Whiter is human after all

It’s been a funny season so far for Gaz Whiter, having got past last seasons motor dramas and re-signed all his key partnerships, hopes were high that the Tectaloy S14 would again take Gaz to the #1 step on the podium on a regular basis. Things are tougher this year though, with new talent stepping up, and old foes driving better than ever before.

Sitting 3rd on the points table after a podium at Taupo, Whiter came into Round 4 of the Cody’s D1NZ National Drifting championship as the round champion from last season, knowing that he’d taken last seasons win on a standard block and expecting big things from the combination of new Garrett Turbo charger and full retune from GDS motorsport. Based on form in practice you would have put money on the Tectaloy S14 being in the late rounds, as Gaz hit clip after clip with precision and then spent some time pushing the car just a little too far to see where the car would spin and where it was recoverable, the combination of Xtreme Drift Clutch, PPG box and Toyo Tire giving Whiter the confidence to explore outer limits knowing he had precision control.With all the practice sessions taking place under boiling hot sun that had fans seeking shade, the elements combined to create a weird heat haze of smoke and heatwaves.

Come Saturday morning, Auckland turned on 4 season in one day as its prone to doing and the drivers arrived to a greasy puddle filled track that had no where near the tack of the day before. Early practice was done at 80-90% to avoid damage while drivers waited for some heat and grip to come back into the newly laid main straight surface.

Qualifying would roll around and as #1 Gaz is always the last driver to run in the current format. Mad Mike Whiddett had come straight out and absolutely smashed the track laying a 93 so Gaz was always behind the 8 ball as qualifying scores seem to have been lower this season than before. It would be on his last run that Gaz would deliver the run we knew was coming, but without the big crowd pop that Whiddett had grabbed a 90 was banked giving a #4 qualifying spot behind Mad Mike, Curt Whittaker with a 92, and Cole Armstrong.

With 18 cars making the field, no top 32 battle was required and it would be long time D1NZ competitor Steve Sole in the Steve Sole Customs chaser who would be Gaz’s first opponent. Soletrain had beaten the Tectaloy S14 at Manfield and is always a tough battle, but on this occasion Whiter would prove to strong with Sole spinning on his first run. About here is where it all went wrong, up against Brad Lauder in his W.A.L engineering S14, Whiter would lead the first run through and hold an advantage against the consistent Lauder, and then it all went wrong. Coming through on his chase pass, Whiter was sitting right on the rear guard of Lauder applying pressure when he went to cut in on the turn 3 apex and unexpectedly got his line wrong and simply had to stop before hitting the tire wall. Guess he is human after all and when spoken to afterwards simply said he made a rookie mistake.

Thanks to his qualifying spot, Whiter ended up with a #6 finishing spot and remains in touch with the leaders on points, only a small amount of points between 1st and 5th.

With 2 rounds to go…the title race is on!

Gaz Whiter Drift as always wish to Thank our generous sponsors without whom we could not compete. Tectaloy Performance Coolants, Toyo Tire, Puklowski Milling, NAC Insurance, Xtreme Drift Clutch, DVS Clothing, Hytech Engines, Vortex Racewear, Hornet Nutrition, Nitto Engineering, Hi-Octane Direct, BNT Automotive, Tein, Link Electronics, GDS Motorsports, and our management company www.mgninc.co.nz