Last Sunday was the 2011 King of Drift Competition held at Queensland Raceway. Held annually with competitors from all over the country attending to try and take the crown. Last year I missed out with an error whilst trying to defend my 2009 King of Drift Title, so this year I really wanted to step it up!

This event also hosted Round 4 of the Australian Pro Tour in the morning, as it was rained out two weeks prior on the Gold Coast. We headed out early for open practice to set our tyre pressures and get a feel for the track surface. The car felt strong and we were putting down some perfect laps, until my 4th lap when, I noticed a loud noise coming from the drive train. I was certain it was my diff, but was hoping for something less drastic!

After bringing the 350 into the pits  and having the team give the car a once over, my fears were confirmed and I had a collapsed bearing in the differential. This meant game over for the car.

The team at Bullet Cars were back at the workshop working on the new car and I knew if I wanted to compete in the afternoons King of Drift competition I would need to ask a big favour. I asked the guys at the workshop if they would remove the diff from the new car and drive it out to the track whilst my crew did there best to remove the failed diff with nothing but hand spanners and some elbow grease! They didn’t hesitate and focussed on getting the car back on track for King of Drift! The guys at Bullet had the new diff out of the car in just 9 minutes and by the time the new diff arrived at Queensland Raceway they were taking the last bolt out of the broken diff in the car.

I had two heats where I borrowed a fellow competitors Level 2 car to keep me in the points for the Pro Tour I managed a top 4 placing and now had my sights set on King of Drift  

As the heats for King of Drift started the new Nismo diff felt great and the car was running perfectly as we eliminated competitor after competitor in the sudden death elimination rounds and it was down to Josh Boetcher and myself for the Final.

We both put it all on the line but with Josh making an error in the 3rd corner and I was able to hold the line and win and the title

It was a great achievement to come from a broken car in the morning to being crowned the King of Drift in the afternoon.

I cannot emphasise enough my thanks to the team that kept me racing and my sponsors that keep us out there and on top.

Rob Whyte