Darren McNamara
Encyclopedia
Darren 'D-Mac' McNamara is a professional drift
driver from Cork
, Ireland
.
Darren first competed in the Irish
Prodrift series and the British
D1 Great Britain
series (now EDC), winning the Prodrift title in 2006. He drove a Toyota AE86
with a Nissan SR20 engine.
In 2007 he was invited to compete in the American Formula D
series in his Corolla. He had a successful season in the underpowered Corolla and Falken Tires
built him a new car for 2008: A Saturn Sky
with 800 BHP.
He adapted fairly well to the new car in 2008, but the car wasn't fully developed until the 2009 season, when Darren achieved his maiden win at Wall Speedway and a second place at Road Atlanta
.
Drifting (motorsport)
Drifting refers to a driving technique and to a motorsport where the driver intentionally over steers, causing loss of traction in the rear wheels through turns, while maintaining vehicle control and a high exit speed...
driver from Cork
Cork (city)
Cork is the second largest city in the Republic of Ireland and the island of Ireland's third most populous city. It is the principal city and administrative centre of County Cork and the largest city in the province of Munster. Cork has a population of 119,418, while the addition of the suburban...
, Ireland
Ireland
Ireland is an island to the northwest of continental Europe. It is the third-largest island in Europe and the twentieth-largest island on Earth...
.
Darren first competed in the Irish
Ireland
Ireland is an island to the northwest of continental Europe. It is the third-largest island in Europe and the twentieth-largest island on Earth...
Prodrift series and the British
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
D1 Great Britain
European Drift Championship
The Pirelli European Drift Championship is a drifting series held each year throughout the United Kingdom. It was introduced in 2007 following the collapse of the D1 Great Britain series which in turn replaced the Autoglym Drift Championship...
series (now EDC), winning the Prodrift title in 2006. He drove a Toyota AE86
Toyota AE86
The AE86 generation of the Toyota Corolla Levin and Toyota Sprinter Trueno is a small, lightweight coupe introduced by Toyota in 1983 as part of the fifth generation Toyota Corolla lineup. For the purpose of brevity, the insider-chassis code of "AE86" is used to describe the whole range...
with a Nissan SR20 engine.
In 2007 he was invited to compete in the American Formula D
Formula D
Formula DRIFT or Formula D is the premier United States drifting series. Formula Drift, Inc. was co-founded by Jim Liaw and Ryan Sage in 2003 as a sister company to Slipstream Global Marketing, the same partnership that brought D1 Grand Prix to the United States. The new entity would solely own,...
series in his Corolla. He had a successful season in the underpowered Corolla and Falken Tires
Falken Tires
Falken Tire Corporation is a Japanese manufacturer of automobile tires. Originally created in 1983 as a brand for Ohtsu Tire and Rubber to sell their lineup of performance tires under, Falken became part of Sumitomo Rubber Industries when they acquired Ohtsu in 2003...
built him a new car for 2008: A Saturn Sky
Saturn Sky
The Saturn Sky was the only roadster from the Saturn marque of American automaker General Motors, and was initially released in the first quarter of 2006 as a 2007 model. It uses the Kappa automobile platform shared with the Pontiac Solstice and Opel GT...
with 800 BHP.
He adapted fairly well to the new car in 2008, but the car wasn't fully developed until the 2009 season, when Darren achieved his maiden win at Wall Speedway and a second place at Road Atlanta
Road Atlanta
Road Atlanta is a 2.54-mile road course located just north of Braselton, Georgia, USA. The facility is utilized for a wide variety of events, including professional and amateur sports car and motorcycle races, racing and driving schools, corporate programs and testing for motorsports teams...
.