Understanding Drifting – A Beginner's Guide
The world of automotive racing is vast and diverse. There are many different styles of racing, from rally racing to Formula, NASCAR-style and drag racing. While each type of racing has a devoted following, one of the fastest growing types (in terms of popularity and availability) is drifting. What is drifting, you ask? How do you drift? Let's take a deeper look at the subject.
Drifting (ドリフト走行 ,dorifuto sōkō) refers to a driving technique and to a motor sport where the driver intentionally oversteers, causing loss of traction in the rear wheels through turns, while preserving vehicle control and a high exit speed.
Drifting is entertainment. Probably the best quote ever written that describes the sheer excitement of drifting was printed in the Sports Car Club of America's own magazine, SportsCar, and was in reference to the very first D1 Grand Prix event in the U.S. in 2003 and stated, "It's like the last lap of the best road race you ever saw repeated over and over again."
Drifting is a racing style that seems full of contradictions. The point of the sport is to make your tires LOSE contact with the track. Once contact has been lost, drivers attempt to control their cars through a series of turns and straightaway sections. Basically, drifting consists of making your car slide forward as all four wheels spin without actually gripping the track.
Like most of the cars that perform drift racing, the sport originated in Japan. The S-type curves along the mountain roads were the actual birthplace and still constitute a popular training and proving ground for professional drivers.
Drifting is ideal for rear-wheel drive cars, though all-wheel drive and front-wheel drive cars are used in the sport. However, rear-wheel drive cars seem to have the largest number of available drifting techniques available to them. Clutching and braking are just two of these methods (braking is the only method that works with front-wheel drive cars). Terms like clutch-kick drift, shift-lock drift, e-brake drift, long-slide drift, jump drift and dirt-drop drift all apply to different types of drifting techniques. All of these techniques are based on heel-and-toe shifting, which is used in all forms of racing.
In addition, cars are heavily modified to take part in drifting competitions. Limited-slip differentials are used extensively, as are Mac Pherson struts, big brake kits and many other tuner accessories. The goal is to make the car as powerful as possible, while adding support for the suspension (drifting can put incredible strain on a suspension). Big brake kits are needed due to the high speed that wheels attain (different from vehicle speed because the wheels have no traction).
If you are expecting extreme speed, a drift race will likely be a disappointing event for you. The point is not attaining the most speed, it is to drift correctly. Many competitions do not even judge the winner based on who crosses the line first, but on who drifted more skillfully, executed the most difficult maneuvers and pulled it off with the most style (you can begin building your drift car at AndysAutoSport.com).
Judging Information
In competition (formula Drift), drivers are given 2 non-consecutive judged laps to qualify, with their top score counting towards placement into a field of 32. Only the top 32 drivers are allowed to continue into the tandem tournament rounds, with draws in scoring broken by entry speed.
Each qualifying run is judged on 4 criteria: Speed, Line, Angle, and Overall Impression.
Speed is a combination of the entry speed on the first corner as well as the amount of speed the driver is able to carry through the entire course. Drivers are encouraged to drive as fast as they can through the entire course, not just the entry point. Maximum points are awarded for fast entries and consistent speed through the entire course.
Line is the ideal path a vehicle must take on course and is marked by Inner Clipping Points, Outer Clipping Points, and Transition Zones. Inner Clipping Point are reference points on the course where the vehicle’s front bumper should come as close as possible to the reference point. Outer Clipping Points are also reference points and scored by determining how close the corner of the vehicle’s rear bumper comes to the point. Transition Zones are areas on track where the direction of the line changes and vehicles must change the direction of their drift. Scoring will be based on the execution of the transition. The drift line will be given during the drivers’ meeting.
Angle measures the amount of counter-steer and relative rear slip angle a driver uses through the course.
Overall Impression is the general feel of the pass and how well the other three criteria were executed through the entirety of the lap. This is the most subjective criteria and judges will look for the most “excitement” that the driver can bring.
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