D1NZ

Last updated
D1NZ
D1NZ-Logo-2019.jpg
New Zealand Drifting Championship
Category Drifting
Country New Zealand
Inaugural season2003
DriversAdam Davies Andrew Redward Ben Jenkins Bex Bennett Bejamin Wilkinson Bruce Tannock Carl Thompson Cole Armstrong  Daniel Woolhouse  Darren Kelly Dave Steedman  Shane Van Gisbergen  Daynom Templeman Drew Donovan Gagan Kang Brad Smith Jaron Olivecrona Jase Brown Jerry Zhu Jesse Greenslade Jodie Donovan Joel Paterson Jordy Cole Keisuke Nagashima Liam Burke Shane Allen Stuart Baker Troy Jenkins Vincent Langhorn
TeamsDriftcorp WSR Team DSR BEX Drift FDC Motorsport DK Motorsport Team DMNZ Whittaker Motorsport Rattla Motorsport Olivecrona Drift Motorsport Central Drift Team Team Jenkins Motorsport DDT Racing BSR 07 Drift JC Drift Mag & Turbo Motorsport Euphoric Motorsport Wilkinson Motorsport Armstrong Drift LBP Drift Andrew Redward Racing 86Fighters 
Constructors Nissan   Toyota   Mazda   Holden   Ford   BMW
Engine suppliersToyota JZ Series, Nissan RB Series, Nissan VQ, Chevrolet LS, Ford Performance, Roush-Yates, Hartley Engines,
Drivers' championFanga Dan Woolhouse
Makes' championFord
Teams' championFDC
Official website d1nz.com

D1NZ is a production car drifting series in New Zealand, a sanctioned championship under Motorsport New Zealand, the official FIA appointed governing body of motor-racing in New Zealand. [1] It began early in 2003 as a small competition consisting of several drifting teams from all over the country in order to organise and regulate Drifting events in the country. Since then it has continued to grow larger and more professional, now involving professional teams and internationally ranked drivers.

Contents

The series consists of two national title competitions, the D1NZ Pro Championship [2] and the D1NZ Pro-Sport Series. [3] New competitors generally need to prove themselves in the Pro-Sport Series before progressing into the pro class, unless competing with an equivalent international licence. Organizers aim to promote and educate Drifting in New Zealand, with a regulated safe environment. Despite similar moniker, the series is not related to the Japanese D1 Grand Prix series. It has been recognised as the longest running drifting series in the world.

The Category has traditionally formed a five round national competition with a mixture of tight & technical courses and faster, full throttle race circuits. In 2019 the Pro-Championship tour includes Wellington's Max Motors Speedway, Trustpower Baypark in Tauranga, Manfeild Circuit Chris Amon, Hampton Downs Motorsport Park and Pukekohe Park Raceway [4]

Daniel 'Fanga Dan' Woolhouse competing against Cole Armstrong during an event at ASB Baypark Stadium in Tauranga D1NZ-Tauranga-2018.jpg
Daniel 'Fanga Dan' Woolhouse competing against Cole Armstrong during an event at ASB Baypark Stadium in Tauranga

Competition format

Drivers compete in a Qualifying session for each event, their qualifying position determines their grid position in a Top-32 or Top-24 seeded battle tree. Each driver receives 2 qualifying passes in a shootout style format, with a marble draw used for the grid order. Each competitor is scored by three judging officials for each pass. [5]

A maximum of 100 points will be allocated by the Judges to a competitor for each Pass in accordance with the following criteria:

The highest Qualifier shall be the driver with the highest aggregate score from all judges. The judging criteria consist of a racing line set out by the judges, marked by clipping points or clipping areas.

Round Points For Qualifying:
Qualifying PositionChampionship Points
17
26
35
44
5-84
9-163
17-322

The main competition of each D1NZ event sees the drivers compete through their seeded battle tree in an elimination battle. Competitors are seeded with the top ranked driver drawn against the lowest ranked driver, the second highest ranked driver drawn against the second lowest ranked driver and so on. The number of seeds is based on the size of the field. Each battle consists of two passes, a lead and a chase run for each driver. The winner of each elimination battle is the driver judged successful from both passes, or any re-run battle and advances to the next bracket (Top32, Top16, Top 8, Top 4 etc) The remainder are eliminated from competition. The Top 4 (semi-finals) battle winners shall contest for a place in the round final battle, with the unsuccessful drivers contesting for third and fourth.

The objective for each driver is to set or better their performance in qualifying during their lead run. The driver in the chase position must also set or better their qualifying performance, but use the leading car as a mobile clipping point around the course, aiming to position their car as close as possible to the leading vehicle while fulfilling the competition criteria set out by the judges.

Overall Round Points Allocation:
Overall PositionChampionship Points
1100
280
368
460
5-848
9-1632
17-3216
DNQ1
DNE0

List of Pro-Series Champions

YearDriverTeamVehicle
2003 Flag of New Zealand.svg Jairus WharerauDriftcorp Nissan Cefiro A31
2004 Flag of New Zealand.svg Justin RoodDriftcorp Nissan Cefiro A31
2005 Flag of New Zealand.svg Adam Richards WSR Nissan Cefiro A31
2006 Flag of New Zealand.svg Daniel Woolhouse Dunlop Direzza (Driftcorp) Nissan Silvia S15
2007 Flag of New Zealand.svg Carl Ruiterman E&H Motors Nissan Silvia S14
2008 Flag of New Zealand.svg Gaz Whiter Toyo Tyres (Driftcorp) Nissan Silvia S14
2009–10 Flag of New Zealand.svg Gaz WhiterBig Ben Pies (Driftcorp) Nissan Silvia S14
2010–11 Flag of New Zealand.svg Gaz WhiterBig Ben Pies (Driftcorp) Nissan Silvia S14
2011–12 Flag of New Zealand.svg Curt WhittakerWhittaker Motorsport Nissan Skyline R34
2012–13 Flag of New Zealand.svg Daniel Woolhouse Castrol Edge (Driftcorp) Holden Commodore VE
2013–14 Flag of New Zealand.svg Gaz WhiterTectaloy Coolants (Driftcorp) Nissan Silvia S14
2014–15 Flag of New Zealand.svg Darren KellyHiTec Oils Australia Nissan Skyline R34
2016 Flag of New Zealand.svg Curt WhittakerRattla Motorsport Nissan Skyline R34
2017 Flag of New Zealand.svg Cole ArmstrongCole Armstrong Drift Nissan Skyline G35
2018 Flag of New Zealand.svg Cole ArmstrongCole Armstrong Drift Nissan Skyline R34
2019 Flag of New Zealand.svg Darren Kelly The Heart of Racing Nissan GTR R35
2020 Flag of New Zealand.svg Liam BurkeKiesel 888 Motorsport Nissan Silvia S13
2021 Flag of New Zealand.svg Darren Kelly The Heart of Racing Nissan GTR R35
2022 Flag of New Zealand.svg "Fanga Dan" Woolhouse Castrol Edge (Driftcorp) Ford Mustang GT
2023 Flag of New Zealand.svg "Fanga Dan" Woolhouse Century Batteries (Driftcorp) Ford Mustang GT
2024 Flag of New Zealand.svg Kase Pullen-Burry P-B DRIFT Nissan Silvia S15
2025 Flag of Australia (converted).svg Luke FinkJDM Racing Nissan Silvia S15

List of Pro-Sport Champions

Formally referred to as Pro-Am from the 2010 - '11 season until its name change in 2015 - '16 to Pro-Sport. [6]

YearDriverTeamVehicle
2011 Flag of New Zealand.svg Nico ReidLuxury Sports Nissan Silvia S13
2012 Flag of New Zealand.svg Cameron VernonSheep Shagga Racing Nissan Skyline R32
2013 Flag of New Zealand.svg Darren KellyDKM Fabrication Nissan Skyline R32
2014 Flag of New Zealand.svg Vincent LanghornEuphoric Motorsport Nissan Laurel C33
2015 Flag of New Zealand.svg Troy JenkinsBrian Roberts Towing (TJM) Nissan Silvia S15
2016 Flag of New Zealand.svg Chad McKenzieMcKenzie Motorsport Nissan Skyline R32
2017 Flag of New Zealand.svg Bruce TannockMag & Turbo Nissan Silvia S13
2018 Flag of New Zealand.svg Liam BurkeLBP Drift Nissan Silvia S13
2019 Flag of New Zealand.svg Michael ThorleyEnzed Nissan Laurel C33
2020 Flag of New Zealand.svg Russell Vare235 Drift Nissan Laurel C33
2021 Flag of New Zealand.svg Shaun PotrozSMP Motorsport Nissan Silvia S14
2022 Flag of New Zealand.svg Connor HalliganHalligan Racing Nissan Silvia S14
2023 Flag of New Zealand.svg Kase Pullen-BurryP-B Drift Nissan Silvia S14.9
2024 Flag of Japan.svg Flag of New Zealand.svg Keisuke NagashimaTorque Performance (86Fighters) Toyota Corolla AE86 (SR20DET)
2025 Flag of New Zealand.svg Deane YoungYoung Drift Nissan Silvia S13

See also

References

  1. "D1NZ Drift Championship Series". Archived from the original on 2019-01-08. Retrieved 2019-01-08.
  2. "D1NZ Pro-Championship Series". d1nz.com. Retrieved 2019-01-08.
  3. "D1NZ Pro-Sport Series". d1nz.com. Retrieved 2019-01-08.
  4. "Events". d1nz.com. Retrieved 2019-01-08.
  5. "Sanctioned Articles Governing the 2019 D1NZ Drift Championship Series" (PDF). motorsport.org.nz. 2019. Archived (PDF) from the original on 2019-01-08. Retrieved 2019-01-08.
  6. "D1NZ Pro-Sport Series". d1nz.com. Retrieved 2019-01-08.