You might've heard of Brendon Hartley. You know ... the former 24 Hours of Le Mans winner and New Zealand's first Formula 1 driver in more than 30 years. But, perhaps lesser known is that his brother Nelson Hartley (apart from being a gifted racer himself) is also an ace engine builder.
His list of engineering creations is vast, ranging from the hearts that power sprintcars all over New Zealand to the land-speed Project '64 Mini that's become illustrious at the Bonneville Salt Flats.
But most recently, his most noted creation has been the rebuilt Toyota Century V12 in Jaron Olivecrona's Nissan Silvia S14 drift car.
Olivecrona has been one of the most improved drifters in our D1NZ National Drifting Championship. Having always been clean in his style, he and his S14 have now more regularly found themselves battling against the best in the series further into the final battle tree. There have been some hiccups, like his high-speed off through the grass at Pukekohe Park at the end of last season (pictured below ... thankfully the damage was relatively minor).
Photo / Matthew Hansen
But drifting isn't just about the winning and the losing. It's also about appreciating unique engineering, and the Hartley V12 Silvia S14 is certainly a class example of the logic.
The best way to appreciate the unique V12 songbook is to witness it in the flesh. But the next-best way is to observe on-board footage. Luckily, we've wrangled some from round one of the 2019 D1NZ series at ASB Baypark. Catch the on-board in full above.
And, if you're hankering to see it in the flesh, then you won't need to wait for long. The D1NZ circus is back in action this weekend for round two of the series at Max Motors Speedway in Wellington. Darren Kelly (Nissan R35 GT-R), Daynom Templeman (BMW M3), and Australian Matty Hill (Nissan Silvia S15) lead the points — but there's still plenty of competition left to go.