Its time to catch up with Flat Out Factory drivers Adam Mitchell and Frazer Jamieson as they compete in Round 2 of Driftcup at Three Sisters Race Circuit.
Adam Mitchell
So… Round two of the Championship at Three Sisters Circuit. We arrived, set up the pit and were ready to go. Hoping that this time the car would play ball, my driving would be on form and I would be on it from the get go.
After briefing, I stood in the pits and watched the first few drivers go out for practice laps. The track looked grippy so I added a touch more pressure to my tyres and went out for a practice run. I set off from the line, round the hairpin and into the rolling start. I fired it at the right hander and pedalled it. However, the car seemed to bog down again. Power came very late in the rev range in 2nd and hardly at all in 3rd.
Throughout the practice session I got closer and closer to the outer clips but not close enough for my liking. On my final practice run I gave it my all, fired into the corner and ended up facing the opposite way. Ooops… Too hard.
It was qualifying time. I was 4th out and decided to try and put in a safe run. I lined up by the start line marshall and waited for the signal. GO! I drove the hairpin, put the pedal to the floor and threw it into the first left. I transitioned to long right hander and pushed it as far to the outer clips as I could. I kept it pinned in 2nd but it just wasn’t enough to pull me away from the inner kerb.
Second qualifying run. I planted it down the straight, threw it into the left hander, transitioned and got as far out wide as I could. I kept my foot down and managed to keep all four wheels on track to the exit of the corner, then things went a little pear shaped. As I eased off the throttle the rear end of the car fishtailed all over the track.
I crossed the line but was it too late?
The time came to check the results. Had I scraped a top 32? No. Unfortunately I was 37th. Now it’s time to strip the car down and find the source of my power issue in time for round 3. Wish me luck!
Frazer Jamieson
When we arrived at the track it was already heating up, we setup the pit and went for a walk around to see what to expect as I had never driven here.
For my first lap in practice I just drove round, getting a feel for the required line and layout, the track is quite narrow and technical.
I liked the layout so I decided to go for it on my second run, the track had more grip that I first thought but by the end of the session I was putting in some good runs.
In qualifying the car had its usual problem and refused to start, I got towed back to the paddock and managed to get it running again. I headed back out onto the track and managed two good runs, finishing in 22nd place.
I was up against Chris Parry for my Top32 battle. It was a good battle, both of us put in good runs and the judges called a One More Time.
We ran out battle again, Chris Parry managed to launch his car into the air on his lead run and I ended up in the dirt on mine. Unfortunatly that was the end of the day for me, bring on Round 3 at Teesside.
