A great job again by CSP Hire!

A long-time dream of Auckland-based international driver ‘Mad Mike’ Whiddett of the Red Bull Drift Shifters, was to create a custom designed international drifting event by replicating a giant pinball machine. And that is exactly what he did, with the help of the Red Bull team, by using a 200 metre long stretch of inner-city road in Auckland’s downtown to create his course.

Reuben Yeoman, Event Manager explains, “when we first started discussing this event and the course required, we talked about the type of equipment we would need. We had no hesitation in calling the CSP Hire team as we had worked with them on two previous occasions for the Red Bull City Scramble events.”

With the step up from motorbikes to motor vehicles, the barrier required had to not only shape the course and keep the public safe, but also allow them a great view of the event and the amazing skills on display by these world class drivers.

“In the past we used the TL-1 Water Wall barrier, but Mario from CSP introduced us to the ArmorZone™ TL-2 Plastic Barrier,” says Reuben.

“It just so happens that we had brand new ArmorZone™ TL-2 Plastic Barrier available that we could supply for the event,” says Mario Bennett, Hire Sales Engineer for CSP.

“ArmorZone™ was the perfect choice as not only did they look really good, they had a much higher safety rating,” adds Rueben. “The added bonus for us was that the shape of the barrier meant we were able to mount sensors, used for our new software judging system, on them.”

The unique scoring system which used more than 30 proximity sensors was developed in New Zealand exclusively for the Red Bull Drift Shifters event. The sensors electronically score competitors. The closer the cars drift to the sensors, the higher the score - just like a real pinball machine. Points were accumulated in real time on a digital scoreboard.

With the course being constructed in downtown Auckland, Reuben and his chosen contractors had a 10 hour window from road closure to event start time to get the course assembled. “I had 20 suppliers setting up the course. Mario and the CSP guys were amazing. They installed all of the barrier really quickly, which is another benefit of ArmorZone™, and had them all filled with water in amazingly quick time. The uninstall went just as well.”

In front of 10,000 excited fans, professional drift driver Matt Powers (USA) beat 11 other competitors from New Zealand, and around the world, to take the glory in the first ever Red Bull Drift Shifters.