Drifting: The art of sliding sideways becomes a sport
A lot of the time motorsports are all about going as fast as possible. Formula 1 cars are all about speed as are the bikes in MotoGP. One motorsport that has slowly become very popular all over the world, drifting, actually found its origins in rally driving. This is one sport that is not all about speed but it is taking a car and sliding it through a corner and being judged on how well the slide was done. Starting in Japan in the 1970s to becoming a worldwide phenomenon today, drifting has really come a long way in the process. This interesting motorsport looks all set to take over the world soon.
In the late 1970s, race car drivers in Japan were really impressed with the way rally car drivers pitched their cars into turns and slid them through to the exit of the turn. A bunch of racers calling themselves the touge, would take to the mountain roads in Japan and take part in illegal races down the twisting roads. Soon they tried the rally technique of sliding their cars into the turns. This helped them to get a lot faster through the race and they then started to use the technique all the time.
Soon the races came to the city streets and people started to perfect the drifts they would do and they decided to make a sport out of it. There is a rumour floating around that says that once a driver named Keiichi Tsuchiya was racing in a normal race and he was in last place. He decided to slide through the corners and because of the extra speed he managed to get, he ended up winning the event. He later stated in an interview that he was drifting through the corners and the name stuck, even he was called the Drift King from then on.
Drifting really started to become popular in the late 80s and early 90s when to get away from the illegal nature of racing on unsanctioned mountain roads, people designed closed circuits and tracks that racers could fling their cars around in to their hearts’ content. The sport spread to America in 1996 when Japanese drifters came to the country and gave an exhibition of their sport. Clubs were set up and events were held and the sport became very popular.
The modern day competitive drifting event features races in mostly rear wheel cars sliding their cars through turns and getting points for various aspects of the drift. The drifts are judged on a variety of factors, racing line, angle, speed and impact. Each one of these factors gives a drifter points. The judges look for how close the drifter can get to another car or to an obstacle while sliding and not hit it and how much control they have over their vehicle. They are also judged on how spectacular the drift looked when it was being performed. Drifting has evolved into a sort of beautiful gymnastics event that racers perform in high powered vehicles.
Over the years a sub culture has risen around drifting similar to that which emerged around surfing. The surfing sub culture featured mostly negative stereotypes about the surfing crowd such as the fact that they were lazy, unconcerned about the world and were not serious about anything. Well drifting has also developed a sub culture of sorts.
It is mostly young people who go drifting, studies have shown that males between the ages of 16 and 29 are the ones most likely to be fans of the sport or go drifting themselves. Due to the youth of those interested in the sport, people can sometimes attribute negative stereotypes to this crowd as well. They are seen as being reckless drivers, they are out to endanger themselves and others and they are seen as lazy and have a non serious attitude. But once people realise that drifting is an actual motorsport which takes a huge amount of skill and discipline to do, they might change their minds. Drifters in Japan are regarded as celebrities and are almost worshipped.
This fascinating sport is now spreading across Europe and Asia as well, with drifting competitions being held from the UK to Malaysia. It looks as if drifting will continue to grow and could one day be as popular and as well respected as Formula 1 or rally driving are today.
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