 - 1st Place

-Queen of Europe Rd 2 2014 - 2nd Place

-The Echo Sportsperson of the month, June, 2013

Clarke, from the Gold Coast, will be driving Lee's RX7. He is a top-ranked international driver with his most notable achievement his win in the Asai Formula Drift event.

"I have raced against some of the Kiwis before, so I have an idea of what to expect. I am really looking forward to getting into Ricky's car, though," Clarke said.

Murphy was also chomping at the bit to get racing and was looking forward to seeing more of our beautiful country.

"I'm told Taupo is beautiful, but it's the racing I'm here for. It's all I do at home, I'm a full time drifter. My mum and I travel through Europe in a bus racing the car. I know guys usually don't like getting beaten by a female, but it doesn't bother me," Murphy said.

Lee said the field this season has been bumped up to 30 invited drivers.

He said he was "blown away" with the popularity of the competition with drivers and spectators, along with Motorsport NZ officials.

"The following of our event via social media has gone crazy. Danielle has her own large group of followers checking in on Facebook to see how she does here.

"We put a small teaser clip up online for the documentary-style video that was being made last season about the event and it was viewed over 20,000 times in four days and reached over 85,000 people."