Mad Mike takes on Adelaide

Mike Whiddet, or Mad Mike, has spent 18 years drifting cars round all kinds of race tracks.  

This weekend, he tackled the Adelaide Motorsport Festival.    

He originally brought his car, the Mad Mac, but mechanical problems in the gearbox forced that car out of the event.  

However, the New Zealander had another of his cars waiting in the wings. 

The Mad Bull was in a shipping container bound for Melbourne, and the last minute swap allowed Whiddet to complete laps.   

Upon reflection of the weekend, Whiddet was quick to point out how good it was.   

“It's been a little bit wet, but it ain't slowing us down at all,” said Whiddet. 

“It's been good, the fans are still coming out.”  

Whiddet completed multiple laps and said it was a hard track to drive as he maximised track limits for the adoring Adelaide crowd.  

Whiddet was full of praise for the event in the Adelaide Parklands, and compared it to the world’s premier motorsport festival.   

“The Adelaide Motorsport Festival, it's like a little mini Aussie version of Goodwood Festival of Speed,” he said. 

This year, Whiddet will be back at the Goodwood Festival of Speed, mentioning that he had something special planned for those travelling to the United Kingdom.   

“It's going to be a rotary (that I’ll drive),” he said.  

“It's going to have four wheels and it's going to go sideways.” 

Rotaries have no pistons in their engines, and it will make an unmistakable noise.