WTAC has been an institution for me, for the Hilux its been a display of personal progression, the first time I took it 10 hours up the Hume highway was in 2011, it was a chassis, 4 wheels and not a lot else, I remember towing it home in the rain, on an open trailer dreading the amount of work I needed to do as soon as I returned home.
Things have changed and 2014 was the most prepared I had been in my life, 2013 was a heartbreaking mix of immense effort, pressure and subsequent failure. I questioned wether any of it needed to be repeated but I had unfinished business with WTAC and I needed to make amens.
Heading down from QLD raceway to Sydney I was as happy with the Hilux as I had ever been, it was so much fun to drive that I just couldn’t wait to get back behind the wheel.
As soon as I arrived I cleaned all the rubber from Matsuri out of the tray.
Fixed a few small issues and prepped everything for a weekend behind the wheel.
Doing only the lunch time demonstration sessions I headed out on friday in front of the huge crowds.
I still had alternator issues but thanks to the guys from the RAAF base (cheers Dally) I was able to get a new one and keep the car charging on the line.
The Hilux felt great out on the flowing Sydney Motorsport Park layout, with the majority of the crowd on the straight I made sure to get some of this happening.
ETS Drift Hilux at WTAC 2014 Drift Demo from Engineered To Slide on Vimeo.
As you can see its fast, thats 5th gear (I have 6) and the whole way down the straight I was thinking about all my nuts and bolts and fabricated suspension components, it felt great though.
Lap after lap until the stewards called us in.
At that point I would take a breath and think about what I need to do for the next session.
Fast forward a few days, a wild after party, catching up with friends and meeting plenty of new ones I was home, theres no time for rest though.
A few hours after unloading the trailer this is what my garage looked like, I miss shifted on one of my laps and damaged the 4th gear dog engagement ring, I probably could have not worried about it but if I have learnt anything its better to be prepared and organised for the next meeting (which is the Geelong Revival) than to leave an issue and rush to resolve it.
Its been a big three weeks with Chopped, Matsuri, WTAC and now I have a small break before the Geelong Revival.
Thanks to everyone for their support at WTAC it meant a heap to see so many people in ETS gear, it makes a world of difference.
Thanks to Dean Walters for the action shots