NZ Performance Car – September 2019

DRIVER PROFILE

DRIVER/OWNER: Mike Whiddett

AGE: 21

LOCATION: Hamptons Downs Motorsport Park

OCCUPATION: Professional drifter

BUILD TIME: Four weeks

LENGTH OF OWNERSHIP: Four weeks

PERFORMANCE

POWER: 596kW

(800hp with 200hp nitrous shot)

THANKS: Firstly, the BIGGEST thanks to my lady, Toni, for holding the fort, running business, sorting the cars, and moving parts around the globe whilst I was rather non-existent

for four weeks; same goes to Mike Squire’s lady, Shona, as Mike was with me 90 per cent of this build; a MASSIVE thanks to Mike Squire, it’s definitely RAD to have such a close

homie being so knowledgeable about what we do and being an important and valuable part of this entire Mad Mike Motorsport operation; HUGE thanks to Grant and Ben at GT

Refinishers for putting in the highest quality work and also smashing out the all-nighters with me; Stefano and Luca of Lamborghini HQ Italy for embracing this mad Kiwi’s vision;

Charlie (Lord March) and his father Charles (Duke of Richmond) for kick-starting this idea with me and supporting me at your wild event, Goodwood Festival Of Speed; Mazda

need MAD props for allowing me to tackle this challenge, it wouldn’t have happened without their thumbs up; Ryan Heron, Andy Deere, Graeme Murray, and the rest of the film

production crew for the epic content; all the partners and individuals that jumped onboard project #NIMBUL; Red Bull, of course, for giving us the wings; Liberty Walk, Hampton

Downs, Rotiform, Toyo Tires, Syvecs, Fi Exhausts, Air-Rex suspension, SRD Tuning, Tony Quinn, Ben Dallas, Greg Brink, Gareth Lewis, Leon Scott, and Dan at The Shipper.

the

mo

tor

hoo

d.c

om

2

6

the need to modify the carbon tub for clearance — clearance that

was further reduced by the AirRex air-ride kit, which replaces the

factory air suspension. While Mike was a bit worried about how

the kit would affect the handling, the few shakedown laps they

squeezed in proved those fears to be unfounded, as it actually

gives the guys a small window of adjustment between 80psi and

120psi when ride height is consistent but the effective spring

rate changes. The other important change was fitting adjustable

swaybars and links to offer another element of adjustment.

With such tight tolerances inside the guards, the car actually

has two sets of wheels. The first is a full matching set of 20-

inch, three-piece, step-lipped barrels with modified Rotiform

DIA faces, which mimic the iconic Lambo Countach and Diablo

wheels from the ’80s and ’90s. For drifting, however, the fronts

are swapped to 19x9.5-inch cast Rotiform LSRs with AeroDiscs

to allow for that lock — not that Mike minds; he actually prefers

mismatched wheels, as evidenced by all his drift cars. You’ll have

the chance to make up your own mind when the Huracán returns

from Goodwood FOS to headline Mad Mike’s Summer Bash in

December.

Believe us when we say that, while this car looks good in the

images in front of you, seeing it in person will give you the true

appreciation for the wild waist-height proportions. It may have

been only a four-week build, but what the team has created is

something truly wild and a game changer, not only for New Zealand

but also for the entire supercar industry. It just goes to show that

around any corner could be that one chance meeting that might

make your wildest dreams come true — so don’t let it slip by!