The genesis of this story, for me, begins at Result Auto in Tunapuna. Nicholas Duncan and I were checking through the Hot Wheels he had on sale at Result Auto Solutions when he started telling me about “one of the guys who started driving drift cars on an Assetto Corsa simulator rig who was going to be in Wallerfield for the first time this weekend.” I didn’t think much of it, except that it was a sensible way to practice during the pandemic…  until of course I saw the orange and purple drift car blasting by at pace the next day– full opposite lock, roasting its tyres past the pit exit. Was that the sim guy? 

until of course I saw the orange and purple drift car blasting by at pace the next day– full opposite lock, roasting its tyres past the pit exit.

After some enquiries at the pit area, I found my good buddy Clint Kumar, who as it turns out was one of the same car’s sponsors. And yes, the driver was indeed the young simulator pilot, Narie Balkaran. Narie, a.k.a. Sim Drifter, is also an entrepreneur with his own business– DK Designs, which does vinyl-based signs, wraps and graphics.

He was a familiar face and had a casual, yet methodical demeanour. He seemed to be in awe of the moment just as much as we were. In my experience the rush of your first successful motorsport outings are among the best and here’s what he shared with us about his adventure thus far…

“So basically I was going out on the track driving, starting with a figure eight. Then I was like, I wanna drive the track! And as soon as I initiated hard and I started steering the car I was like ‘wow, something feeling correct!’ The steering movement, the footwork I was doing, everything felt right. So I said to myself ‘Alright, leh we go!’ Soon I was starting to figure it out, figure out what mistakes I was making. The only thing was that in the tandem runs I was a bit ‘meh’ and I was sticking in 5th instead of 3rd. But overall, this was the best day of my life. 

Then I was like, I wanna drive the track! And as soon as I initiated hard and I started steering the car I was like ‘wow, something feeling correct!’

“Sim is the way to go. For the younger generations, they will quicker understand technology and connect with that rather than car parts. A lot of people can make the connection from sim to real life but it depends on the sim and the setup. So if you have a good friend who has a drift car, you can ask to drive it. And you can build your sim to feel like it. So that’s what I did with Nicholas Ramlochan’s car. I built my sim and made him test it.

"It was still off, but after some time practicing, I developed the mind and the speed driving on the sim. There is no grip, no g-force but I have 1500 hours in the sim. People from all over the world race on the sim like Piotr Wiecek, Adam Lz, all those guys, we drift together on the sim and you know, you feel like you can do it. 

...that’s what I did with Nicholas Ramlochan’s car. I built my sim and made him test it.

“I would tell anyone who wants to get into drifting but they can’t afford a drift car, get a sim and play with it. Feel what is drifting, play with a lot of people you know. You’ll learn how to mash brakes, you can even learn to drive gears. And off the bat you can go anywhere, and once you focus yourself and say I want to do this. And you can do it with a proper working car. I would say as a beginner, you don’t need big horsepower, but you need steering control. If you could build a car, buy a wisefab, stock engine, and you could drive and do things. You don’t need handbrakes that much. I’m actually using the handbrake more to slow the car to avoid hitting. It’s a lot about throttle control– playing with the throttle, playing with the gears. 

I would say as a beginner, you don’t need big horsepower, but you need steering control. If you could build a car, buy a wisefab, stock engine, and you could drive and do things.

“First time driving the lap (at Wallerfield) you need to drive the track and realise the track is big. You need to look for some places that you would want to use as your clipping points. Try to focus on putting the car there but not too much to hit something. So you just focus on that, and you drive, try to steer the car into it and you could get it. “Good vibes only.”

...drive the track and realise the track is big. You need to look for some places that you would want to use as your clipping points. 

Sponsors include “Bhagwansingh, Dansteel, Edoo’s, Garage Fresh, Unlimited Tyres, Extraordinary Designs, SSM Marketing, Mathai Imports, Misra Imports, Rampersad Group of Companies and so many more. When I wanted to build the car, without hesitation, these companies and good friends helped this car go from a shell with nothing, to a built car in four months. Everything on the car was my idea inspired by Naoki from Japan– the two-colour. We still have to do the livery with all the sponsors, which will be ready for the next competition meet.”

And surely enough this weekend we saw the car with its full complement of sponsors. The meet started off with practice sessions which managed to claim a few cars with various mechanical failures.

At the driver’s briefing it was announced that Pro 1 and Pro 2 classes would be merged, which meant that Narie was going up against the big guns– and this was his first competition outing.

...it was announced that Pro 1 and Pro 2 classes would be merged, which meant that Narie was going up against the big guns...

He managed to qualify in the top half of the remaining entrants and put down some outstanding drives against the mid-pack drivers, working his way up into the top four. 

...putting him in 4th overall. Nonetheless, he received high praise from his competitors and fans alike...

In the battle for 3rd against Dario Jordan, Dario aborted his run but Narie wanted a proper battle and left the track, losing the run with the resulting DQ, putting him in 4th overall. Nonetheless, he received high praise from his competitors and fans alike and even managed to get an on-track interview with TTT. The 2022 Drift Championship is now officially underway and with a brilliant shakedown debut and the first event of the year under his belt, this young simulator pilot turned pro drifter is squarely in contention for rookie of the year. 

...this young simulator pilot turned pro drifter is squarely in contention for rookie of the year. 

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Want more vibes? Check out these videos below...

Shift Loc Video:

KJ/Kerry Drift Video (shakedown):