For our friends outside of Australia, we Aussies have a habit of truncating words, hence ‘good day’ became ‘G’day’, ‘how are you going’ became ‘ha-ya-garn’ and on our day of national celebration, our beloved country is fondly referred to by many as ‘Straya’.

Since our national day is all about getting together with your mates and celebrating all things Australian, the guys behind our national drift series created the first ever Straya Day Drift Festival. Our two favorite things, Straya and drift. What a winner.

With three circuits running, this was a grassroots through to pro competition event and also the very first drift event to be run on the new South Circuit at Sydney Motorsport Park.

Run by Andrew Hawkins, Brett Wilkinson and the team at the Australian Drifting GP in conjunction with the ARDC, this was always going to be a top event. Drivers and fans came out to check out the non-stop action and the new track made for great viewing.

There were plenty of cars rolling up that I had never seen before, this Supra was a standout.

‘ The Corporal’ Christian Pickering even brought out his S13 for the event.

This widebody 180SX rolling on the always appropriate Weds Kranze LXZ was on the money.

Some drivers had really embraced the Australian spirit and this was probably best demonstrated by Josh Boettcher with his new custom aero, plugger downforce.

Formula Drift competitor Matt Powers attended the event as a guest judge and I’m pretty sure Daniel Cooper from the Tyreright GT Radial Team has found a new bromance.

On track, the action was spectacular. Steve Pembrey was ripping it up as usual is his V6 powered AE86.

Levi Clarke also debuted the new livery of his Exedy backed Soarer.

Josh Boettcher rolled out his S15 and this was the first time his car had been on track since the last round of Formula Drift Asia. Josh was obviously enjoying being back in the drivers seat!

Another Queensland driver, Kris Frome showed us why a V8 in an R34 is a good idea.

The guys from Blaze Unit / 3 Fingers Neat crew were just on it all day. These guys really know how to put on a show.

And a personal favorite, the “Snag Drag” (Spotted it yet?)

After months of work, setbacks and development, the Drift Syndicate crew unleashed their completed VE Commodore that is packing a supercharged V8 producing in the realm of 700HP.

There were plenty of impressive cars on track, this R30 was a personal favorite.

This ute battle was also something you won’t see everyday…

Another car that I don’t get to see enough of is Beau Yates AE86. He has got this car so well dialed in and is always impressive to watch.

Back in the pits during the lunchtime drivers signing, Andrew Hawkins took the opportunity to get a pic with Formula Drift competitor Matt Powers and 2012 Australian Champion Rob Whyte.

Remember kids, low is a lifestyle.

Back on track and it was simply non-stop drift. The perfect way to spend the day watching close runs like this one with JB and Levi.

The top 16 invitational featured some of the best drivers from around the country from the ADGP series, as well as a number of wildcard entries. In the end, the final battle came down to Rob Whyte vs Christian Pickering, with Rob securing the win.

It was a spectacular event and with the next ADGP event in Melbourne this April, it won’t be long until we get to see Australia’s best back on track.

Here are a few more shots from the day, of drivers blazing the new South Circuit.

 

 

 

For upcoming event info, make sure you check out the ADGP website: Australian Drifting GP