1000 horsepower Mazda MX-5!

AH, DRIFTING. It’s a magical world of oversteer, tyre smoke and slightly deranged machines like this 1000hp (on low boost) Mazda MX-5.

It belongs to Mad Mike Whiddett, a crazy Kiwi who went viral in 2013 by drifting his RX-7 up Queenstown’s Crown Range, and has finally been revealed after a painstaking build process before making its competition debut in the US.

Backed by Red Bull and with factory Mazda support, the NC MX-5, codenamed Radbul, is a technical tour de force.

Power comes from a twin-turbo 2.6-litre four-rotor Mazda rotary, which in its most conservative tune produces 1000hp, or 745kW.

Turn the wick up, though, and Mike reckons more than 1500hp (1120kW) could be possible.

Then there’s the MX-5’s short wheelbase to consider; a longer wheelbase is typically considered ideal for drifting, and makes initiating and holding a drift more manageable.

All this means steering Radbul at pro-drift speeds should be quite challenging.

Everything about Radbul is aggressive, from the engine to the chassis and even the custom body and aero set-up.

“I have driven some quick cars over the years, but nothing even comes close to how fast this thing is,” Whiddett said of his new creation. “With the short wheelbase and the power-to-weight ratio of more than one horsepower per kilogram, we knew it would be a handful.”

It’s enough to question if Mad Mike has indeed gone mad.

Radbul will make its competition debut on May 8-9 during the second round of the 2015 Formula Drift Championship at Road Atlanta in Georgia.