If you see the number one on someone’s car, it is usually there for a reason.
The reigning G1 drift champion Simon Michelmore has confirmed entry into the Tectaloy International Drift Challenge. With the lack of a national drift series Australia now has a somewhat segmented scene with the Stadium drift series running predominantly through the Queensland regions and the G1 series running multiple rounds out of Mallala raceway in Adelaide.
There is also a state series in Perth and Victoria and these are well attended by local enthusiasts but this may well be the first time many of these guys have had to face off against the top interstate guys from different series around the country with the top Kiwi drivers also guaranteeing it will never be easy!!
Simon Michelmore has certainly earned his stripes over the years in his hometown of Adelaide with event wins in the Formula drift at Mallala in 2006, as well as second place to Japanese driver Shinji at 2007 Drift fest and more recently winning 2010 G1 series and the SA King of Drift in 2011.
Adelaide is often seen as the birthplace of drift in Australia with Denzo Vahoumis and his cohorts involved in its inception after seeing the craze take off in Japan in the late nineties. Needless to say it was not too long after this that a then much younger Simon Michelmore joined in the fun and has had numerous cars over the years although his current red S14 seems by far the most competitive.
Using all his years of experience of drifting Simon has screwed together a very sensible and reliable package that is based around an S14 chassis that is so synonymous with drifting worldwide. The SR20 is long gone and in its place is a NEO RB25 that originally lived in an R34 GTT Skyline.
This has been “breathed on” to give a power output of over 350kw at the wheels. This includes a new Garrett GTX3076 turbo on an AM exhaust manifold. Tomei Pon Cams and a Nistune ECU to suit the much cooler burning and power friendly E85 fuel. The chassis has also copped the full treatment and a set of Federal RSRs mounted on Stitch wheels rounding a formidable package with Simon commenting “I do love my meshies!”
Read more about Simon Michelmore
