The first port of call was to choose a track to hold the event at. We already have our morning Circuit & Coffee cruise sessions and breakfast at Queensland Raceway (our next one us actually coming up in June), so we wanted to change it up from that. We threw around ideas on where and how to hold it for months it seemed, until Sharpy suggested Norwell Raceway, just in between Brisbane and the Gold Coast. It is a tight, difficult yet forgiving circuit used primarily for private functions, driver training and race car experience days. Norwell can only facilitate 60 cars for racing purposes, which was right down our alley. Being our first track day, we didn’t want to start off with a 100+ entry list. Sharpy put the plan in motion, then we went about getting everything we needed sorted. After that it was the anxious wait for the day to roll around, but everyone was pumped! When the dawn of the day finally came, it was literally the most perfect weather. The sun bathed the horizon in golden light as we were at Norwell setting up.

With a 5:30am wake up and a 7am arrival at the track, we did a bit of a briefing and got ready for the entrants to roll in. As with any event, there are a few early birds and then they all come in droves. Watching the cars roll in was something else, our entry list was filled with dream machinery and had so much variety, which is exactly what we were after. With everything from dead stock AW11 MR2s and NA MX5s to Lexus LFAs, Porsches and a 1000hp R32 GTR. The DS Crew were excited, I could see it on their faces, and I couldn’t help but smile as well, I was pumped for what the day would bring!!

For the time attack we had 9 groups, with each consisting of 4-7 cars, keeping them nice and small for more space on track. Each group would get 1 warm up lap, 3 hot laps and 1 cool down lap. This may seem like quite short sessions, but by the end of the day each group had well over 5 sessions each, some people getting as many as 10 sessions in before the day’s end. The racing ran almost flawlessly. While we had a few hiccups with timing and lap counting and obviously the odd car going on a detour through the grass, they were only minor setbacks that didn’t hinder the racing at all. Since I was waving the cars out all day, I got to hear from all of the drivers and everyone was raving about the day. That’s all I wanted to hear: people having a blast, driving their cars and enjoying themselves. That is EXACTLY what we set out to do.

My favorite car of the day had to be the Next Up Performance R32 GTR, just for pure unadulterated insanity. Will, Skinny and the rest of the Next Up crew brought two of their shop cars out to support Downshift and also promote their workshop, and they certainly got a lot of attention from it. The R32 GT-R in question makes 860awhp thanks to an OS Giken RB30 crate motor, GTX42R turbo and everything else you can imagine. It puts the power down through a Holinger sequential and just lights all 4 through the first 3 gears with ease. Watching it on track was nerve wracking and exciting all at the same time. Big thumbs up to the Next Up boys for coming out!

Here are some of the ‘detours’ I was talking about earlier! Jared, one the of the DS crew went walkabout in his Mazda 6 and then laughed as I had to clean up the dirt. I’ll get him back.

The only break on track from the racing was a cruise session that was held in the middle of the day. This was basically for everyone to be out on track at once, taking it easy, having a few stabs down the straight and taking their mates for passenger laps. Was a hell of a lot of fun.

Such a soft spot for Tim’s DC2 Integra. TE37s, Spoon front lip, stripped and just awesome.

While time attack was running, we also had the skidpan operating. This was 5 minutes of sliding fun on a fully fledged, professional skidpan with water jets keeping the whole area soaking wet the whole time. There was a 6 car deep queue for it for the entire day, everyone had a go.

Tony’s RWD Forester causing some head scratching. Look out for it in an upcoming issue of Fast Fours!

The pits were bustling all day long with cars coming in and out of skid pan, the time attack group changeovers and spectators checking out the action. It was a perfect day to chill, watch some great racing, have some laughs on the skid pan and enjoy the music. You cannot really ask for a better way to spend your Sunday.

Turbo 86 anyone?

At the start of the day the Time Attack started out pretty relaxed with most people just getting used to the track and enjoying their cars. But as soon as the times started being posted, the drivers started taking matters a lot more seriously. It was awesome to watch the drivers push their cars to the edge to take top honours for the day.

Was so awesome to see Anthony’s S14 back out and running again. Long time readers will be familiar with this car, previously rolling on some huge SSR Professor SP1s and being slammed on its ass. Ant has turned it into a track car so he can enjoy it more these days, and with a 420rwhp SR it is easy to see why.

Some of our good friends from the Brisbane supercar club brought their exotic machinery out for the day to enjoy the track and skidpan, but it seemed even they started taking things seriously. JP in his chrome-wrapped LF-A posted a best time of a frankly ridiculous 1:04. While it was 3 seconds off the day’s fastest, pushing a $900,000 supercar that hard takes some serious passion, skill and determination. I think everyone watched with open mouths [and ears! -Matyi].

Nick posing for the camera mid timed session. Now here is a man who knows what’s up! How can you not love his Porsche 997 turbo though? I mean look at it, carbon everywhere, RS wheels, TechArt rear bar, Vorsteiner front bar and side skirts. It is literally modified car perfection!

By the end of the day it had certainly come down to the wire with the top 5 cars being separated by 1.5 seconds. We had 10 trophies to hand out all together, as well as a $500 CASH prize for whoever managed to hold the crown at the end of the day. With that kind of incentive here are how the standings at the end of the day were:

Fastest FWD – Paul Kenyon (EG Civic)
Bris Honda Crew’s ‘Fastest Honda of the Day’ – Paul Kenyon (EG Civic)

Pauly who is a good mate of mine managed to walk away with two trophies at the end of the day. Taking out fastest FWD and fastest Honda with a 1:03.1 which put him just 1.6 seconds away from 1st place, and 5th position overall. His golden EG Civic is a crowd favorite at every event it goes to. Not to mention it is an old school build, having been a familiar face in the QLD car scene for well over 5 years. Running a Jackson Racing supercharged K24/20 it is certainly no slouch.

Fastest AWD – Karl Grice (GRB WRX STI)

Karl was a man on a mission all day long. His STi had only been recently finished and no one had set eyes on the car before. It may look like your everyday STi but it actually houses a fully built 2.5 litre under the bonnet, with a GTX35R on a twist-mount setup. It was making a run in power figure of 300awkw at 16psi for the Track Battle. Karl pushed the car to its limits though and pulled off a frankly insane 1.01.9, which meant he had EVERYONE chasing his time in the last two sessions. It was however only good enough to net him second place.

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European Dominator – Guy Harding (Golf R)

Unfortunately we do not have any shots of Guy’s Golf R, but it is in fact the APR Demo Car for Queensland and a good one at that. Tying 3rd place on the day with a 1.02.7 it was nothing to scoff at. Most people were completely unaware of the animal that APR has built, with 380awkw through a DSG double clutch gearbox it is monstrously fast. Guy actually lead the standings for most of the day, only just after lunch was his time finally beaten. You can see our feature article on Harding Performance here. [Here's a pic of the car at Guy's shop in Coorparoo -Matyi]

Muscle Master – Joel Zito (HSV Maloo)

The muscle side of things was certainly lacking in attendees, but even so Joel still managed a 1.08.2 in his HSV Maloo, a two tonne ute that was certainly NOT built to go quickly around circuits. He did extremely well and the car looked awesome out on the track, such a vibrant red and awesome exhaust note. Hopefully at our next track battle the Muscle trophy is more hotly contested.

Fastest P Plater – Corey Harradine (Integra DC5)

We actually didn’t even realise Corey was a P Plater until after the event, since some people had gone home before the trophy presentation we were unsure who walked away with the Fastest P Plater award. But later found out it was in fact Corey, and with a best of 1:05.0 he was absolutely tearing up the track in this DC5 Integra. Having ditched the K20 for more displacement in the form of a K24 it has certainly proved beneficial as Corey was one of the most consistent cars of the day. Looking forward to seeing this car out more and watching him improve if this is what he can do while still on his P plates. Plus just look at this Mag Blue TE37s.

Crowd Favorite – Chris Coroneos (R34 GTR)

I was both surprised and not surprised that Chris’ R34 took the crowd favorite trophy. I was expecting the LF-A to walk away with it to be perfectly honest. But watching this thing around the track was certainly something else, his pace was absolutely insane, and the 4ft flames that were being shot on every gearchange were just beautiful to watch; sent shivers down my spine. I am unsure on the specifics of Chris’ R34 GTR, but it wears the GT Auto Garage sticker and they are synonymous with some of QLD’s most insane builds so it would not be surprising to see a myriad of HKS gear under the bonnet. Stay tuned for a full feature on Chris’s killer R34 GT-R in the coming weeks.

Fastest RWD – Matt Sheather (AE71 Corolla)
Japanese Legend – Matt Sheather (AE71 Corolla)
Track Battle Champion – Matt Sheather (AE71 Corolla)

Yes, a little AE71 Corolla did in fact take the crown at the DS Track Battle. But not just any old AE71, Matt’s built one is a seriously ridiculous car. This little red rocket is running a full 13B rotary conversion from a series 5 RX-7, and with a T67 turbo strapped to the side of it, it is certainly not short on power. Matt came to crush egos and achieved that, warming himself up by absolutely insane times all day, until finally a 1.01.5 was posted and officially took the crown. Nothing could match the pace Matt was setting and after looking over the car you begin to see why. Caged, power, fully stripped, Hankook slicks wrapped around Minilites. Matt was certainly giving it his all and I cannot wait to see him destroying lap times at the next Track Battle. But will he be able to keep his crown? Time will tell!

So with the day wrapped up and trophies handed out, we set about packing up and talking about how the day ran. All the DS friends and family were raving about how awesome the day was, it ran perfectly, very few hiccups and perfect weather. We could not have asked for a better event or a better reception with the attendees. We would like to thank everyone who attended, the drivers, the spectators and everyone who helped out on the day. A big thanks goes our to Chris aka Sirck Photography who was our photographer for the day, he killed it (as you can see by his shots throughout this feature). As well as a massive thanks to Just Car Insurance and Super Pro Suspension who without, this event would not have been possible. Plans are already in motion for our next one so keep your eyes peeled. For now I will leave you with some of the DS Crew and friends jumping on the skid pan at the end of the day to have some fun.

Our video guy and P Plater Mods bro, Jordan.

Ash forever killing it, snapping necks all day in the pits and then drawing crowds all day on the skid pan.

Sharpy all crossed up in the jet.

Jared giving his 6 a good smashing.

I have no idea who that is in the driver’s seat, but pretty sure it’s Nigs in the passenger. -M

Sharpy, one of the DS Team Members actually has his 180sx up For Sale, for anyone interested: CLICK HERE

Quite a rare sight, but still one of my favorite cars. Got to love the Focus RS.

Moiz brought out his track prepped DC2 to the meet. Car has made amazing progress, head over to our forum to check it out.

If you follow our Instagram you will no doubt already know I was frothing over these 3SDM 0.05s that were on a new school WRX.

Sirck, one of our resident photographers had a stand for his photography business at the meet, check more of his work out HERE.

Anouk’s Porsche 964 Turbo nicknamed ‘Grimace’ was drawing a crowd all afternoon, as per usual.

Ash, whose old Eg Civic used to frequent this site weekly, brought his new Type X 180SX out. What a showstopper!!!

Here at Downshift, we aren’t always just about new school and pistons. These two old school Rotors were way too cool.

Jordan from P Plater Mods and our resident videographer brought his S14 out.

These plates are probably going to cause Josh some grief…

Brad has finally finished his monster 370Z build, a full 4.2litre stroker kit, twin turbos and custom Forge Wheels show this thing means business. Full feature is in the works!

Once again another awesome meet, everyone was well behaved and a tonne of awesome cars showed up. Looking forward to another one in May. Remember to keep your eyes on our Facebook/Instagram/Calendar as to the when the next meet is being held.

Based on Formula Drift’s traditional “head-to-head battle” format, drivers attempt to qualify, in single judged runs, to be one of the 16 drivers that will enter the main competition bracket. During the bracketed “tandem battle” competitions, drivers are paired off in a head-to-head competition of skill and nerves in a championship format to determine one final winner.

After a good session of practicing it was time to bring the cars back into the garage and start prepping for the first qualifying session.

While the cars were in the garage getting ready for qualifying, I made the most of my spare time to walk around to see what else was around.

GTR with a 2JZ heart… O.O

Two massive turbos laying peacefully in this 350Z, was disappointing to not see it in action on track.

Ryan Cummings’ Slide Strawberry made the trip down from Queensland. You may have seen this car at our recent Track Battle event!

One of the main crowd pleasers, the recently-completed RSR Toyota 86 with an LS1 heart from a NASCAR. The sound from this was just incredible.

The infamous Mad Mike strolling around among the crowd whilst his car was getting ready.

Also spotted Daijiro Yoshihara taking photos and signing autographs for his fans.

Qualifying began and it was getting more intense each round as the cars starting battling to get into the top 16.

Before I knew it, qualifying was over and it was time for the top 16 to start their epic battle!

A quick little parade before the battle session bagan

Everyone getting off from their seat to see the battle happen, I myself started getting butterflies!

Queenslander Josh Boettcher took out Europe’s top drifter Fredric Aasbo to finish in third place. A crowd of nearly 6,000 people turned up to cheer on the drivers with seven Aussies qualifying for the top 16 final round. There were a few surprises when favourites such as Robbie Nishida and Kiwi Mike Widdhett made early exits.

South Australian drifter and Formula Drift Asia 2013 runner up Monkhouse said it was fantastic to compete with the world’s best drifters. “It was a great experience to be driving in front of a home crowd. Driving against Saito and being able to finish in second place is a great result for me and the team. I still can’t believe it, it’s like a dream!”

As the sun was setting, the event was coming to an end.

Congratulations to reigning Formula Drift Asia and USA 2012 Champion Daigo Saito! He beat the Aussies to be crowned Champion at the Achilles Formula Drift Asia’s 2013 season opener in Melbourne.

The next leg of Formula Drift will be in Kuala Lumpur on 29 June 2013. A massive thanks to the sponsors and the team for making this event happen, it was truly amazing and I wish to see you guys here again next year!

These are a collection of incredible travel experiences, incorporating beautiful scenery, supercars and once-in-a-lifetime events. As an example, one group is departing in approximately 3 weeks and flying into Geneva to meet a variety of incredible machines before taking a 3 day drive through the European Alps en-route to the Monaco Grand Prix. Then another 3 days back north.

Or the Dubai Hypercar trip. Or the 200MPH challenge at Virgin Galactic’s Spaceport America in New Mexico. Epic, right? Their website will launch soon, so we’ll be sure to post it on our facebook page in case any of you are keen to get on board.

Anyway, back to the party. By now, I’ve seen a bunch of mindblowing cars and have been privileged enough to sit/ride in some. So really, the highlight of these events has become the people attending, meeting them and having a chat with them.

The thing that I find incredibly refreshing and motivating is their mindset – anything is possible.

For example, the gentleman on the right owns a media company and lives on a houseboat. Coolest cat ever.

It really puts you in the frame of mind that if you do things right, if you put in the hard yards, you can have whatever you like. To me, that’s an incredibly motivating thought.

Let’s finish with something to aspire to. Audi R8 V10.

“Myself and my friend are just going to get some food whilst you shoot the car, here’s the keys, you can drive it, do you mind if I take the Magna?”

I think it took about 5 seconds to pick my jaw off the ground before I suggested it might be somewhat fitting if he takes the S2000 instead. Anyway, he was off, and we got stuck into the shoot.

The F430 brings with it some exterior styling cues from previous Ferrari models. The front air dams similar to that of the Ferrari 250 TR 61 Spyder Fantuzzi.

The tail lights are reminiscent of the Enzo lights. However with the rear diffuser, and shaping of the F430, the rear remains quite unique.

As I got into the car…

…and flicked the setting to ‘RACE’ for some photos…

…this little message pops up underneath the CD player.

As we drove off, the experience encapsulated everything Ferrari. Bringing it through the rev range, you KNEW the engine was only inches behind your head. As the exhaust opened up the sound engulfs you.

Both Ferrari and Maserati had a hand in the design of this all new engine. Pulling 360kw out of an N/A 4.3L V8 that revs to the moon is awesome.

Handling is not lost with all the bracing obvious just in the engine bay.

Back to the inital location for some final snaps.

The famous Ferrari Red stands out amazingly against the pale background of the grain silos.

Carbon ceramic brake rotors, surrounded by Scuderia wheels stripped, then powdercoated black.

The famous prancing horse.

I’ll leave you with this final image. Graceful in its styling and aggressive in its performance. It was truly a pleasure to shoot.

You can check out some of my other work at SHARP IMAGERY

Daniel

This year sees the Swift with its biggest field ever including the likes of Luke Fraser, the current South Australian Formula Ford Champion, Ben Grice (son of Bathurst Legend Allan Grice), Allan Jarvis (two time series winner) and Callan Sayers who won the Swift Pre-Season Challenge. With many other competitors looking to make their mark on the series competition was always going to be tough. This year saw me taking my first step into National-level motorsport. Truth be told, my goal for the first round was to not finish last. Not exactly lofty goals, but there was some formidable competition and I wanted to bring the car back in one piece.

My drive almost didn’t come about, partly because I had left my entry fairly late. Although the managers of the Australian Swift Racing Series (ASRS) and Trans Tasman Motorsport had done their best to organise a drive for me, completely out of their control the car never arrived to make the trip down to Adelaide (I received a call on Friday that the car had arrived at the workshop). I had taken the time off work and decided to make the trip down anyway to at least cover the weekend and a little bit of me was hoping a drive would come up. Rushing around on Friday morning I was fitting people into cars for the first practice session and making sure cars were ready to go. About 15 minutes before first practice, I had Liam the category organiser rush over to tell me that the person driving one of the cars had not arrived and that I needed to get my kit on to get out there for the first session.

I managed to get out there for the first session and although I wasn’t happy with the car nor my driving I managed to set a time that was 5th fastest. Ben Grice managed to blitz the field being almost 1.5 seconds faster. He had his car dialed in and was driving right on the limit.

Still not 100% sure if I had a drive for the weekend, I managed to get out for the second session and went a little bit quicker. I had made a small change in the pits. Although when I say I made, the series supplies trained mechanics and managers to setup the car for you. I raised the rear of the car to help with turn in and although it helped a bit I was still struggling to get the car to turn in as it should.

Allan Jarvis getting it up on three wheels.

Unfortunately I missed out on the Final Practice session but when I returned to the track there was some pretty exciting news. The other driver had to pull out and that meant I had a drive for the weekend. What a weight off my shoulders!

Saturday saw an early morning practice and then qualifying. I had managed to cut a bit of time off, but still not up there with the top three. Everyone was pushing hard during qualifying but Ben Grice, Luke Fraser the Adelaide local and Mike Gore managed to set the three fastest times. I found myself back on the third row in 6th place.

All crossed up through the first corner. Photo Credit: Nathan Wong – Shannons Nationals

A few more shots from Friday and Saturday and some of the other classes.

My nerves had been relatively under control up until this point. Then it all started sinking in. My first race, not just on a state level but on a national televised platform at night! Racing at night presents a whole new host of challenges. Headlights and going from light to dark areas on the track throw your distance perception off. Suddenly where you were braking during the day no longer seems like such a great idea. Unfortunately a few laps in I looped it on the first corner. The footage didn’t turn out to crisp but we did manage to capture the almost-roll-over that happened the lap before the spin (it was at least an eventful first race!) I finished second-last but managed to set the second fastest lap time which gave me some confidence coming into the second race on Sunday.

Sunday saw the skies open up and a very wet Mallala. Unfortunately Andrew Coles wasn’t able to make it out for Sunday but we do have a couple of in-car videos and shots from the Swift Racing Series. After falling back to last at the start, I managed to work my way back up to 4th and fighting for 3rd place on the final lap.

photo: Shannons Nationals

Race three saw me starting back in 6th and finishing in the same position. Fantastic racing once again. Luke Fraser walked away with the win to take a clean sweep of the weekend. A pack of 5 of us ended up in a battle for 2nd. Check out the action in the video below or tune in to Speedweek on 5 May at 2:00pm on SBS to check out all the action. Race three saw some of the closest racing you will see anywhere.

Thanks to Andrew Coles for coming to cover the event. Can’t wait to see more coverage from him in South Australia.

Check out my website and facebook page to keep up to date with my racing.

Round Two of the Series will be down at the amazing Phillip Island. Drafting and room for cars to run three-wide, it will provide some fantastic racing. Look forward to it!

Jason’s new shoes for his Accord Euro are looking spot on!

Before I know it, it was time to start moving from our pre-meet to the event.

With the sun shining at its peak onto the beautiful blood red prancing horse, I just had to take a snap of it before it got crowded!

After many months of seeing the infamous “Zomaya” all over my newsfeed, I finally got the chance to take my own snaps of it. Pictures of this car honestly do it no justice, the body lines and the way the car is executed is perfect.

Even the House of Stance boys from Sydney made a road trip down to help make the 100MM event happen.

18x10s on the front and 18x12s on the rear… This thing was wild!

Ray’s Honda Odyssey sitting pretty on a set of Porsche wheels.

Finally had the chance to meet the boys from THE-LOWDOWN. Good to see interstate bloggers come down to enjoy the day with us!

The Nakama boys always rolling out solidly, even to hard parking events.

FYS looking really pretty right behind Nakama.

Stanceworks always bringing you the cleanest fitted cars.

GTR!

Built to Order also brought down their K-series Honda Civic.

I would like to congratulate and give a massive thanks to the 100MM team and everyone else who helped out with the succesful event. You guys did an amazing job and I can’t wait for the next event!

This battle scarred S13 was wearing my old plates. Looked like it was used like it was meant to be!

Jake’s grape drank S15 looking as awesome as ever, now rocking a rear wing.

EG Civic with a turbo H22A under the bonnet. The torque steer would be interesting in this when it comes on boost..

Epic location, right on the beach.

Club High Rollers’ display sported some incredible cars, like Adam’s R34, making 550+hp.

Look at the size of the turbo. Just look at it.

Kane’s had some bad luck with his car recently, but managed to come out to our Track Battle last weekend, then make it out to All Stars.

Probably my favourite car at the meet, Nick’s ridiculously clean R32 GT-R.

Thought I’d wrap my headlights the morning of the meet, just to see how they look. Thoughts?

Ty’s Audi A4 Avant, looking good on Forge Wheels and the Thule ski carrier.

And Loz’s G37 also rolling on Forge Wheels.

WRX rolling on 3SDM wheels. Love this!

Rad 280ZX.

Fired off a quick shot of Lachlan’s immaculate JZX100 late in the day.

Justin’s recently-acquired supercharged R32 Golf on ADV1s.

Cheers to the All Stars team for coming up and creating an awesome meet!

Either way, the first track day can be a fairly intimidating experience for anyone. These articles are designed to be a fairly comprehensive guide of the basics to get you track ready along with your car. Here is a quick break down of what we will cover before we get into Part 1 of the ultimate track day guide:

Part 1: Selecting a car
Part 2: Preparing your car and safety items
Part 3: Where to go racing and what you need
Part 4: Hitting the track
Part 5: Suspension, brakes and cooling.
Part 6: How to improve your lap times

Each section will be quite comprehensive and designed to cover pretty much everything you will need to have fun and put in some competitive performances at the track. It is entirely up to you how much you take from each day. We all know some of us are a little more competitive than others but that doesn’t mean that for those simply wishing to enjoy their track days can’t take something from this guide in making the day a little less stressful.

Part 1 – Selecting a car

We really will be starting from the beginning and for 90% of you out there, you will already have the car that you want. But for those looking to start afresh or just curious, this is the starting grid.

Here also comes my first piece of advice. IT IS ALMOST ALWAYS CHEAPER TO BUY SOMEONE ELSE’S PROJECT THAN IT IS TO BUILD YOUR OWN, learn from my mistakes on that one. I am the King of half finished projects that just sit there for ages. This is potentially the best piece of advice I can offer at least in this article. Having said that, being part of being in the modified car scene and being a car enthusiast, we often have a love for tinkering with cars and part of the joy is getting our own creation out on the track. Even if you are buying someone else’s project, still read the following information as it will still be relevant (at the end of the article I have included a list of relevant links to assist in your search for a new car.

With that all said and done we might as well get onto the rest of the article.

Where can you buy a car?

There are a number of places to pick up cars whether you want something completed, partially completed or a bone stock car to transform. I’ve used a number of places, so I’ve compiled a list of a few of my favourites outside of carsales:

Ebay: It may sound stupid but quite often you can find a great bargain on ebay. A little trick a simple search such as ‘race car’ can bring up quite a few interesting cars.

My105.com: A fantastic place to find race cars. It’s all it is designed for and would have to be one of my favourite Australian sites to go while day dreaming. You probably won’t find as many good bargains, but there is plenty of variety. Everything from karts to open-wheelers, sedans, coupes and historics. Pretty much everything is covered.

Forums: a pretty obvious place for most of us, but we can’t neglect to put this in. Plenty of project cars available on the forums in various states of completion.

When buying a car there are a number of factors that need to be considered.

- Budget
- Class of racing
- Suitability for racing
- What you want to drive
- Experience

Budget

Unfortunately most of us are limited by a budget. You need to set a budget, and I think too many of us are unrealistic with what we can afford. Be conservative. You need to allow for expenses which will include entry fees, tyres, fuel, consumables, repairs, buying a car trailer (if unregistered), and towing from the track when it breaks. It’s great buying the best car you can for your budget, but it sucks when you don’t have the money to fix it or enter events. The cost of running a car varies wildly, but a good general rule though is: the smaller the car, the cheaper it will be to run.

Class of racing

Next is to pick a class of racing. Your budget will very much dictate where you can afford to go racing. You might have to take a step back from those dreams of running in V8 Supercars, but there is a class for almost everybody.

Club level racing is growing in popularity in Australia. Most States offer several different classes of racing at a club level, which will allow you to run almost any car you can imagine. As you move up to State and National Level Ranks what you can run becomes more restrictive.

Here are a few links to some of the groups that you can go racing with. I’ve added a short description of each class, rather than attempting to break down the benefits or negatives to each class.

Improved Production: One of my favourite classes. Starting with your everyday production vehicle (there are limitations on what cars can compete, the rules of improved production can be found in the CAMS Manual of Motorsport), you can still perform fairly substantial modifications within the rules. The class is somewhat parity-based so 4 cylinders can compete against rotors and V8s. It can be an expensive class to run in if you want to run at the front, but building and running a car that you can have fun in and race against other people is fairly cheap. More info: Improved Production Racing Queensland.

Top Gear and Queensland Racing Drivers Championship: Queensland Raceway’s club-level motorsport. It is as close as we get to a “run-what-you-brought” class. This outlines the specific classes and gives you an idea of what you can compete in. Anything from open-wheelers to ex-V8 Supercars to Hyundai Excels have a class that they can race in. And don’t scoff, the Hyundai Excel series is actually a fantastic series to get involved in for very little outlay.

Formula Vee and Formula Ford: Open wheeler racing is great fun. Feeling like not much more than slightly larger go-karts, these classes are fantastic if you are really serious about your motorsport. Formula Vee can be quite a cost effective class to get into, but Formula Ford can get very expensive especially if planning on running at a National Level. More info: Formula Ford | Formula Vee.

National Suzuki Swift Series: I’ve been fortunate enough to do some testing with these guys, and can assure you this is a great class. The fantastic thing with this is it is a national televised series and there is nothing stopping you from running a season for $35,000 (for national-level motorsport that is nothing) assuming you don’t bin the car. These cars are well setup and if you just want to hire a car for a season, all you have to do is show up at the track while they deliver your car and help prepare it for you to drive. More info: Australian Swift Series On some of the faster tracks you will see 210km/h+.

These are just a few classes for you to think about. There are others out there and I highly recommend you have a look around. A great way to find a class that you like is to head out to the track and just see what is running around your local area. Of course if you just want to compete in time attack-style events then you are pretty much free to drive whatever the hell you like.

Suitability for racing and what you want to drive

Anything can be raced. It just depends on how deep your pockets are and how much fiddling around you want to do. Some cars make a far better base than others, but there is nothing stopping you from racing mum’s Getz other than her rage when she finds out. But realistically there are better cars out there to start with. We’ve sat down and worked out a few different options for each price range and tried to include one car in each price range that you may not have considered before.

Under $10K:

Honda Civic or Toyota Corolla. Finding an early ED, EF or EG Civic or AE82 AE9X Corolla can make for a great base to work with. Finding a B-series powered Civic is ideal, but B-series swaps are quite cheap. The Corolla also makes an excellent base with both cars having a huge level of aftermarket support. With pretty decent performance for a little hatchback, these cars are great for learning how to maintain momentum.

The Nissan Silvia is another fantastic base. Lightweight, rear-wheel drive and the SR20 is capable of making very good power. With such a die-hard following, replacement parts are easy to come across and performance parts even easier. Heavily modified and later model examples also make a great base in the $10-20K budget.

Head to the race track on any given weekend and you are bound to find a whole heap of Mazda MX5′s out and about. Regarded as one of the best driver’s cars ever built they make a fantastic base to learn from both driving and vehicle setup. If the hairdresser stigma bothers you just check out Charlie’s MX5. Nothing screams hairdresser about this car.

Alfa 75 or BMW E30. The Alfa is a bit of an oddball suggestion, although the E30 is still fairly common. Both make excellent bases for track cars. Parts aren’t as easy to come across as the Silvia or Civic, but a lot of the older crowd will have played around with Alfas and E30s and they can be an invaluable source of information. Plus the fact that a hell of a lot of weight will be lost from the Alfa just from rusting gives it another tick in the box in my book.

$10-20K:

Mitsubishi Evo (this also fits into the over $20K list). This has to be the most obvious choice out of pretty much any vehicle, with such great success in Time Attack and various other forms of motorsport. Parts are available everywhere. With such a solid drivetrain and that all-wheel drive grip, its performance means it can be an ultimate track day weapon. Its natural competitors the WRX and GT-R also make very capable cars, although the EVO would be my choice out of this bunch.

FD3S RX-7s are a well-balanced car, and one of the best driver’s cars available. The rotary engine has a bit of a reputation for being unreliable, but most of this comes down to lack of proper maintenance. One of the greatest RWDs produced and capable of keeping up with the AWDs, it makes a great choice for those who want something a little more ‘fun’.

Commodore or Falcon. Saloon Car is a class of racing designed around 6 cylinder classic Australian family cars (the Falcon and Commodore). In race guise these things are quite a lot of fun and are a very competitive class of racing to get into. If you can get past the stigma of racing a Falcodore, they offer a really cost-effective class as you can find parts everywhere.

Renault Clio and Civic / Integra Type R. These are my personal favourites. The Renault Clio Sport 197 is a fantastic driver’s car in the FWD segment and perfectly liveable as a daily driver. It doesn’t have the aftermarket support of the Type R range, but certainly ranks up there with it for fun. Both are capable of boxing with many of the turbo RWDs. If it came down to being sensible I’d have to pick the DC2 Type R, purely for the aftermarket support. However if you want something a little different and don’t mind ordering some of your parts out of the UK then the Clio makes a fantastic choice.

Over $20K:

Once you get over this figure you start having quite an assortment of cars that you can choose from and finding a car that is already finished to a decent level is quite easy.

Honda S2000. Yep you can find a few under the $20K mark, but most of the tidy unmolested or at least carefully modified examples are fetching well over that. One of the greatest driver’s cars of all time. Parts can be a little expensive and it is easy to ruin what is such a great car out of the factory so doing it right can be difficult, but the reward can be fantastic performance, reliability and driveability. The AP2 is a little easier to drive than the AP1, however both make a fantastic base.

Porsche 911. An iconic legend, it is getting possible to find some of the earlier 911s for a reasonable price and even some later models for a fair price. You have to allow some funds for servicing and repairs, but a well looked after 911 is a very reliable car and parts are reasonably available from places like Pelican Parts. I wouldn’t recommend it as a first track car but as far as driving experiences go, not much matches a 911.

Bullet Cars. Bullet are a Gold Coast-based car developer, originally founded in Tweed. They started developing cars based on the MX-5 chassis. Some of the earlier models can be picked up for reasonable prices. It’s something a little different and maintains all the driveability of an MX-5, just with the added power which they sorely lack from the factory.

Kit Cars. Have a look around and keep an open mind. There are some fantastic kit cars that you can buy to assemble or buy complete already. La Barata, Ariel, older Lotuses and Westfields are just a few. These almost guarantee to give you something unique, and for the most part kit cars are developed with the track or hard driving in mind. There are usually classes available for them at least at the club level.

Final Words

This list is by no means exhaustive and really you are only limited by your imagination and budget. Most of the fun in motorsport is getting out on the track and actually driving, whether it be a stock car or something modified. Too many people get into the mindframe that they must have the fastest car at the track and get lost in long and costly builds when time could be better spent behind the wheel learning to drive and growing as a driver. The old saying is definitely true: IT’S MORE FUN TO DRIVE A SLOW CAR FAST, THAN IT IS TO DRIVE A FAST CAR SLOW.

In the next segment we will cover what you need to go racing safely, and have your car prepared so you can have fun hopefully with a reliable car.

After landing in Tullamarine Airport and dropping my belongings off the hostel, I headed to Doncaster BMW, where I was to pick up my tickets for the GP.

Having just undergone a complete renovation, the dealership in Doncaster is now the third largest in the world, only just underneath the sale area required for the market in Dubai. With a large focus on energy efficiency and renewable energy and material; the use of large double glazed windows for natural lighting, intelligent material use (recycled, along with temperature regulation) and low energy consumption equipment can be noted all throughout the space, make this dealership now a model for any future buildings to house the vehicles of Southern Germany.

I truly love my Bayernish-produced automobiles, so being in this state of the art dealership, was paradise.

With such a large dealership, the floor space has to be managed extraordinarily well, but it is not just enough to fill it up with vehicles, but it should also present a welcoming atmosphere. Comfortable seating arrangements and an abondence of quality coffee, adds those small luxuries while you decide on which colour leather you should choose.

While BMW produce a huge variety of cars, from the hyper-miler diesel 1 series to one of the most outrageous executive salons, the 750Li. However, tets be honest, we here at Downshift are truly interested in that vehicle with the addition of “M” as a prefix.
Doncaster made it easy to locate all these cars, by dedicating a sector of the dealership to “BMW INDIVIDUAL”.

A large feature wall showcasing the evolution of the M Class lures you over. As most performance sectors of a motor vehicle company range from Motorsport itself, BMW is no different, presenting you with the latest cutting edge technology and performance changes brought down from through countless brutal hours on the race track.
In this area, clients will come to discuss not just performance related aspects, but also if they want to make their car that much more unique to them.
Ranging from different BMW signature exterior paints to variations of the dash pattern and interior design, the customisation is endless.
While not so common here in Australia, it is a very large market in Dubai, whereby Im sure weve all seen images of outrageous body kits and what we would consider over the top interiors were actually factory delivered from BMW as requested from the client.

One of the cars featured in this area of the dealership, was the 2013 M6. Now running a twin turbo V8 producing 549HP. it is still the executive monster, even if it has lost the V10 due to emissions and a more efficient setup. And it shows, the old V10 consumed close to 15L/100km, yet the new configuration creates 60HP more but with a reduction of 40% in fuel usage. Sometimes you just cant argue with progression. However the M6 has had some subtle changes made…

… such as the complete LED headlights, not just Daytime Running Lights(DRLs) that both it and the X5 share. Another means of indirectly reducing consumption, this of course means youll have more fuel for when you right foot has a mind of its own.

Strolling around the dealership, it was scattered with one off master-pieces

Starting off with this “Frozen Grey” 6 Series…

…1M…

and of course M3s in an assortment of different colours.

Noting the exhaust tone of this particular M3, I knew I was in for a treat…

The very rare and lightweight variant of the E46 M3, the CSL. Just freshly coming out of the wash and complete detail as compliments for the maintenance service being undertaken at the dealership.

After getting an eye-full of dealership and new models on display, my ears deserved some theater and I was dropped off back in the city in the following…

While Im a big fan of my European classics, its always astonishing to see what is being released in the new market, noting the development that has gone on over the years, yet still holding true to an original concept.

Continue to Part 2, the wrap-up of the Australian Grand Prix!