FOLLOWING THE RACE LINE
MEREMERE DRIFT PARK
LOCATION: MEREMERE, WAIKATO
OPENED: 2018
LENGTH: 1KM
FASTEST LAP TIME: NONE RECORDED
SURFACE: ASPHALT
FIA GRADE: UNGRADED
Drifting has been a mainstay of New Zealand motorsport for decades, but for the majority of that time there has never been a circuit designed solely for the pursuit of sideways driving. Drivers made do with existing circuits, hitting the long-spanning corners with momentum and manjiing the straights where suitable. It worked, but generally meant only portions of a circuit were used, turned into makeshift sportslands with cones and tyre markers, or simply accepting ‘dead zones’ that mean button off and letting grip take its natural course for a period of time before re-entering.
It was a hard slog. However, as of 2018 and thanks to a dedicated bunch of local drifters, the Meremere Drift Park exists. Headed by ex-D1NZ Pro driver Sky Zhao, it’s located within the Meremere motorsport complex and boasts a 1km, six-corner layout that takes its design cues from the most famous tracks in Japan. The idea was a short, tight track that favoured technical driving over high-speed tip-ins and big power to pull you out, which is why it caters predominantly to the grassroots community.
The tight, technical switches through the shorter corners favour the underpowered, forcing you to manoeuvre through a chicane and a series of banked dips and rises, with a final test to see if you have enough go-to power through the final double-apex sweeper, only to manji the front straight with epic wall rides back into corner one and do it all over again.
The park was exactly the injection drifting needed to encourage newcomers to enter the sport, and with regular events both public and private, there’s no shortage of driving.
TRACK TIP:
Bryce Mcvicar-Laulau takes us through each section: “Corner one is the second largest of the course and favours those who take a deeper line with a good amount of angle to scrub speed and get into position for the first of the two quick switches through the chicane that slows you down to around 30kph. Corners two and three allow for clean switches as you build momentum in order to manji the smaller straight. Corner four is raised and banked towards the centre of the track and gives ample room to lay down power before switching into corner five. Corner six is
