Daynom Temple took his second pole position for the 2016–’17 Demon Energy D1NZ National Drifting Championship on the Hampton Downs Motorsport Park Club Circuit, fending off a gaggle of the best New Zealand drifters.
Less than 10-points covered the top-10 drifters, with first and second split by just half a point and second and third equal on points.
Raymond Robertson and Drew Donovan faltered early in the qualifying session, spins both cost them valuable banker runs. Bex Bennett and Joel Patterson also suffered on the circuit which was proving to be tough to tame.
Nico Reid and Matty Hill were early pace setters with chart topping scores in their first respective runs. Reid set an 82.5-point run, with Hill on 78.5-points. Bruce Tannock went equal second best with Hill, but the table began to take shape as the runs continued.
Round one pole sitter Daynom Templeman leapt to the top of the order in the early running, his first run of 86.5-points put him four points ahead of Reid.
After engine troubles plagued his Friday practice, Darren Kelly made sure he got a lap in to cement his chances of a title fight. His first run was investigated, which caused a stir amongst the factory backed Nissan outfit. The run earnt him 13th on the order, just behind previous round winner Dave Steedman.
Cole Armstrong poured smoke from his Nissan Skyline 250GT in a run which was packed heavy with angle. However, it wasn’t good enough for top spot, just half a point behind leader Templeman.
Team DSR drifter Adam Davies followed Armstrong’s lead with a near points equalling score to put him third on 85-points. The round three podium getter was consistent throughout with near equal scores on all fronts from the judges.
Seven drifters failed to set a score in the first run, notable omissions included teammates Jodie Verhulst and Drew Donovan—Verhulst’s Toyota 86 front end Supra suffered an engine failure.
Nico Reid’s second run saw the South Aucklander lay down a blistering run with smoke billowing from his Nissan Silvia S15. Despite the masses of smoke Reid was pinged for a lack of style, but was good enough for seventh.
David Steedman moved from 10th to ninth in his second run, meanwhile Matty Hill maintained seventh just ahead, but was later demoted to 10th.
Stu Baker was putting on his best performance to date with sixth in his first run, which he then backed up with a better run to go to fourth on the ladder. With a few runs left in the session he was back to his sixth spot as Adam Davies lay down a run for fourth place.
Baker’s form coincided with the arrival of newly joined naming rights sponsor Link ECU, who are sponsoring four cars across both classes.
None of the top-seven competitor could improve on their second run, only Templeman could get close with a run half a point behind his best of 85.5-points. However, it was ‘Fanga’ Dan Woolhouse who leapt to fifth as the last runner.
A number of drifters ended the session with the same amount of points as their rivals, but which ever driver got the most points in their second run was given the position on the ladder.
Round four of the Demon Energy D1NZ National Drifting Championship takes place at Hampton Downs Motorsport Park over March 25-26 for the first time on the newly built Club Circuit. For more information visit D1NZ.com.
D1NZ Pro Series qualifying results:
1. Daynom Templeman – 86.5-points
2. Andrew Redward – 86.0
3. Cole Armstrong – 86.0
4. Adam Davies – 85.0
5. ‘Fanga’ Dan Woolhouse – 84.0
6. Stuart Baker – 82.5
7. Nico Reid – 82.5
8. Bruce Tannock – 82.0
9. Shane Allen – 80.5
10. Matty Hill (AUS) – 78.5
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