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Before I even packed my bags, the Aruban drift scene was pumped about us coming and already promoting us coming to the islands. Their #1 drifter, known as MonkeyDrift DA on Facebook was leading the charge. He posted a picture of him in my car and we shared it mentioning that Monkey was in the Banana! They loved it and it was started a wave of fun. They were announcing on their local radio how Monkey would be chasing the American Banana around the track!
After 2 delayed flights with out **Special Edition Lugnut**, the entire American drift squad had finally arrived in Aruba! Greeted by some of the locals, we set off to the beautiful rental house. If there is one thing you should know about Aruba, it’s the fact that EVERYONE is the happiest and nicest person ever. There is little ego or boasting- everything is about having a good time and making sure others are having a better time.
Even though we arrived late, we were ready to show the
first-timers one of the local treasures- the steak and cheese from roadside
stands. These places are only open LATE… 9pm start time and overnight hours for
some of the BEST food you can ask for. I already miss it- maybe it’s time to
book a vacation!
Next morning we were up early so we could finish prepping the track. The Bushiri Go-kart Track was already seeing some improvements as the locals and the core Ter-Tech Drift staff paved some extra wide portions on turn exits. Seemingly endless temporary fencing was installed and we put up some hater blocking material to try to keep away non-entry paying spectators. We did some practice runs and even a few of the locals joined in.
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Unfortunately, my very first run I nipped a tire that was left out of place on the edge of the track and my front bumper was knocked under the car and GRENANDED as it felt the wrath of the rear tires. It served well over the last 17 months and was given an honorable discharge as the remains were divided among several locals as souvenirs. Curacao drifter Lennon Anecita rode for our test session and was really surprised how well we and the other American’s quickly linked the track (most on our first runs).
As the sun was setting, we had a cross-country trip with 20
racecars escorted by the police! Blocking intersections and running red lights
we cruised along the gorgeous shore. Ending up on top of the lighthouse hill
with the most perfect sunset behind us, the impromptu car show was on. Another
long night with the locals with a barbeque at our house, all cooked by the
local driver Jason (aka “Fun”) that evening, we took a couple hours to sleep.
Starting early to finish the event setup, soon the crowd and
drivers were all ready to get rowdy! We had some fantastic practice runs and
were feeling unstoppable. During qualifying I was determined to link the end
section with only throttle, no ebrake. It was simple to do but quickly I realized
that I was insanely fast for the corner ahead and I was unable to snug up to
the inside clip. Resulting score pushed me to 3rd place qualifier,
the highest of the Americans.
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Tandem time!
First battle I drew was against the only 4-cylinder car there, an SR20det 240sx. We chat back and forth about our cars and watch the first battles together. Fist bump (Aruba custom) and a good luck were traded as we got into our cars. I warm up my tires with some donuts while he launches a burnout… he heard some strange noise and called 5 minutes. After an inspection, we saw that the axle CV joint had broken, he could not battle so we moved on.
First battle I drew was against the only 4-cylinder car there, an SR20det 240sx. We chat back and forth about our cars and watch the first battles together. Fist bump (Aruba custom) and a good luck were traded as we got into our cars. I warm up my tires with some donuts while he launches a burnout… he heard some strange noise and called 5 minutes. After an inspection, we saw that the axle CV joint had broken, he could not battle so we moved on.
Next up was American Bill Stenger who had already beaten American Will Barnette. Bill tells me his 2nd gear just broke and he will go 1st to 3rd and pray. I lead first and had a really good run with lots of angle, but I still felt slow with these Achillies tires . We were told that I had the advantage from that run. Next run I am due to follow and as we are set by the starter, Bill unintentionally mistook a motion for a start and took off. Having almost 3 car lengths between us into the entry I ride the outside with the throttle STRAIGHT MATTED and right on the edge of the track. By the end of the lap I had caught up and was on Bill’s door. Pretty sure I had it… but we lost. Apparently we had the edge of the tire touch dirt on the first turn and seen as a major error.
Bill moved on to face another one of us, Harri Tervola. Harri
led first and had an electrical issue; same one that plagued him all weekend
(sensor failure). Robbing him of 90% of his near 700hp, Harri withdrew. Finals
Bill faced off against a local celeb known as Spooky!!! Great driver running a
RB setup the two drivers when through a heated OMT battle before Spooky made a
critical error, handing Bill, and America, the 1st Place spot!
After the event we took to the nightlife with our new friends
and had an amazing party to cap off the weekend. Crashing at 4am for the 3rd
night in a row, we were up by 8 and heading back to the Bushiri track. We still
had to tear down all the fencing and pack the cars in the container for their
next trip over to Curacao. After the most labor intensive day, the entire group
of us went to Jason (Fun) and Spooky’s restaurant called Taste Buds for some
amazing food before jumping a jet back home.
This trip was one of the best things I have ever been a part of and the atmosphere and people there are what make it so good. Thank you Aruba, all the local bros for the insane efforts, Tyler for letting us store our cars, and Thank you to the entire Ter-Tech crew Harri, Minna, Hannu, Chris, Jeff, Joey, Jim and Bladder for being our one man judging machine.
This trip was one of the best things I have ever been a part of and the atmosphere and people there are what make it so good. Thank you Aruba, all the local bros for the insane efforts, Tyler for letting us store our cars, and Thank you to the entire Ter-Tech crew Harri, Minna, Hannu, Chris, Jeff, Joey, Jim and Bladder for being our one man judging machine.
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