Jake DRIFTSQUID Jones **Its a lifestyle not a hobby**: DRIFT ATTACK 2011 (1ST PLACE WIN) Back in the game!!!!!!

Hey all,

Drift Attack! Run by VICDRIFT and would have to be one of the best events on the Australian Calendar. It has been around 2 years since I’ve been to a Drift Attack round so when I put in my entry I was so excited haha

This event was going to be held @ Calder Park Raceway which is around 8 hours drive from my home. Heaps easier to get to then Queensland so that was a good bonus. My Drift car was towed over earlier thanks to my Dad. I could only get 1 day off work so I could only leave on the Friday before the event. The car didn’t even get touched since the Queensland round which would have to be a first. Its all due to me not seeing it since Queensland so it kind of made things hard haha.

I finished work around 11PM Thursday night, went straight home and thought I should probably get my camera gear ready so I can leave bright and early Friday morning. Sure enough as I was trying to organise myself I look at the clock and its 1:30AM..... Already???

FRIDAY 28th OCT 2011 (Day before the Comp)
I went to bed around 1:30AM and it seems I’ve been watching the clock to 3AM. "Stuff this I’m leaving now" I thought haha, so up I got and in my car with all my gear for tomorrows comp. The good thing was I wasn't towing so the Drive over to Melbourne was going to be easy. After a crazy amount of stops and sight seeing on my own hahaha I finally made it to Melbourne.

First stop!!! YOKOHAMA Warehouse in Melbourne ;)

Here I was to check out the place and also pick up the new tyre I was going to be running for tomorrows comp.

Walking into the main office It was pretty cool to check out the display they had up. After meeting a few of the Yokohama Lads they sent me around the back to the Dispatch area to pick up the new weapons of choice for Drift Attack.

*Drooooooooools*

Here it is, the Yokohama A.driveR1's in 235/40R18. Due to the rules for the event we had to run a tyre over the tread wear rating of 220. The Yokohama A driveR1 are 300 and for around $275 for the 235/40R18 its the cheapest performance tyre from Yokohama. Its also one of the tyre dealers best sellers so I was sure it was going to be an awesome tyre. Like the Yokohama S.drive I normally run its Directional and still a sports tyre too. I was keen as to find out how they would handle the abuse of drifting :)

Once I had got the new A.driveR1's (AR01) I headed out to Calder park to meet up with the Team. Getting through Melbourne traffic around 5PM is not so easy though haha.. I finally made it to the track and we unloaded everything ready for tomorrows action.

We put the new tyres on the car to see how it would look and despite the look I was certain it was going to perform well ;)

It was now as simple as getting a good nights at a hotel somewhere and get back to the track bright and early.

On the way to the Hotel we picked up my Big Bro (Kolby). He literately just finished work and parked up his rig to joint us on our adventure for the weekend haha.

SATURDAY 29TH OCT 2011 (COMP DAY)

So I woke up around 5AM without the help of my alarm. Eager to get ready and out to the track I woke everyone up like it was X-mas hahaha.

We arrived at the track and everyone was waiting at the gate just as keen as we were. Wasn’t long and we were setting everything up.

Lucky for us we were pitting next to Nigel Petrie and Simon Michelmore. After an early morning catch up we then had drivers briefing which is always an enjoyable time :)

Look at my poor WORK Equips having to sit on the bench for this comp and watch while the gold rims did the hard work :P haha

It was a damn cool setup having the pits right next to the track. Made life a lot easier for the crew as we didn’t need to run radios to inform them what was going on. They could see everything!!

Have to admit the old mans Tow car suits the ADVAN/drift car setup very well!!!

It was now time to get ready for practice and after getting some pointers from Nigel and Simon I was keen as to get on track ASAP!!!

So its 3rd gear entry into a Right hand 90 degrees corner.

Then a quick switch to a Left hand corner.

Which needs a fully committed flat throttle to stretch out the straight to make the last final right hand corner...

This is the last corner which exits onto the main drag strip which we were NOT allowed to skid on *Cough Hai Boss Cough* haha

After a fair amount of laps our session was over and I came back into the pits feeling good about the new Yokohama A.driveR1's. They gripped up well running high tyre pressures, reason I ran higher pressure was due to them being a new tyre and I was keen to see how they went.

I quickly jacked the car up on the new HELPS Metalwork's Jacking point ;)

Quick pressure check and they didn’t seem to sky rocket like most tyres do and also guess what!!!

They held up awesome!!! The Yokohama A.driveR1's still had good enough tread to go back out again. So another practice session was up and I went to finish them this time.

Yep.... Totaled hahahaha. Not only were the Yokohama A.driveR1's grippy but according to everyone following me that couldn’t see anything haha... The crowd said the Squid mobile was easily the biggest smoke maker ;)

It was now time to put on a fresh set of rubber ready for the Qualifying session.

Nigel was copying me I swear :P

Simon too haha

The Froffin crew also caught up with me and I was lucky enough to have the approval to rep a sticker BOOOOM!!!!

While the Street class was qualifying Nigel and I decided to go over to the Judges to check out exactly what they were after. Was not such a good idea but once we got this far we didn’t care hahaha

Before we knew it, it was time to make the trek back down the hill to get in our cars and get ready for qualifying. The format for qualifying was the same as most comps. 1 Warm up lap followed by 2 Qualifying runs. Simple right??? yeah

Cameras ready!!!!

Squid Ready???

Already in the car haha!!!

Warm up lap was done and it was now my first run for qualifying up. I normally have been really good at Qualifying with the last 2 comps getting P1. So I went in with the same plan, push out a good but daring run. Sure enough thought this time it bit me on the butt and i spun coming out of the last transition.

This means I know only have 1 run to made a good qualifying lap. The pressure was on and I was not coming all this way to put down another spin.

I put down a very safe run which I thought pushed it just enough to make sure I made it in the top 16. With the Qualifying session over for me it was now the waiting game. They announced they would bring out the Results on paper and.....

WOOOOP!! Simon Michelmore No1 with Nigel Petrie behind him in No2. I managed to get 5th spot and was very pumped about it. But as they say Qualifying is only the start. Battles is where it counts so now it was time to check over the car and get ready for battles.

While we waiting for our call we took a few pose shots of the HI Octane/ADVAN beast!!!

The battles were announced and I was up against Dean Trajkouski in my TOP 32 battle. I’ve never heard of Dean but was looking forward to having a decent battle. I was to lead first in our battle and away we went.

Into the first corner I had a fair lead on Dean and I finished the run hitting all the clipping points nicely. I was now feeling great on the new Yokohama A.driveR1's. It was my turn to chase now!!

Dean was a fair amount slower compared to Nigel and Simon who I was following in the morning practice session so it made it harder to chase but so much fun.

Finished the run on his door and went through to the top 16 yeeeeeeewwww!!!

I was now up against a good mate of mine and who I’ve know for some years since being in the VICDRIFT events. Papa is his nickname as no one can pronounce his dang real name haha... Papa is one of the insane Drifters crew and I was keen as for a good battle with him

But this pic kind of explains what happened in our battle. I was leading the first run and Papa come in too hot behind me with a tap to my rear end I spun out which means I had the advantage. In my chase run I kept it simple and stuck to Papa which resulted in me taking the win.

I was now in TOP 8.... Woooooyeah!!! I was up against Chris Dejager and I was really looking forward to this one as Chris has been drifting in Japan for some time now. I was leading the first run again.

Chris was right on my tail coming into the first corner

But the Yokohama A.driveR1's had too much grip and pulled away from him by the end of the run

It was now my turn to chase

Staying close to Chris the whole lap awarded me with the win and I was now in the TOP 4 WOOOOOP!!!

We had a small break before the Top 4 had to battle it out and everyone was amped for the finals

Simon Michelmore and Nigel Petrie in this pic were also through to the Top 4 along with Agges. It was going to be two SA Drifters VS two VIC Drifters. I was up against Nigel for my Top 4 battle :)

Before we knew it we had to be on track ready to battle it out and everyone was so keen haha. I was the odd duck though as all other 3 finalists had Red cars and I was the odd one out haha...

TOP 4 Battle Vs Nigel Petrie.
I was to Lead again first up and Nigel was to follow.

Going into the first corner I had a couple car lengths on Nigel.

But the gap stayed the same over the course of the track. Now my turn to follow Nigel :) :)

Into the First corner I pushed hard to get close to Nigel and stay with him.

Pulled back for the transition and then powered back on to get back up close to him.

The Yokohama A.driveR1's really helped on this slight straight section giving enough grip to catch Nigel

And stick to his door on the final corner. The judges called a OMT on this run which I didn’t mind as it was so much fun haha. Nigel is a driver you can actually trust and know he will nail it which gives you the opportunity to get really close.

TOP 4 OMT Vs Nigel Petrie

My turn to lead again and I put down a very solid run with Nigel not far from me. But now ill show you my chase lap, after getting the confidence back up with Battling I was going to put everything into this run.

Going into the Entry I pushed hard to make sure I was on Nigel’s door through the first corner.

Yeeeeewww!!!

All the way through the final corner I was on Nigel, the Yokohama A.driveR1's were just so grippy it was awesome. The judges made the decision and I was now through to the FINAL!!!! WOOOOOO

With them wanting to run the Final straight up I went back in and put on a fresh set of Yokohama A.driveR1's. I was up against Agges as he knocked out Simon in TOP 4.

FINAL BATTLE Vs Agges.

It was me to lead first and with a Thumbs up to Agges waiting for him to say he’s all sweet and no response or even a look I knew he wasn't here to mess around hahaha... It was on now!!

Through the entry and into the final transition pushing harder then i had all day paid off as I grew a gap from Agges. Before I came out for the finals there was a few people checking the tread wear on my tyres just to make sure I was in the guidelines haha.

The Yokohama A.driveR1's were really putting the hammer down ;)

Now my turn to chase :)

It was a near on perfect chase run and it left the crowd unknown to who the winner was going to be. I myself had no idea as well and we rolled up to the start line to be told to go to the main straight for presentations. As we putted around to the start line I gave the crowd one last salute ;)

Yeah!!! haha, as I rolled into the presentation area Agges was in front of me and his whole Team was cheering. My Dad came up and said "better luck next time hey" I was like hey??? "They announced it already???" Agges crew was just cheering because it was a damn good battle haha...

We had the Great MOZZA come and have a little Yarn to us all while we waited for the judges to make there way down to give the results.

Think I was slapping myself to see if it was all a dream or not hahaha..

The TOP 4 crew!!!! yeeeeeewww

The trophies looked mighty awesome and we were all awaiting to hear the results. Win, lose or draw I didn’t mind as I was just happy to finally be back on the podium having fun with good mates.

First up was 4th place going to Simon Michelmore

Then 3rd was announced going to Nigel Petrie.

Finally after what seemed like, a huge stall Mozza announced 2nd place going to Agges. I didn’t quite hear it but I seen Agges move up to grab the trophy. It was like an instant cold shiver going down your back and was so surreal. Nigel looks around and says "Jake congrats dude" I was kind of in shock and couldn’t believe I had won. Then MOZZA called first place and it was my name hahaha..

woooooyeah!!!

Thanks Dad and Big Bro!!

Despite the wak look here I was still in shock about it all and managed to thank everyone at VICDRIFT for making the event happen. The judges and all the fans for coming out. Not to mention my unreal Sponsors and supporters for making it all happen. Thanks so much everyone!!!

Then Yoshi handed over this bad boy! O_O Completely forgot about the prize money hahaha. Thank you to all the event sponsors and the VicDrift crew :)

Mad props to Chris from SA also for taking the win in Street Class. SA NO1 woooooyeah!!!

While the expression session was going on I was still trying to get this to sink into my head haha

But after the end of the day we packed up as the Number 1 Team for the weekend. Special mention to my Dad and Brother for going way out of their way to help pit crew for me and tow the car half way around the country haha. Couldn't have done it without you guys :)

Also without my Sponsors and supporters you wouldn't have seen my car leave the shed so thank you all!!!

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