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| Queen of drifting in South Africa, Clare Vale, is giving her Scooby more go faster power. A lot. |
SA’S FIRST lady of drift, former stock car racer Clare Vale, said
she had always admired Subarus, despite never owning one. “There’s a certain
passion that infuses the brand and flows through Subaru owners, dealers and
staff members.
“This passion is a rare commodity, akin to the fervent admiration
that occurs with the more exotic brands. It’s almost impossible for the
mainstream manufacturers to inspire this type of passion across their model
ranges — for example, it’s easy to get excited about a Nissan GTR, less so about
a Tiida.
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| A wee BRzee is being bolted to this Garret turbo at Dezzi's race track in KZN. |
Vale returned to the Zwartkops Raceway near Pretoria for the first
round of the 2014 Super Series earlier this month. In her RAM Mustang she showed
she still has a lot of pace on the main circuit, qualifying seventh for the
first race in the V8 Supercar class of the Sports and GT race and — despite
being blocked at the start — Clare drove strongly to bring the RAM Mustang home
seventh of the V8 contingent.
Vale said of the circuit’s first race: “It was great to be back
behind the wheel of the RAM Mustang V8 supercar again. It’s been a long break
since my last circuit racing event, and it took a while to adjust, especially
after concentrating on drifting for the last year.
“I enjoyed every moment and really started to get to grips with the
car by the end of the first heat. I was really looking forward to race 2, but
unfortunately not even my drifting skills could find a way past the group of
Shelbys in front of me at every corner! All in all, I loved racing with the V8
drivers again and we’ll be back for more races this season.”
Bearing in mind rubbing bumpers around the tight Zwartkops track is
her idea of a good weekend out, the BRZ’s 147 kW was never going to get Vale’s
adrenaline pumping, despite Vale telling how she enjoyed settling into the the
hug of the BRZ’s sports seat, pushing the start button to “watch the needle on
the rev counter do the Scooby loop” and then “switch off the safety stuff and
let it drift, just for fun”.
Which is why the pearly white BRZ is not parked in a garage at her
home in Gauteng, but in a shed at Dezzi’s race track near Port Shepstone, in the
hands of the legendary Steve Clark from No Sweat Racing.
“My little naturally aspirated 2,0 litre Scoob has had a turbo
transplant — the first step in becoming a drifting/racing machine. Steve is now
busy with an exhaust system to match her new lungs, after which she’ll get some
suitable clamps and a few other titbits, spoilers and the like,” Vale
said.
Clark is also responsible for all Des Gutzeit’s monster Nissans and
Vale said he was the only person who could cure a twin turbo Porsche 917’s habit
of breaking rockers every time she set foot on a race track.
Vale said the BRZ had captured her imagination in a way that the
Toyota 86 couldn’t quite match.
“Maybe it was the Subaru-developed performance exhaust that
emphasised the Boxer heartbeat.
“Perhaps it was the excitement glittering in the eyes of the Subaru
salespeople when they spoke about the car. I told myself it was the five
year/105 000 km maintenance plan that came with the BRZ. Whichever it
was, a pearl white BRZ is now mine and I am now a passionate Scoobaholic.”
• Clare Vale will be
drifting in Round 2 of the National Series at Dezzi’s drift track near Port
Shepstone on March 22. Entry for spectators is R80 and R50 for kids under 12.
Food and drink will be on sale at the venue too.
Drivers interested in
entering the event will be required to be in possession of a regional or
national MSA license and information on entering can be found by contacting XS
Promotions on 010 224 0702 or e-mailing mikey@xspromotions.co.za.
