The Repair Shop star Dom Chinea was left stunned during the latest episode of Dom Chinea’s Cornish Workshop
The Repair Shop star Dom Chinea was left stunned during the latest episode of Dom Chinea’s Cornish Workshop(Image: U)
Dom Chinea suffered a massive setback on the most recent instalment of Dom Chinea’s Cornish Workshop as he tackled drift car racing for the first time.
The Repair Shop favourite, his wife Maria and their dog Wendy are embarking on the adventure of a lifetime as they exchange the commuter chaos of Kent for the rugged splendour of West Cornwall. The series chronicles Dom as he forges a new existence in the far west of Cornwall.
During the most recent instalment, Dom constructed a drift car with engineer Sam Lovegrove, where they competed in a drift car race. Dom revealed: “Today, I’m slightly nervous because Sam has emailed me with a link to a Mazda for sale. An MX5 with the title of ‘Let’s Go Drifting’, which fills me with fear.”
He continued: “But you know what? I’ve moved down here, moved down to Cornwall, willing to try new things. Drifting is something I have never done, never tried, and no experience in. But I would actually quite like to give it a go. It’s something I’d quite like to learn. So we’ll have to see.”
Subsequently, the pair went to inspect the Mazda MX5, where they purchased it and restored it. Later in the programme, they entered it into a drift racing competition, reports the Express.
Dom confessed: “This is not my world at all. It just goes to show being into cars is a very broad category, and this is something I’ve never experienced before. I am, to say I’m out of my depth here, is an understatement.
“In drift competitions, it’s not about who crosses the finish line first, but how well the cars perform on the track. Judges give points for how well drivers control their drifts, or skids, going around the corners. They’re looking for speed, and who can do it with style.”
Yet, mere minutes into the race, Dom and Sam’s vehicle swerved off track and collided with the barrier. Dom explained in a VT: “With our modifications, we’re confident our Phoenix is going to fly. The steering, the cornering, the suspension, all working together in perfect harmony. Until it didn’t.”
Exiting the car, Sam joked: “That didn’t go so well!” to which Dom replied: “Seriously? I didn’t even get a go. Are you kidding me? After all that work?” Sam then observed: “I think it’ll fix, but not this afternoon, I don’t think!”
In a VT, Dom quipped: “Well, we wanted our car to make an impact”, before adding: “We started this crazy adventure in the hope we’d meet like-minded petrolheads. I’d say this was mission accomplished.”
Discussing the episode beforehand, Dom revealed about the car race: “Sam showed me a Mazda MX5 for sale that we could fix up to try drift racing – something I’ve never done.”
He continued: “But we had to change the car quite a bit first – we needed a hydraulic handbrake, and the rear wheels needed to be able to spin, we had to lock them together to both spin at the same time. But that wasn’t completely straight forward – the underside was quite rusty.”
Dom Chinea’s Cornish Workshop can be viewed on U and Channel 4.