Coming out of the starting box, Margaritis, Greek drift champ, was essentially sitting on the rev limiter of his LS swapped E46 BMW. Even through the entirety of the first inner bank the sound of his nitrous-fed LS’s limiter walloped off of the walls, giving the Hoonigan Burnyard a run for their money.
Short to say, the front end of his engine had had it.
The revs died instantly, his car coming to a coast as we noticed something skittering away from underneath his engine bay.
The pulley came off with such rotational speed, it had the energy to cross the entire infield and smack into the wall on the opposite bank.
Following that, the rest of first practice was able to go off without a hitch.
As the last car rolled between the ending cones, Practice 1 had come to a close, with a car already retired, and another down for the count.
An hour later saw the start of second practice, where two cars hit the track at once rather than one.
Fortunately for those in media vests that day, the rain seemed to clear up, and drivers became more confident.
However, confident drivers in the wet results in two things: greatness, or damaged parts and egos.
Daryl Priyono was the first to fall victim to the Irwindale curse in Practice 2. Not unlike RJ, the car whipped around upon entering the second inner bank, shunting the maroon Imagine Garage E36 into the wall. Fortunately for Daryl, his angle was much less severe when he hit the wall, the only casualties being his bumper and front fascia.
However, Daryl’s brush with the concrete was only setting a standard for the rest of Practice 2.
However, successful runs were able to be made in the wet.
