It’s a cool Sunday morning in March as we pull into the crowded Mondello paddock. The area is swamped with mechanics and drivers doing final preparations for the first race day of the season. Just out of sight of the many Fiat Abarths, Lotus Exiges, Minis and Global GT Lights sits the unmistaken combination of electric yellow and baby blue of Prodrift Series Competitor Martin Ffrench’s 2008 Prodrift Series car. The yellow Nissan Silvia S14 with S15 headlight conversion sits indiscernibly amongst other entries to the first round of the Time Attack series. However, there is no drift demonstration planned here today and Motorsport Ireland takes a dim view on drifting or what they perceive it to be at least. Martin has brought his car here not to drift, but to time attack. To see what can a well setup drift car can do against the clock.
It is a common misconception that drift cars are setup to have the least amount of grip possible. If this were the case, it would be impossible for the drivers to do what they do, round in and round out of each Prodrift Series event. 100mph entries into turn two reversed at Mondello park would not be possible, rubbing the Rosebowl wall would only be fictitious and every run would end in spin after spin after spin. Some drivers religiously run the rear tires with zero camber, ensuring that there is full contact between the tire and the track. Not many drivers will reveal their exact setups and in most cases it won’t matter, as the cars are setup to personal preferences. It can be noted that most run negative camber on the front, for extra grip at the front mid drift.
It’s closing on 11a.m. when the Time Attack cars pull out for their first practise session. The pit wall starts to crowd with eager mechanics and assistants watching on, to see if their hard work from the hours, days, weeks and months previous will hold up. The yellow 14 waits behind the works EP Honda Civic of Brendan Stone as he pulls out of the pit lane. ‘Christ that fasts’ someone to my left observes. It was fast; it was the first time I questioned that maybe a drift car wouldn’t be competitive in a timed series. After all Martin was still running the same tires, let alone setup that he used to place second the previous weekend at the inaugural JDM Allstars event. Little over a minute passed before the Civic reappeared coming out of Dunlop, the last corner at Mondello, with a yellow Nissan lodged firmly behind it. It would be easy to get excited but that was only a warm up lap, how would Ffrench keep up when Stone opened the Civic up. It took only another minute to find out that Ffrench was still keeping into the Civic. Hopes were high as we returned to the paddock as the session ended.
Ffrench was a little unhappy about the lack of traction the car had. Due to the nature of the National circuit, it consists of mostly second and third gear corners. With 435bhp going through the rear tires, it was proving difficult to get grip coming out of corners. Two weeks earlier, Ffrench had taken part in a Trackday on the International Circuit, which he found to have more speed because of the faster corners. It was going to be a struggle to find the extra grip he needed.
For the second session, I picked up a spot at the end of Honda, gaining a perfect view down the main straight. It was a surreal experience to watch all these Abarths and other classes coming in two and three cars abreast into the first corner, really shuffling for positions. Sometimes it’s easier to be a snob and brush aside other motorsports as boring just because we are used to something else. It is this attitude that holds back motorsports in this country. Regardless if your first preference is drift, rallying or a grip series, everyone needs to support every motorsport here if we want it to continue to grow and expand. A true car nut will never turn down the experience of seeing a motorsport of any shape or form in the flesh.
As the Marshalls checked the track for any debris after the Saloon Car Challenge, the Time Attack cars once again waited to be released. Ffrench was second out the gate, manoeuvring the car viciously from side to side to get the tires up to temperature. Second lap round and the 14 came into view, getting hard onto the brakes, the back of the car was squirming. Through the viewfinder I could see the yellow tape on the steering wheel that indicates the wheels direction moving quickly from left to right before dropping out of view to my left as the 14 turned in hard right, easy on the power and back out wide before turning left and heading back out into the countryside. Lap three and he comes in nice and wide again, just inches from the grass, turns in right and the back steps out. He effortlessly applies some opposite lock and lets the car slide smoothly through the corner. The marshalls beside me are gobsmacked. ‘I was sure he lost it’ says one ‘That’s some serious car control’ says the other. It’s lap four and Ffrench has resorted to more natural ways of getting the tires sticky. He arrives into Honda, wider again and turns in hard, releasing the rear tires before powering on through second gear, smoking the two Works 18” wheels, before transitioning back and out into the countryside. A veil of tire smoke rises from above the ditch that obscures our view. The marshalls are in pure admiration of what just happened.
On returning to the pits, the bonnet of the 14 is up. ‘Its over for today lad’ he greets me. He points to a cracked exhaust manifold and shrugs. ‘After running 1.2bar for twenty minutes, I’m delighted to know that the weakest link gave up. At least the car can be readied in confidence for the first round next month. New exhaust manifold, new clutch and new box and she will be some weapon come April.’ Crowds of people are now gathering around the car they ignored all day until Ffrench demonstrated its potency. ‘The marshalls loved it!’ He exclaims, ‘I was coming into Dunlop getting a little crossed up. The first time they were just about to reach for the flags thinking I was gone but when I caught it and held it they were amazed. The next time around I was getting cheers and thumbs up from them. Savage!’ Talk reverberated around the paddock of the Wexford man who could get a car sideways like they had never seen before. The commentary team praised his professional level of drifting and his on track courtesy to other drivers.
Ffrench had left his mark on them. He even ran the car in the final session to record the fastest 2WD time of the day and a very respectable 5th overall. ‘I’m going to get the car sorted, some stickies on the back, maybe a 1.5 way diff and come back again and set some real pace.’
The Time Attack world has been warned.
Words & Photos by paddy@prodriftseries.com
