When Mad Mike Whiddett brought his freshly kitted Red Bull Mazda RX-8 to round two of the NOS Energy Drink NZ Drift Series in association with NAC Insurance at Pukekohe Park Raceway back in July, he did so without having added the final few finishing touches to the package. While the RX-8 drove fine, Mike noted it struggled with steering lock issues, in addition to the gearbox issues he had already suffered with the car. Struggle no more, though, as Mike tells us he’s sorted the steering geometry in order to incorporate extra lock.

As for the factory 5-speed Mazda RX-7 gearbox that was in there? Well, that’s been ditched in favour of an identical HKS 5-speed sequential shifter that he had been running in his FD3S Mazda RX-7. Damn! We look forward to seeing how this new combination helps Mike at round three of the NZ Drift Series this coming weekend in Taupo.