Goodyear Formula Drift 2009 – The Lowdown

Tengku Djan – The Man on the Rise

I asked a friend of mine, with the best drifters from all over Asia competing in Formula Drift 2009, is Tengku Djan up for it? He quickly responded by saying that Djan has the credentials and what it takes to dominate it. A confident reply, but I was skeptical because I hardly knew Djan as much as I know Fernando Alonso. As an engineer by profession, I always had this need to see and observe something before making a leap of faith.

Tengku Djan is a household name in the drifting scene of Malaysia. I’m not making up a fact here as any motorsports fan in Malaysia can testify to it. But, what is it about Tengku Djan that makes him the best and very popular?  Well, I was experiencing it first hand at the recent Formula Drift event held at MAEPS Serdang.

To begin with, I must humbly admit that I have never seen Tengku Djan in action before. First time I saw him in person was at the Sepang A1 GP Team Malaysia Press Conference Session. He was a calm and confident man. Djan exudes the pedigree of an intelligent driver with solid background in technical matters as good as any engineer operating within a racing team. Well, that was my first impression on Djan a year ago. Formula Drift 2009 was my first chance to confirm my impression on Djan.

Mad Mike is the Crowd Entertainer

Saturday morning at the venue, the crowd was clearly concentrated in two places, Mad Mike’s and Djan’s pit. Mad Mike got slightly more crowd attention than our local hero, thanks to his out of the world Redbull Mazda RX-7. Ryuji Miki, former D1GP 2004 champion, however, was a bit alien to the Malaysian fans. Perhaps the location of his pit garage near to Mad Mike’s was not helping. His car, despite being one of the better-looking ones in the competition, was totally overshadowed by Mad Mike’s stunning RX-7. I have seen a lot of drift cars, but nothing could prepare me for the madness of that RX-7. No matter where you stand, it looks overwhelming. You need time to immerse back into reality after that.

One of the standout features of the event is the insane revving sound of Mike’s heavily modified 4-rotor engine. It is not a turbo, a blip on the gas one would clearly recognize the high pitched F1-like sound of a naturally aspirated engine. It’s music to the ears. As the harmony notes glimmer, excitement is evident in the eyes of all the fans around. Further adding spice to it, Mad Mike never failed to entertain the crowd with his antics, revving all the way from the pit garage to lineup for the queue to run. As he blips, the crowds roar. It was an amazing atmosphere. I grinned all the way until I took a perfect spot to get the best angle on the action.

Tengku Djan, Ryuji Miki and Mad Mike at comfort immediately

There is one thing the trio shared in common, adaptability on a new track. Out of 54 drivers that took part in the practice, only the three of them nailed it the first time,  consistently attacking the clipping points aggressively while maintaining speed, angle and line. It was a sight to behold. In all the runs, Djan was perhaps the most impressive. He started to get the car sideways very early on at high speed and applied opposite lock, sliding his car towards the barrier. In the nick of time, he smoothly glides the car around the bend and smokes his way beautifully, nearly scratching his rear bumper at the divider. He does this every time consistently, which I started to notice and was left talking about him with a friend for the entire day. It was Djan the fans loved, it was for this reason people came in large numbers to support him and give him the motivation he needs to succeed with flying colors. Even the rain didn’t flinch him one bit, as it did with some of his competitors. His first run in the rain was more than enough to show why he is the master. The commentator was impressed. The entry speed in the rain on his first run was surreal.

Tengku Djan fires clear warning as Mad Mike fail to impress

The difference between a race driver and a test driver is the ability to put in performance where it mattered most.  When conditions are tricky, a test driver attempts to recalculates his next course of action by having the knowledge of the track first hand. Hence in the Qualifying round, many adopted a conservative first run attempting to gather information before having the final banzai at the next attempt. Djan and Mike hadn’t adopted this philosophy but while Djan scored first with the highest points ever for Formula D Asia Qualifying, Mad Mike falters, leaving him with a possibility of duel with D1GP Champion Ryuji Miki who, for his own high standards, seems not contented in his car. But all credit to Mike as he is actually an exceptionally good drifter, but maybe he was too robust overriding the limit a couple of times pushing himself in the unexpected region of error. He was pushing the envelope and I appreciate that a lot from a driver. I’m sure most of the fans would agree with me on this one.

Mad Mike smokes Ryuji Miki, looking predestined to meet Djan in the Final

As we approached the final on Sunday, the crowd had reached full capacity. The tandem battle for the last 8 was all set and the rain started to pour although only for a while. The top trio were all there, but Djan’s fans are all calm knowing that he will only meet one of the duo on his way. I was watching from afar. Crowd was making huge noise in support for Mad Mike. The prospect of Djan and Mad Mike in the final is setting the crowd on inferno.

Mad Mike and Ryuji Miki – “One More Time!!” The commentator announced as the crowd cheered. They just love that insane sound of the 4-rotor. Mad Mike on his second run smokes Ryuji Miki and the battle was all set to the final. Ivan Lau almost got the better of Mad Mike due to his robustness in the first run battle for last 4.  But Ivan himself made a blunder on the second run and Mad Mike overtook him to take the win. The crowd was for “One More Time”, but the judges were against them.

Mad Mike then stumbled at the hands of Kiki. I was quite surprised that he made the same mistake as he did in the battle with Ivan Lau. He touched the side of Kiki’s car at the final clipping point. It was very close, and if he had backed off a bit, my dream final would have materialized. Nevertheless, one thing the crowd liked for sure was Mike’s lines and aggressive throttle control. It was his style alone and it was mesmerizing. I’m going to miss that madness of the 4-rotor engine.

Tengku Djan crowned Master of Arts in Sideways Driving.

Djan, as I witnessed, was a league of his own here. He has consistency, calmness, exposure, technique, control, and adaptation. You name it, Djan has all the qualities a champion needs. I remember being at the Malaysian F1 GP watching the likes of Schumacher. On TV, all drivers seem to possess similar abilities. However, in person, you tend to notice more of the different and sublime consistencies and qualities that separate the various drivers.

Djan was Schumacher-like quality at MAEPS. When he led a tandem, no one could get close. When he tailed, no one could smoke him away. Fantastically, it was true from the last 32 to the final two. Kiki has to be applauded for getting quite close to Djan. But Djan stuck to Kiki’s car like a hungry leech left on an empty Sahara desert making its way back to its nature.

Djan deserves the crown. He is worthy of his name. Djan, if you are reading this, I’m a believer now in the drifting scene and in the name. To all motorsports fans in Malaysia, if you have not experienced drift before do not get skeptical too early. Seeing is believing.

MUAZ ZAKARIA

See also:
– LIVE UPDATES: Formula Drift 2009
– Rain no hindrance to Formula Drift Qualifying Rounds
– Tengku Djan takes Formula Drift Malaysia 2009 crown

Talk about it:
– Live Updates: Formula Drift 2009