DriftSquid Blog: Red Bull China Drift Series Recap

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What a week in China for ADVAN sponsored driver Jake ‘DriftSquid’ Jones at Zhuhai International Circuit! DriftSquid tells us how he went in the final round of the Red Bull China Drift Series

I’d have to say this has been one of the best experiences of my drifting career to date. From ultra-crazy lows to insane highs. From arriving to find a written off Toyota Altezza that I was supposedly to be drifting in competition, to working with the mechanics to piece the car back together with whatever parts we had. It was a very and sore Altezza at the beginning of the journey but it battled on like a Trojan. It was just one of those weeks where if I had the afternoon to explain it all, you still wouldn’t hear all of it haha.


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The first practice session saw me struggling with the car and spinning consistently so James, the team boss decided it was a good idea to follow me and he ended up following very well.... A good half a metre into my driver’s side door actually. It completely destroyed the front of James's Red Bull Altezza and had to be forklifted back to the garage. Just about every single arm was broken and needed replacing. My Altezza was just a bent castor arm and two busted doors. I felt so bad and spent the rest of the afternoon apologising to the mechanics, I tried to help repair it all but they insisted I sit down and relax. They then chucked a beer across the room and yelled out "Cheers" haha. This was a huge surprise because no one speaks English much here.

The following day had come and I was refreshed and feeling much better after seeing both cars fixed and ready to rumble. It was time to qualify in front of the huge crowd that arrived for Saturday’s event.


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Without any practice in the car due to the crash I was a little worried but the head judge for the event (Kumakubo-San from Team Orange) said "Just relax and you’ll be fine, the course is easy for you 'Ika' - (Japanese for Squid)" haha!


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We had no practice laps, just the best out of 3 runs. Normally I’d do an easy first run so I have one in the bag but the crowd was way too big to only put on half a show. I went all out and went full throttle into the first switch, riding the concrete wall with the rear bar and ripping the Red Bull Banner off. Switching back and then dislodging the rear bar on the second concrete wall. It was insane to be able to hear the crowd roar as you finish a run. It was like something out of a movie.


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So pumped from the first run I went even closer on my next and ripped the rear wing completely off. I felt bad for damaging the car but the crowd was going so nuts I don’t think my mechanics minded too much.

This landed me with a perfect qualifying run of 100 points. Basically means you can’t do any better and it was such an awesome result to be able to see all the mechanics hard work had paid off. They were more excited than I was. Even our Chef Lady was excited when I came back to the garage. Probably cause the car wasn’t come back on the forklift…


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The day was done and it was now onto thinking about the battles for the following day. Qualifying is one thing but the Battles are where it’s at. That’s the make or break point with drifting.


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With no maintenance required on my car it was time to make sure everyone else’s had their issues fixed. With many teething problems for new cars and clutches, gearboxes breaking. Oh I forgot, yes I destroyed the shifter mechanism in the Altezza I was driving during qualifying. It was on the way out anyway they said, I just helped it get there quicker haha.


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I woke up on the Sunday feeling good, you know how you just get those good vibes. I had them flowing through my body and couldn’t wait to get behind the wheel in the 38 degree humid as heck weather. Literally dripping in sweat while waiting in the line for battle. I managed to keep my perfect run all the way through to the final even beating the boss James. It was one of those events where nothing could have gone better. What an amazing adventure this one was 1st place qualifying and 1st place overall.


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After the event we had a special dinner to attend which I had no idea about. Turns out that even though I only did 2 rounds of the 3, I still came home with 2nd place in the championship. Bloody crazy hey!! Fingers crossed this will secure a drive for 2015 in the Red Bull China Drift Series.


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I’ll be heading back soon for a few meetings so watch this space ;). Next stop is Formula Drift at the Yokohama World Time Attack weekend. I can’t wait!