Donthomaso.ch was the only man with a cam this time. Thanks for the shots buddy!
Chris Redliner preparing his beast
We arrived in Monza early in the morning, quite happy that our destination was close to Switzerland for a change. (300km one way)
Drivers today were Swen in the golden AE86, Redliner in the RB25 S13, Toby in the PS13 and myself in the ZÜRIDRIFT S14. But Toby was still missing because he had trouble at the italian border. Luckily he later still managed to sneak into Italy, probably by murdering various border patrols on the way. Don Icon was meant to be there with his R32 skyline but the car wasn’t ready so he just came along as a supporter.
The first thing we noticed was the crappy weather. It was foggy and cold. What the hell, I thought the italians always get sunny warm climate especially since global warming is finally taking shape.
No matter, we unloaded the cars and got ready. The event was organized by D1 Stella with Mirko being the main man behind it all. They organize an entire Italian drifting competition with 8 rounds every year.
I liked how things went very uncomplicated and we even got 2 big boxes to park the cars and gear inside, no questions asked! Nice.
The track dried up after some time, and the smoke started pouring out! Oh yes.
Mirko had also organized an impressive sound setup and a podium where later on more action would take place. Cool tunes were blasting out of the huuge speakers all day.
I was quite surprised by the crowds that came to check out the action even in the early morning.
Also surprising was that not many drifters were actually attending. Maybe it was too early in the winter or they were all scared because Speed Industries was on site. Or they hate us all, who knows
The track was a parking lot, we were told we’d be allowed to run on the Monza racetrack at 4PM. But I wasn’t really bothered that it was a parking lot because the track layout was quite genious..
Very fast 2nd gear entry, and then lots of technical corners forcing you to really control your actions and be quick on the pedals and steering. Great practice for sure.
We went for the first few laps. It was my first time drifting in 2011, and it showed. I sucked harder than [insert offensive sexual anecdote].
Luckily after 3 or 4 laps I finally stopped crashing and spinning out like a drunken hobo and started to take control. And what a fun track it was, huge angle and mental entries were possible here… woohoooo!
The others were having a ball as well – often only Speed Industries cars were filling up the track battling it out!
There were a few other interesting drivers and cars. One beautiful looking white S14 was going particularily strong showing solid control on the tight technical track. There were some drift instructors there as well, and various drivers who I believe compete in the D1 Stella championships.
Generally we loved the ambience the D1 Stella team had created on this cold winter’s day.
All the drivers, supporters and fans were really open to talk and you could see they liked sharing this track with us all day.
Chris was not amused by my antics while filling up
And then things went from good to AWESOME when numerous girls in miniskirts started appearing right next to the starting grid.
Big crowd with lots of girls in the mix. The italians sure know how it’s done!
The driver’s weren’t even asked if they wanted to do Taxi – the girls just got in by themselves if there was a unused passenger’s seat.
Time to unbutton the shirts then!
Obviously, most drivers stopped taking any passengers from the pit area and played PIMP TAXI for the girls. Good fun was had by all…
Except for myself, because my Ogura clutch exploded just after lunchtime. I was happy about it though because I’d rather have the ZÜRIDRIFT S14 break down on a training day and have it fixed for competition!
Unfortunately, I couldn’t participate in the splendid training battles that took place later on. But there’s always next time!
Swen and Toby were showing some beautiful drift battles
Then the „Miss Drifting Competition“ took place – they lined up lots of wonderful girls who would fight for the crown of „Miss Drifting“ just there.
Who will be Miss Drifting Italia this year?
Each of them was briefly introduced and asked a few questions. It was all in itialian though so we didn’t understand shit. But that didn’t matter, right?
Then they lined up and walked up and down the catwalk showing off the goods. The photographers were going mad! The italian TV-channel RAI 2 was also on site, taking video coverage of the event.
I gave an interview for RAI 2 shortly after that, where they wanted to know who we are, how I came to drifting and how I liked the event. It was great fun… I was told they’d be making a TV-series called „Drifting“ for the Italians but I don’t know if and when it will be aired. Fingers crossed!
After the Miss Drifting competition, the track opened again so everyone went for another blast. Things started to heat up when Tobias, Swen and Redliner started going mental in quite close drift battles on the small track. It looked wonderful! The crowd which was growing quite a bit by now seemed to enjoy it too.
The Speed Industries crew starting going more and more mad
Toby ripped off his rear bumper and slightly tapped his rear fender on a plastic pillar when closing in on Swen’s AE86. I loved it.. and he didn’t care too much about the slight battle scar either.
including Swen, who magically created backfires from underneath his car. Sweet!
Then Chris Redliner decided it was time to kill his S13 as well, cleanly ripping a tie rod in half!
Chris ripped a tie rod clean off! Poor bugger
He couldn’t drive back with a broken tie rod, so it was time for super Speed Industries repair action! We stole the tie rod off my already broken S14 and managed to fix the S13.
Old tie rod – OUT. New tierod – IN !
Unfortunately, by that time it was getting dark and this wonderful day was nearing it’s end.
Best. Helmet. Ever.
It’s not over for long though, as Team Speed Industries was already invited again to Monza on the 27. February. Can’t wait for that…
So many thanks to Mirko from D1 Stella for the invitation. We can’t wait to smoke it up again in the south.. hopefully next time with the warm weather Italy is famous for.
Here’s some more pics for your viewing pleasure. Be sure to check out Donthomaso.ch for high res shots!
Donthomaso.ch was the only man with a cam this time. Thanks for the shots buddy!
Chris Redliner preparing his beast
We arrived in Monza early in the morning, quite happy that our destination was close to Switzerland for a change. (300km one way)
Drivers today were Swen in the golden AE86, Redliner in the RB25 S13, Toby in the PS13 and myself in the ZÜRIDRIFT S14. But Toby was still missing because he had trouble at the italian border. Luckily he later still managed to sneak into Italy, probably by murdering various border patrols on the way. Don Icon was meant to be there with his R32 skyline but the car wasn’t ready so he just came along as a supporter.
The first thing we noticed was the crappy weather. It was foggy and cold. What the hell, I thought the italians always get sunny warm climate especially since global warming is finally taking shape.
No matter, we unloaded the cars and got ready. The event was organized by D1 Stella with Mirko being the main man behind it all. They organize an entire Italian drifting competition with 8 rounds every year.
I liked how things went very uncomplicated and we even got 2 big boxes to park the cars and gear inside, no questions asked! Nice.
The track dried up after some time, and the smoke started pouring out! Oh yes.
Mirko had also organized an impressive sound setup and a podium where later on more action would take place. Cool tunes were blasting out of the huuge speakers all day.
I was quite surprised by the crowds that came to check out the action even in the early morning.
Also surprising was that not many drifters were actually attending. Maybe it was too early in the winter or they were all scared because Speed Industries was on site. Or they hate us all, who knows
The track was a parking lot, we were told we’d be allowed to run on the Monza racetrack at 4PM. But I wasn’t really bothered that it was a parking lot because the track layout was quite genious..
Very fast 2nd gear entry, and then lots of technical corners forcing you to really control your actions and be quick on the pedals and steering. Great practice for sure.
We went for the first few laps. It was my first time drifting in 2011, and it showed. I sucked harder than [insert offensive sexual anecdote].
Luckily after 3 or 4 laps I finally stopped crashing and spinning out like a drunken hobo and started to take control. And what a fun track it was, huge angle and mental entries were possible here… woohoooo!
The others were having a ball as well – often only Speed Industries cars were filling up the track battling it out!
There were a few other interesting drivers and cars. One beautiful looking white S14 was going particularily strong showing solid control on the tight technical track. There were some drift instructors there as well, and various drivers who I believe compete in the D1 Stella championships.
Generally we loved the ambience the D1 Stella team had created on this cold winter’s day.
All the drivers, supporters and fans were really open to talk and you could see they liked sharing this track with us all day.
Chris was not amused by my antics while filling up
And then things went from good to AWESOME when numerous girls in miniskirts started appearing right next to the starting grid.
Big crowd with lots of girls in the mix. The italians sure know how it’s done!
The driver’s weren’t even asked if they wanted to do Taxi – the girls just got in by themselves if there was a unused passenger’s seat.
Time to unbutton the shirts then!
Obviously, most drivers stopped taking any passengers from the pit area and played PIMP TAXI for the girls. Good fun was had by all…
Except for myself, because my Ogura clutch exploded just after lunchtime. I was happy about it though because I’d rather have the ZÜRIDRIFT S14 break down on a training day and have it fixed for competition!
Unfortunately, I couldn’t participate in the splendid training battles that took place later on. But there’s always next time!
Swen and Toby were showing some beautiful drift battles
Then the „Miss Drifting Competition“ took place – they lined up lots of wonderful girls who would fight for the crown of „Miss Drifting“ just there.
Who will be Miss Drifting Italia this year?
Each of them was briefly introduced and asked a few questions. It was all in itialian though so we didn’t understand shit. But that didn’t matter, right?
Then they lined up and walked up and down the catwalk showing off the goods. The photographers were going mad! The italian TV-channel RAI 2 was also on site, taking video coverage of the event.
I gave an interview for RAI 2 shortly after that, where they wanted to know who we are, how I came to drifting and how I liked the event. It was great fun… I was told they’d be making a TV-series called „Drifting“ for the Italians but I don’t know if and when it will be aired. Fingers crossed!
After the Miss Drifting competition, the track opened again so everyone went for another blast. Things started to heat up when Tobias, Swen and Redliner started going mental in quite close drift battles on the small track. It looked wonderful! The crowd which was growing quite a bit by now seemed to enjoy it too.
The Speed Industries crew starting going more and more mad
Toby ripped off his rear bumper and slightly tapped his rear fender on a plastic pillar when closing in on Swen’s AE86. I loved it.. and he didn’t care too much about the slight battle scar either.
including Swen, who magically created backfires from underneath his car. Sweet!
Then Chris Redliner decided it was time to kill his S13 as well, cleanly ripping a tie rod in half! That was quite unfortunate, because even though his car has a RB25-swap with a million horsepower, it’s still road legal!
Chris ripped a tie rod clean off! Poor bugger
He couldn’t drive back with a broken tie rod, so it was time for super Speed Industries repair action! We stole the tie rod off my already broken S14 and managed to fix the S13.
Old tie rod – OUT. New tierod – IN !
Unfortunately, by that time it was getting dark and this wonderful day was nearing it’s end.
Best. Helmet. Ever.
It’s not over for long though, as Team Speed Industries was already invited again to Monza on the 27. February. Can’t wait for that…
So many thanks to Mirko from D1 Stella for the invitation. We can’t wait to smoke it up again in the south.. hopefully next time with the warm weather Italy is famous for.
Here’s some more pics for your viewing pleasure. Be sure to check out Donthomaso.ch for high res shots!