Drifting




The History

o 30 years ago, drifting was a popular racing technique in the All Japan Touring Car Championship.
o In the 1970s, motorcycling legend turned driver, Kunimitsu Takahashi became the foremost creator of drifting techniques.
o Takahashi was noted for hitting the apex (the point where the car is closest to the inside of a turn) at high speed and then drifting through the corner, preserving a high exit speed.
o Professional Japanese drivers adopted drifting quickly, along with the street racers.

The Basics

o A high skill motorsport of car control in slides at high speeds of 80 – 110mph.
o Judged by speed, angle, line and style rather than first to cross the finish line.
o Drift cars are normally mid-sized, rear wheel drive Japanese sports cars.
o The “drift explosion” worldwide has lead to American and European built cars also being used.


The Goals

o Apply enough power to the rear wheels to break tyre traction and to initiate a slide whilst accelerating the car forward, creating the Drift.
o Once the drift is initiated it must be maintained throughout the turn and course.
o A gracious drift must be achieved by using nearly full power, slight braking and precise counter steering.
o The course is navigated according to the “ clipping points”, a section of a corner marked out by judges as the “correct drift line”



The Scoring

On Race days in all championships:


o Drivers are given a practice session before qualifying.
o Qualifying consists of 1 practice run and 2 judged runs
o Drivers begin with 100 points – points are deducted for lack of speed, angle, line and style.
o The top 16 consists of drivers with the highest points.
o Top 16 are separated in to pairs - top qualifier battles last place qualifier and so on.
o The finals are tandem runs, referred to as Tsuiso (chase attack).


The Scoring of Runs:

o 10 points split equally between drivers.
o After 1st run, points are distributed according to speed, angle, line and style.
o Minor mistake will split scoring 6-4, slightly bigger mistake will split scoring 7-3 and so forth.

Provisos:

o Overtaking the lead car under drift conditions almost always wins that run.
o Overtaking the lead car under grip conditions automatically forfeits that run.
o Spinning forfeits that run, unless the other driver also spins.
o Increasing the lead under drift conditions helps to win that run.
o Maintaining a close gap while chasing under drift conditions helps to win that run.


 Judges Disagreement or Crowd Disagreement:
o Crowd disagreement is demonstrated by chants of “One More Time!”.
o Runs may continue until a winner is produced.
o The winner will often give a “solo demonstration run” and advance to the next stage.

Followers