Return of D-Mac

In 2007, European drifting witnessed the rise of a trans Atlantic sideways superstar. Following championship victory in the 2006 Prodrift Irl Series, 22-year-old Darren McNamara took his skills, and his Toyota Corolla, stateside to compete as part of the Formula Drift championship.

Darren’s American adventure began at a D1GP invitational event staged at Irwindale speedway Los Angeles in December 2006. Top 8 finishes in both the D1GP event and the D1GP All Star World Series competition meant that this young Irish driver had arrived on the international scene with a bang and was attracting the attention of many top American Teams.

As 2006 came to a close, it was announced that Darren’s giant killing SR20 powered Corolla would indeed remain stateside and reside in the Team Falken stable of drift machinery. With the support of Americas leading drift outfit, Darren could now look forward to a year of American competition, and many long commutes, to compete in what is arguably the most competitive drifting championship in the world.

April 2007 saw the Formula D season kick off at the famous Streets of Long Beach street circuit in California. Having progressed from the un-seeded qualification, Darren’s efforts fell short of making the first Top 16 competition of the year, a blunt wake up call to the level expected at Formula Drift.

Returning for Round 2 at Road, Atlanta, D-Mac was determined to put right the disappointment of Long Beach. This time out the Falken Corolla of McNamara again battled its way out of un-seeded qualification and through to the all important Top 16 elimination battles. Confident in his ability to mix it with the best McNamara set about eliminating all opponents en route to a final showdown with Maxxis sponsored Chris Forsberg. A close battle for victory eventually fell in favour of Forsberg but Darren McNamara had now officially arrived on the USA drift scene and with it earned the respect and admiration of both competitors and fans.

As the Formula D championship rolled on, D-Mac continued to collect regular Top 16 & Top 8 finishes, adding to his tally of championship Points. As the final event in Irwindale speedway arrived D-Mac stood as the leading Team Falken Driver. An unfortunate collision with the infamous Irwindale wall at the Formula Drift finals meant that Darren failed to make Top 16 and with it slipped from 5th to 9th in the overall championship rankings. Nevertheless, in his first season competing on foreign soil, the young Irishman had managed to scoop the coveted Rookie of The Year title and has put himself in an excellent position to mount a serious challenge on the 08 Formula Drift Series.

Closer to home Darren was also keeping active, a new MCN Sport 4AG Corolla was prepared to compete as part of the Prodrift Irl Series and he re-joined his old sparring partners at Championship Round 4, Rosegreen; a circuit that McNamara would consider home turf. However, things had changed slightly since Darren last competed in Ireland, the level of competition had gone through the roof, and McNamara was left watching the Top 16 from the grandstands having narrowly missed out on tin drift qualification.
Undeterred, Darren returned to Championship Round 5, Mondello, confident that the faster circuit would favour his lightweight Hachi Roku, and it did. McNamara was back in the Top 16 and claiming scalps all the way to a Final showdown with Championship Leader Eric O’Sullivan (Also driving an AE Corolla). How fitting, the 2006 champion versus the 2007 champ O’Sullivan. Although Darren put up a strong contest, O’Sullivan once again stamped his authority on the Irish series winning 6-4, 6-4 and added his 4th Prodrift Irl winner’s trophy to a growing collection.

As the dust settles on what has been an incredible 2007 for Darren McNamara, there are many rumours and whispers about his ambitions and plans for 2008. Prodrift competitors take note, D-Mac will return to Europe in 08. Plans are afoot to prepare the MCN Sport Corolla (Trueno) for Irish Competition, the USA based SR Corolla is making a return to take on the European series, which leaves a serious question over the Formula Drift American package. Darren assures us that there is big news on the horizon regarding his ride for FD 08 but the young Irishman remains tight lipped. Rest assured, when the covers come off D-Mac’s 2008 American machine, we’ll be there to bring you all the info first.

images courtesy of www.everythingdrift.com