WHILE most of the readers of these pages would be better versed in the history of straight-line racing than the sideways malarkey, those who were at the genesis of drifting in Australia would probably remember the name Catherine Coleiro, better known as Driftcat. Not only was Cat the first female professional drifter in Australia, but she was also a pioneer in taking Aussie cars sideways.
“I had a 308 VK Commodore when we all started to get into drifting in 2003, so I used that, and I was the first person to enter a Holden in a national drift competition,” says Cat, whose surname is now Hewitson following her marriage. “Back then it was really basic; most tracks didn’t know what drifting was to learn from!”
