Codys D1NZ Round 4 – Daniel Woolhouse/ Castrol Edge Commodore

Tracks designed for the aggressive and fearless are built for Daniel “Fanga Dan” Woolhouse and the Castrol Edge Commodore. There is no one in the D1NZ field who is considered more comfortable with rubbing walls and panels than the man some call the “original D1 wild child”.

It’s been a season of mixed fortunes for Woolhouse, who came into Round 4 sitting fifth on the points table and was favoured by many to be a strong contender. After fitting a taller diff to allow the car to stay in a lower gear for longer, Fanga Dan arrived at Mt Smart full of confidence and looking to repeat last year’s top four performance.

On a stinking hot day, the D1NZ Pro drivers were released for Friday practice in groups of four, and immediately went to work laying down thick tire smoke and dragging bumpers along the wall. The real highlights amongst this were being provided by Fanga and Mad Mike, who’d both decided they might as well practice battling, with Fanga first snapping the ends off his wing on the initiation to the section, and then impaling the clipping point not once but three times with the now knife-like wing.

The heat of Friday was a stark contrast to the damp conditions that drivers faced on Saturday morning, with most holding back to let grip come back into the fresh surface. Well, almost all, bar Fanga, who was straight back on the wall and sighted as an example by the judges as someone who was holding a smooth arcing line. Taking the chance to help his young team mate Robee Nelson, Fanga was seen giving the 17 year old – who now pilots his old Silvia S15 – a fair bit of guidance and making suggestions on car setup throughout the day.

With three solid qualifying passes, Fanga ands the Castrol Edge Commodore would qualify in the fifth spot behind Mad Mike, Curt Whittaker, Cole Armstrong and team mate Gaz Whiter. The top drivers had really pushed hard at the event, with mere centimetres to the wall separating the difference between a good and a great run.

With only 19 cars facing the starter, Fanga was straight into the top 16 and up against the fast improving Brad Lauder. As the higher qualifier, Fanga would have the lead first and looked to be on the money when the unexplainable happened. Fanga looped the car out with only 10 metres of the judged section left to run, handing a 10-0 advantage to Lauder. Try as he might, he couldn’t force Lauder into an error in his chase run, and that would be all she wrote for the Commodore for the event.

With a decent qualifying result, Woolhouse finished ninth overall and now sits in sixth place on the 2011/2012 table, with just a home round at Whangarei and a trip to Hampton Downs left to close out the season. With 70 points separating the top 6 drivers, it’s still an open title race, and you can rest assured that if Fanga can’t win the title, he’ll do what he can to spoil the party for someone else.

Fanga wishes to thank all his loyal sponsors and fans, and is also looking forward to shortly announcing his participation in the 2012 Tectaloy International Drift Challenge as part of the World Time Attack Challenge event in Australia later this year.