I`d booked on a Drift Introduction day at Oulton and asked if anyone else wanted to come along too. Stan said that as it was his Birthday, it would be a good present and he`d love to join me. Plans were made and at 06:30 this morning we set off in convoy for the 1hr 25min drive to Oulton Park.
Uneventful journey, stopped to fill with fuel just before arriving.
Steady journey on the motorway gave me decent economy in the Z
Quick tyre check before starting. Yep, they look Black, Round and well worn
Met up with the other guys on the course, there were only 8 to begin with, a couple of others joined in later. :thumb: Fortunately, it was the first time for some of the others, but one guy with a dedicated drift car had done the last 8 events
There were the expected spins..
Cones AHOY !
Had lunch and then continued Drifting.
"Oi, NIGE". huh ?? AH HA its YOU !
Weeman called to visit :thumb:
Stan had to pull over, the dry track had caused his NSR Tyre to de-laminate
Quick directions from marshall and after cutting off the offending part he carefully drove to a local tyre fitter for a replacement. The Guy in the drift car also had the same problem and had to cut short his day 
I asked if he was disappointed but he said that out of all the events at Oulton he`d been to, this was the best ever :thumb: It was the first time there had been such a low number of drivers, as a result the marshalls said they wouldnt `wet` the tarmac and so it was the only dry track time he`d ever had there. No queuing and he did more laps in the morning, before his tyre delaminated than he`d ever managed in a full day
Pooky called to collect his M3 and we had time for a short chat before getting back to the business of going sideways.
As the day progressed, we became quite proficient B)
Stan with Weeman passengering
Weeman offered to take some photos of me. :thumb:
WOOHOO ! !
Whoops Stan :whistle:
Well saved...
After 94 miles of drifting, the fuel consumption wasnt that impressive...
Said our goodbyes and drove home. Inspected my rear NS Tyre...
whoops, that will be because of the constant drifting I did then :whistle:
There are upsides and downsides to the dry track. The tyre breaking up is the problem, but that was because we were out for long sessions. If the tyres didnt need replacing, I wouldn`t have hammered them with such long stints and they would have held up fine.
I set up the bulletcam, unfortunately, it was too low so you cant see enough of the track. This was just before lunch, I was better later, much less hand twirling, but didn't have the camera running
Bulletcam footage
Footage from circuit 2
When I`ve had a play before, in empty carparks etc, there is always that moment when your heart rate shoots up, until everything in controlled. I had the same experience first thing on the drift day, but by mid afternoon, I was much more comfortable and wasn`t `seizing up` as much.
My arms are really aching, far more than on a trackday !
To summarise, it was the most FUN I`ve ever had in a car. We were all grinning from start to finish. Made much better by knowing someone else there, although I`m sure I would have still thoroughly enjoyed myself alone.
It wasn't as exhilarating as going to the ring or on a trackday, but I had a blast :thumb:
Massive thanks to Lou for entrusting me with her Z. I didn't hit anything and apart from being a little dusty, its fine :thumb:
) Perhaps I should do it a bit more often and then I'd be a better driver.
....I used to be average, now I reminisce !!!