Brakpan – The final round of this year’s Japan Auto Drift Championship was held at The Rock Raceway in Brakpan over the weekend. Clare Vale was the final qualifier for the Top 16, after a front suspension failure during qualifying. Her first tandem round was against Jim MacFarlane, of Supadrift fame. After a closely fought tandem battle, Clare edged Jim to reach the Top 8.
She then faced up to Freddie Cooper Senior, who put up a strong fight but couldn’t stop the RAM Mustang’s progress into the Top 4. The battle against Freddie Cooper Junior was a tough one, and the judges needed a “one more time” before deciding in Freddy’s favour. The final battle for 3rd and 4th saw Clare and Larry Smith take to the track. Unfortunately, Larry’s car battled with a fuel problem, handing an easy victory to the V8 Mustang.
Clare Vale on the weekend: ”The standard of drifting in the Japan Auto Championship is incredibly high, so I was delighted to finish third on the day. The RAM team had to work hard to fix the car after we broke a front suspension pin during qualifying, so it was a great reward for all their efforts. We always get fantastic support from The Rock spectators as it’s our home track, and it was great to deliver such a good result for all our supporters!”
Images by Arthur Hiscox.