Drifting (motorsport)

A diagram showing two different drifting techniques

Drifting is a driving technique where the driver intentionally oversteers,
with loss of traction in the rear wheels or all tires, while maintaining
control and driving the car through the entirety of a corner. Car drifting is
caused when the rear slip angle is greater than the front slip angle, to
such an extent that often the front wheels are pointing in the opposite
direction to the turn (e.g. car is turning left, wheels are pointed right or
vice versa, also known as opposite lock or counter-steering).
As a motoring discipline, drifting competitions were first popularized in
1970s Japan, and today are held worldwide and are judged according to
the speed, angle, showmanship and line taken through a corner or set of
corners.[1] The desired line is usually dictated by the judge or judges, who
describe their desired line as well as highlight areas of importance, such
as clipping zones, clipping points and touch and go areas.
Origin

Although the origin of drifting is not known, Japan was one of the earliest
birthplaces of drifting as a sport. It was most popular in the All Japan
Touring Car Championship races. Motorcycling legend turned
driver, Kunimitsu Takahashi, was the foremost creator of drifting
techniques in the 1970s. This earned him several championships and a
legion of fans who enjoyed the spectacle of smoking tires. The bias
ply racing tires of the 1960s-1980s lent themselves to driving styles with a
high slip angle. As professional racers in Japan drove this way, so did the
street racers.

Keiichi Tsuchiya, known as the "Drift King" ( Dorikin?), became

particularly interested by Takahashi's drift techniques. Tsuchiya began
practicing his drifting skills on the mountain roads of Japan, and quickly
gained a reputation amongst the racing crowd. In 1987, several popular
car magazines and tuning garages agreed to produce a video of Tsuchiya's
drifting skills. The video, known as Pluspy,[2] became a hit and inspired
many of the professional drifting drivers on the circuits today. In 1988,
alongside Option magazine founder and chief editor Daijiro Inada, he
helped to organize one of the first events specifically for drifting called the
D1 Grand Prix. He also drifted every turn in Tsukuba Circuit in Japan.

Popularity

One of the earliest recorded drift events outside Japan was in 1996, held
at Willow Springs Raceway in Willow Springs, California, hosted by the
Japanese drifting magazine and organization Option. Inada, founder of the
D1 Grand Prix in Japan, the NHRA Funny Car drag racer Kenji Okazaki and
Keiichi Tsuchiya, who also gave demonstrations in a Nissan 180SX that the
magazine brought over from Japan, judged the event with Rhys Millen and
Bryan Norris being two of the entrants.[3] Drifting has then since exploded
into a form of motorsport in North America, Australia, Asia and Europe.

Drifting has evolved into a competitive sport where drivers compete

almost exclusively in rear-wheel-drive cars, to earn points from judges
based on various factors. At the top levels of competition, the D1 Grand
Prix in Japan pioneered the sport. Others such as idc Irish drift
championship in Ireland, Formula D in the United States, World Drift
GP formerly Drift Allstars, King of Europe and the British Drift
Championship in Europe, WDS in China, RDS in Russia, Formula Drift
Asia in the Malaysia/Singapore/Thailand/Indonesia, NZ Drift Series in New
Zealand, Australian Drifting Grand Prix and Greek Drift Championship
(Drift Wars) have come along to further expand it into a legitimate motor
sport worldwide. The drivers within these series were originally influenced
by the pioneers from D1 Japan and are able to keep their cars sliding for
extended periods of time, often linking several turns.