Ireland: Turning Japanese?
-The whole mixup with the flags has a lot to do with ignorance-after all, I am American. But the truth is I had no idea how big the drift scene was in Ireland. Thanks to Derek and Karl of Prodrift, organizers of the Irish/European drift series, my ignorance is no longer bliss. www.prodriftseries.com
-Like Catholicism and potatoes, drifting is huge in Ireland, a lot of it stemming from the countries love for Rally racing.
-With entries hovering at 110 per event, the four-year strong Prodrift series divvies up the drivers into four skill groups (Junior, Novice, Semi Pro, Pro), drawing spectator crowds in the five thousands-tremendous considering Ireland has a population of 4 million and only one racing facility.
-Besides the coveted AE86 Corolla, other popular makes in the Prodrift series are the KP Starlet, MK II Ford Escort, Opel Manta, E30 BMW and of course, the Nissan Silvia.
-The Irish equivalent to Irwindale Speedway, aka House of Drift, would be Tipperary Raceway (Rosegreen).
Facts of the Irish
Here are some random little known facts of the soon-to-be-largely-known Darren McNamara:
-He started Oval racing at the tender age of 11.
-He got into drifting watching-no, not Initial D-Japanese drift videos.Apparently, Takumi's animated exploits are hard to find in Ireland.
-In a wet dream, er, come true moment, his Hachi-hero, Ueo, is in talks with sponsoring his Corolla with parts next year.
-If there is anyone he'd like to challenge on the Touge, it'd be Beau Yates, the Australian drift champion who also drives a SR-powered Corolla.
-The Levin he drives was the only iteration of the AE86 sold domestically.
-He's a hardcore Hachi fan. Need proof? When asked if he were to be given $500k to build any drift car, he'd spend $40k building a Hachi and sit on the rest.
-The blue Corolla you see will stay Stateside for the '07 season. He's planning on building another Corolla to fight the EU front.
By Carter Jung
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