Is Drifting Becoming A Big Sport

My brother and I have always seen drifting in videos and hear about it on a daily basis

within our car group.

So my brother would often be curious about drifting.

We both owned a Mazda Miata, which happens to be a very good car to drift in.

Since brother was fascinated with drifting, every weekend he would beg me to go

drifting with him.

I occasionally do Autocross events so drifting was the opposite of what you want to do, but after some convincing I was on

board.

We would both go around drifting around any turn that we thought looked good.

At first we were not very good and we’re constantly spinning out or crashing into the

grass, but after a couple of weeks of practice we were finally able to pull off a complete

drift around a turn.

History Of Drifting

While the true origin of drifting may not be exactly known, we know that Japan was one

of the first areas to use this technique.

One of the first people to create and use this technique was Kunimitsu Takahashi.

This technique led him to several championships and a following that loved

the smoke trail that he left.

The first official events dedicated specifically for drifting was started by Keiichi Tsuchiya.

He learned about drifting by watching Takahashi and practiced in mountain roads, which gained him a reputation in the racing

scene.

What Is Drifting

Drifting is a technique where the driver purposely oversteers while breaking traction in the rear tires usually going into a corner.

The driver maintains control for the entire drift from entering a corner all the way to

exit.

While the car is drifting around a corner the front tires are usually being pointed in the

opposite direction of the turn known as counter-steering.

Without this counter-steering the front of the car will just spin into the turn very

quickly and you will spin out.

Drifting In Competition

Drifting is growing to become a popular motorsport.

Drivers competing in cars that are usually rear wheel drive, drift around the course to

earn points based on multiple factors.

Drivers are paired off and compete in a tandem pass.

A tandem pass is where the two cars drift alternating lead along a short course with a

goal of trying to make the best drift as possible while trying to overtake the lead

car.

Extra passes may be permitted if the judges just cannot decide on a victor or if the crowd

“Boos” the judge’s decision.