To be honest it will be almost a case of deja vu for Josh Coote when he hits the Eastern Creek circuit for the Tectaloy International drift challenge. After a gruelling year competing in D1NZ which saw him finish well inside the top ten at nearly every round, Josh Coote is eager to show the Kiwis how its done on his home soil. Hailing from Queensland’s Sunshine coast Josh is the son of former Australian rally champion Murray Coote and has what is unquestionably one of the best prepared drift cars in the country.
With a high powered SR20 on E85 fuel backed by a sequential Holinger six speed transmission the build quality on the white MCA suspension backed 180SX would rival that of any professional level entry and it appears that Josh, with several years experience now behind him, also has the skills to run with the best in the business. The year in New Zealand should also play into his hands as many of the tracks that D1NZ run on mimic the high speed layout of Eastern Creek circuit and there is no question that this guy has the car to run at high speed.
Since returning from New Zealand the car has been stripped and rebuilt with an engine freshen and anything that needed attention received the going over. The guys also employed the services of Geelong based drift fabrication ace Nigel Petrie to help with the tubbing of the front and numerous other upgrades. No doubt any of these mods only will make what was already a very good car even better!
picture by Nigel Petrie
There is also no question that this father and son team will have one of the busiest weekends of their entire life because as many of the top competitors are using their MCA suspension including several of the Pro Class cars, they will be on hand to provide track support. MCA suspension is a world class Australian product that draws on Murrays many years of race experience and is used along with many others by the Advan/Hi octane R34, Mercury Motorsport R35, Neal Bates Motorsport and Mazda Motorsport Tarmac rally team. But what is really going to keep them on their toes is the fact that they will debut a Pro Class time attack car at the same event.
This is a lightweight wide body S13 with a 600 odd horsepower VE SR20 and a Holinger sequential gearbox and a crazy aero package. This will be driven by young New Zealand open wheel hotshot and A1GP driver Earl Bamber and expect a build quality similar to the drift 180 – but more on that one later!
Picture by Nigel Petrie
Read Josh Cootes’ Driver Profile
