D1NZ has finally come to an end for another season. Although we only covered the last two rounds of last season, it feels as though this season has gone crazy fast. With Hampton Downs set as the final location, many drivers have practised at the location previously, allowing for good competition among those entered. Sadly due to a memory card error, all battle photos from the afternoon were lost.. I’ll try make up the battles with single photos instead. Better luck next time?\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\nBeing Easter Friday, this allowed for a lot more spectators than a normal Friday would allow for. This is about 1/3 of the way into the course. The drivers come from the left side over the corner then manji down to the final corner where judging ends.\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\nWaiting in the pits seemed to be the ‘Redline Team’. Jason Sellers’ Laurel seen poking out was back on spot, after a freak crash in Whangarei round 5.\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\nA very special guest popped over for this round alone to compete in Matt Sellers’ car – Nigel Petrie. Known for his blog ‘Engineered to Slide’, it’s awesome to see him on NZ turf drifting with our Pro’s.\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\nStraight onto the Pro-Am boys saw Shaneo Poulton give his S15 a thrashing round the second judged corner, with massive angle.\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\nWith a new turbo under the hood, Troy’s S15 was peeling the tyres off. Good to see his car really being unleashed.\r\n\r\nOne of the original drifters, Sean Falconer was back out practising for the World Drift Series in China this year. It’s awesome to see some of the original guys come back out to play again.\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\nThe pro’s were sent out to practice and figure out their cars for the big day on Saturday. Sky Zhao’s new kit is still holding up, and looks awesome with a trail of smoke behind it.\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\nThis Series 2 RX8 was looking awesome parked up out of sight. Props to the owner.\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\nNot sure why but Cam’s Skyline looks really staunch jacked up. Maybe we take it back to its drag days?\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\nCam also got some new stickers added to his car. Fits his theme quite well..\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\nDue to our lack of photos and memory card errors we’ll jump straight into the top 4 battles. Our main sheep based racer Cam came up against Jacob Hakaraia. With an awesome battle put on by both drivers, Cam managed to pull through.\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\nUp against Will Foster was Ryan Johnson. With a close battle and Ryan really starting to figure out his S13.5 beast, they had to go OMT in order to reach a decision.\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\nLocal ‘GC’ BK decided he’d try on the prize that was about to be given out by Ryan Johnson Drift. Fits pretty well right?\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\nIn the Ryan v Will battle we ended up seeing Will Foster be moved through to the final battle.\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\nInto the 3rd and 4th place battle saw Jacob Hakaraia and Ryan Johnston going head to head.\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\nInto the final battle saw Cameron Vernon and Will Foster. We’ll have the results of these two battles in Day 2’s post!\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\nAround the pits, a lot of people seemed to have BMX bikes. Kat Bensons’ one was pretty damn cool with the pink highlights!\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\nWith the pro’s getting a bit more practice, it further allowed them to dial in their cars for the final battles of the season.\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\nVincent had his car out giving it hell. I hope to see him competing in D1NZ Pro next season!\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\nAnd last but not least a quick shout out to the Zerofighters crew! You can spot them in the wild in their red and black attire.\r\n\r\nStay tuned for Day 2!\r\n\r\nSpecial thanks to Paul Harris for the added photo. Like his FB page here.\r\n\r\n-Chris\r\n\r\n