He promised more power and aggression and that’s exactly what defending Cody’s D1NZ Drift King Curt Whittaker (Mount Shop 2JZ Nissan Skyline R34) delivered at the opening round of the 2012/13 National Drifting Championship series at Manfeild over the weekend.

Though he was overshadowed in qualifying on Saturday morning by high-profile rival ‘Mad Mike’ Whiddett (Red Bull/Speedhunters Mazda RX7) who top scored with 85 points, Aucklander Whittaker – who qualified tenth with a 66-point run – battled his way through the field to eventually come up against and beat former D1NZ series champion ‘Fanga Dan’ Woolhouse (Castrol Edge Holden Commodore) in a Final clash which had to be repeated before a winner could be declared.

Even then it was a close run thing, the result only finally cut-and-dry when Woolhouse broke a hub after contact with Whittaker in his chase run and couldn’t replace it in the five minutes allowed before the result of a battle is declared.

Third overall was last year’s Cody’s D1NZ Manfeild round winner Whiddett who won battles against young gun Nico Reid (GT Refinishers Nissan S15) and Cole Armstrong (V Energy Nissan Skyline R34) before losing to Woolhouse in the Top 4 but beating series newcomer Ben Belcher (Green Brothers Racing Mazda RX7) for the final spot on the Finman Software Solutions round podium.

Earlier in the day Kiwi V8 Supercar ace Shane van Gisbergen (SP Tools/Monster Energy Ford Falcon V8) enjoyed a real baptism of fire in his drift debut, only getting one lap to qualify after his car blew a power steering line but beating his first ever battle partner, ‘Fanga Dan’ Woolhouse, on his chase run only to lose out to Woolhouse with a short straight-line through the first left-hand corner in his lead battle.

Local driver Shane Rutland took the final Top 32 qualifying spot behind van Gisbergen but lost out in his Top 32 battle to Rotorua driver Brad Lauder.

In the Pro-Am class contested earlier in the day victory went to 18-year-old Wellington rookie Matt Lauder (Nissan S13) from last years’ Manfeild class winner Russell Sifleet (Nissan S14) from Auckland and former motorcycle road racing star Sam Smith (Nissan S15) from Pukekohe. The country’s top female drifter, Tauranga’s Jodie Verhulst (Toyota Supra),  impressed by qualifying second, lost out to Joe Kukatai in their Top 16 battle but still ended up seventh overall.

Like the premier D1NZ Pro category, Pro-Am attracted a field of over 30 cars, the biggest yet seen at a Cody’s D1NZ series drift round and proof, said series CEO and organiser Brendon White, of the healthy state of the sport in this country.

“At the end of the day, “White said on Saturday evening, “it’s about engaging the fans and that’s exactly what we’ve done today. We’re celebrating 10 years of D1NZ championships this year and today has been a great way to start.”

The weekend’s meeting was the first of a new BP-backed Triple Crown series-within-a-series which also includes the third round in Tauranga in January and the penultimate one in Christchurch in March.

Before the new Tauranga round however the series heads back up to Whangarei for the second 2012/13 round over the December 01-02 weekend.