Kenny Conomos - King on a 'small scale'
By Brendan Todio
The '09 Drift Nationals were full of winners, yet the one that most will remember is Luke Fink. The youngest winner of all winners, Kenny Conomos, is a high school student from Gold Coast, who took the first RC Drift title at the '09 Drift Nationals.
Drift Australia: How did you get into RC Drifting and how long ago was it?
Kenny Conomos: I got into RC drifting by getting a cheap one for my birthday (when I had my tonsils taken out on my 15th birthday in June 2008). I couldnt do anything else, so I built it and started to try to drive it. (Before then) I had never even heard of them before.
DA: Did you think that when you got into RC Drift that you were going to win a RC Drift competition?
KC: No way, would I ever think of even entering a competition let alone win one, mainly because i just did it to have fun and as a hobby.
DA: We often hear that RC Drift is a solid and growing scene. What's the RC Drift scene like in Queensland? I would assume that you are a member of a club, which club is it?
KC: Yes, since I started RC drift (through) to present times; it is amazing the amount of growth of popularity and interest in RC drifting.
Queensland is definitely one of the bigger states that has taken off with RC drifting. I joined a club called Driftcity which is involved in the Gold Coast, Brisbane and Harvey Bay, and is now grown to possibly be the biggest club in Australia.
DA: Before entering the RC Drift competition at the '09 Drift Nationals, did you know any of the interstate competitors? Have you kept in touch with any of them after the event?
KC: Before the '09 RC Drift Nationals, I knew a couple of the guys from Sydney already from an inter-state comp that we had earlier in the year, which was good because we knew how hard the competition was going to be. But we (also) have made good mates from the guys in Sydney and (we) keep in touch regularly.
DA: How many other Queenslanders entered? Do you know any of them? Are they from the same club?
KC: At Nationals, there was 4 of us that went down including me, 3 of us were from Driftcity and one of the guys was from Brizdrift.
We were all good mates before we went to the '09 drift nationals and so we stuck as a team when we competed.
DA: When you return to the next RC Drift competition, are you expecting the competition to be tougher?
KC: The only thing I can expect from the competitors at the next RC drift competition is for them to be much more aggressive and challenging. (After) seeing some of the talent already, I cant imagine what they would be like now.
DA: Are there any changes you are going to make to your car? For example: would you need to modify your tyres if the surface was different?
KC: Yes, there will be some changes to my chassis, mainly a new brushless motor and esc along with my setup. And I will be using a new tyre that has recently come out locally on the Gold Coast called DriftDaddy's which will be sure to change the performance.
DA: Do you see yourself moving up into car drifting when you get older?
KC: It is something that I have always thought of, and if I were given the opportunity to do it, I would definitely take it.
DA: Good luck with things and we hope to see you at Eastern Creek in April.
KC: Cheers Brendan, I hope to see you there too.
