Motorsport: Drifting slides into town

Justin Rood doesn't mind his nickname "the godfather of drifting" - he just reckons it makes him sound old, in what is a young man's game.

"That name came about because I've been there in the background since drifting started in New Zealand nearly a decade ago and I work hard to keep it safe," Rood explained.

After a brief yet successful driving career, the 34-year-old gym manager has kept close tabs on the sport as chief judge in the D1NZ National Drifting Championship and as a consultant for organiser Brendon White. "As a former driver, I can provide a good link between the series promoters and drivers," Rood explained.

Tomorrow and Saturday, round five of the national series will be contested at Ruakaka's Northgate Business Park in Northland, with more than 50 drivers expected to take part.

The Northland region has played a big part in making drifting more popular and sustainable, Rood said.

Back in 2003, Rood and some friends from around Northland found some clips of drifting in Japan on the internet.

"Before that myself, Jairus Wharerau, Hayden Skinner and James Lucas were into the drags but one day we found these short little clips - which back then took hours to download - of factory drift cars in Japan. What the Japanese were doing gave hooning or boy racer driving a name and structure. It sparked our interest and we ended up getting a couple of Skylines and heading down to Pukekohe," Rood said.

The next thing Rood knew, he and his friends were helping organise and compete in NZ's own drifting series with Wharerau winning the inaugural title in 2004 and Rood taking it out in 2005.

In 2003, Rood also started a Whangarei-based drifting team, Driftcorp, which has seen many drivers over the past nine years, but currently includes three-time national champion - Gaz Whiter from Dargaville, and 2006 champion Daniel "Fanga Dan" Woolhouse.

They will both compete at Ruakaka this weekend, along with Driftcorp's newcomer 17-year-old Robbee Nelson from Maungakaramea.

Taking Nelson into the Driftcorp fold and mentoring him along with the more experienced drivers in the team is part of Rood's new role.

"These days I see my role as being, if you like, the guardian of the New Zealand drifting scene. My job is to look out for it, to guide it and hopefully see it continue to grow and prosper," he said.

It should be an exciting weekend, judging drivers on their speed, angle and style at the Business Park, which features a great section (group of corners), Rood said.

"The tar seal there is unused so that will chew a lot of tyres. Drivers can go through six to 12 tyres per car per day."

The battle for the national championship is very tight, with only two rounds remaining - at Ruakaka this weekend and the grandfinal at Hampton Downs on April 6-7. Twenty-five points separate five drivers in contention for the title - a win is worth 100 points, Rood said.

Tomorrow starts with practice and testing for both Pro-Am and D1NZ cars in the morning and qualifying and the Top 16 Pro-Am class in the afternoon.

Pukekohe driver Cam Vernon won the last two rounds and leads the Pro-Am standings from Aucklanders Shane Poulton and Vince Hopkins.

D1NZ qualifying starts on Saturday at 11.30am and the Top 32 is due to start at 1.10pm and finish - once a winner has been found - at around 3.30pm.