‘Fanga’ Dan Woolhouse took pole position for the final round of the Demon Energy D1NZ National Drifting Championship at Pukekohe Park, leading title contender Cole Armstrong by just half a point.
After a devastating crash in Friday practice, extensive damage looked likely to sideline Benjamin Wilkinson for the weekend’s competition. After an allnighter through Friday and into Saturday, the team managed to make the grid for qualifying.
Despite the hard knock, Wilkinson chucked the car through turn one, popping and spluttering and he stacked on the angle. He initially went to the top of the leaderboard with an 85-point run, but was soon bumped down.
The fastest man of all with a speed trap of 205 kph entering turn one in practice, Darren Kelly made his mark on the D1NZ Pro Series field with an immense first qualifying run.
He poured smoke from his RB-powered Nissan GT-R as he rode the kerb at turn two. Hitting every clip with plenty of speed, style and angle, Kelly went straight to the top of the leaderboard just ahead of Wilkinson.
At over 175 kph Tauranga’s Dave Steedman threw his car aggressively into turn one, but over rotated and slid into the adjacent tyre wall. Despite managing to scrub off some speed, his Mimico backed Nissan Silvia S14 hit the wall hard.
Nico Reid struggled throughout Saturday practice with numerous mechanical woes stifling his charge. With a mechanical run under his belt, he stormed to the top on an 82.-point run in his first hitout.
One man who felt as ease with the Pukekohe Park circuit was ‘Fanga’ Dan Woolhouse who smashed the competition with a 90.5-point run, eight points ahead of second placed man Reid. The judges awarded Woolhouse nearly maximum points for his line and style.
After the first run through of qualifying, Woolhouse led Reid, Kelly, Wilkinson and Cole Armstrong.
The first man to make an impression in the second set of runs was Daynom Templeman. After setting a 62.5-point in the first set, Templeman went to third on an 81-point run. However, he was soon shifted a place down the order.
As he stacked on angle and smoke from his Nissan Skyline 250GT, the V-Energy drifter narrowly missed out on the top spot. A 90-point run put him just half a point behind Woolhouse.
Kelly couldn’t improve on his first run with a messy second stab at the Pukekohe Park circuit. Into the second sector, Kelly aborted the run.
After spinning in his first run, the drama continued in the second bout of runs as Hill slammed into the inside tyre wall at the clipping point. The front left of Hill’s 4Mance Nissan Silvia S15 suffered extensive suspension damage.
Having crashed in his first run, Steedman quickly worked on his car to get it match fit. Fortunately for him the damage was largely cosmetic allowing him to back out for a second run.
With his car repaired Steedman threw the car into turn one, but the left front guard flew off into the initiation approach. Soon after, Steedman’s Team DSR teammate Adam Davies speared off the road at turn one after straight lining halfway through the corner.
The pair finished qualifying ninth and 10th respectively.
Tom Marshall’s brother Joe nearly cracked the top-10 in his second run. Driving the Frankensigns Nissan Sivlia S13, he nearly threw the car off the road through turn one.
Nico Ried filled up the outside line through turn one before switching the car back into the second slip entering turn two. He ran cleanly through turns three and four, with a run of 82.5-points—good enough for third place.
A few late runs in the session didn’t change the top-10 order, as Woolhouse ultimately topped qualifying ahead of the top-24 battles.
D1NZ Pukekohe Park qualifying (provisional):
1. ‘Fanga’ Dan Woolhouse — 90.5-points
2. Cole Armstrong — 90
3. Nico Reid — 82.5
4. Daynom Templeman — 81
5. Benjamin Wilkinson — 80.5
6. Darren Kelly — 80.5
7. Troy Jenkins — 76.5
8. Tom Marshall — 73
9. Dave Steedman — 72
10. Adam Davies — 72
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