Vale drifts into third place
The final round of this year’s Japan Auto Drift Championship was held at The Rock Raceway, in Brakpan, over the weekend.
Benoni’s Clare Vale was the final qualifier for the top 16, after a front suspension failure during qualifying.
Her first tandem round was against Jim MacFarlane, of Supadrift fame.
After a closely fought tandem battle, Vale edged out MacFarlane to reach the top eight.
She then faced Freddie Cooper Senior, who put up a strong fight, but couldn’t stop the RAM Mustang’s progress into the top four.
The battle against Freddie Cooper Junior was a tough one, and the judges needed a “one more time” before deciding in Cooper’s favour.
The final battle for third and fourth saw Vale and Larry Smith take to the track. Unfortunately, Smith’s car battled with a fuel problem, handing an easy victory to Vale in the V8 Mustang.
Vale commented: “The standard of drifting in the Japan Auto Championship is incredibly high, so I was delighted to finish third on the day.
“The RAM team had to work hard to fix the car after we broke a front suspension pin during qualifying, so it was a great reward for all their efforts.
“We always get fantastic support from The Rock spectators, as it’s our home track, and it was great to deliver such a good result for all our supporters.”
For more information about Vale visit www.clarevale.com, or follow her on Twitter @ClareVale.
