Drifting (motorsport)
A motorsport discipline where drivers intentionally oversteer through corners.
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Drifting is a driving style where the driver uses throttle, brakes, clutch, gear shifting and steering to keep the car in a state of oversteer while turning.[1] Competitions are judged on speed, angle, showmanship, and the line taken through corners.[2] The sport began on the mountain roads of Japan in the early 1990s and quickly gained momentum before the first D1GP round in 2000.[1]
Quick Facts
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- Motorsport
Facts from the source article.
Life and work
Daijiro Inada, Kenji Okazaki, and Keiichi Tsuchiya gave demonstrations there in a Nissan 180SX.[3] During the 1970s, the techniques that would become drifting were pioneered by Kunimitsu Takahashi, who had previously been a famous motorcyclist before switching to cars.[4] Takahashi's approach to driving brought him multiple championship titles and attracted many fans who were drawn to the visual appeal of tires producing smoke.[4] Between the 1960s and 1980s, the bias-ply construction of racing tires naturally encouraged driving techniques that involved high slip angles.[4]
The drift methods developed by Takahashi were of particular interest to Keiichi Tsuchiya.[5] A video showcasing Tsuchiya's drifting abilities was produced in 1987 through a collaboration between several tuning garages and popular car magazines.[5] This video, titled Pluspy, achieved significant popularity and served as an inspiration for numerous professional drift drivers.[5]
What the cited sources add
The DriftWorks account explains that drifting works by deliberately making the rear tyres lose traction while keeping the car under control.[1] Good drifting is about controlling angle, speed and line, not just making smoke.[1] Any rear-wheel-drive car is capable of drifting, especially if fitted with a limited-slip or welded differential.[1] Drifting is illegal on public roads in the UK.[1]
In Australia, the chase car is judged on how accurately it emulates the drift of the lead car.[6] For its qualifying rounds, the King of Europe Drift ProSeries employs a telemetry system that relies on GPS information to objectively assess speed, angle, and line.[7] A mechanical limited-slip differential is regarded as the most crucial component for drifting, with all other modifications being less important.[8]
References
- "What is Drifting?", DriftWorks.com. facts only, no text reused. driftworks.com
- Wikipedia, "Drifting (motorsport)" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Abdulrahim, "SAE Technical Paper Series", University of Florida, 2006 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
- Wikipedia, "Drifting (motorsport)" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Super Street, Issue 4, December 1996 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
- Wikipedia, "Drifting (motorsport)" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Dixon, "DRIVING; Drifting: The Fast Art of the Controlled Slide", The New York Times, May 7, 2004 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
- Wikipedia, "Drifting (motorsport)" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: lnsania, "Keiichi Tsuchiya - Pluspy (part 1)", 6 August 2007 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
- Wikipedia, "Drifting (motorsport)" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: "Australian Drifting Grand Prix sporting regulations, section 2.10.1 Judging Criteria - Drift Battles"; "Australian Judging", Track Battle (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
- Wikipedia, "Drifting (motorsport)" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: "Formula Drift PRO Sporting Regulations 2017 Version 1.0", static.formulad.com; Jefferies, Bill (July 11, 2014). "KING OF EUROPE: BATTLE FOR THE THRONE". Wangan Warriors. Retrieved July 26, 2019. (we also read that source) en.wikipedia.org
- Wikipedia, "Drifting (motorsport)" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Ellis, "Drift Battle 1", Express Motoring Publications, 2004, p. 53–56 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
Each numbered sentence above was checked against the source it cites before publication. Sentences citing Wikipedia adapt text from the English Wikipedia article Drifting (motorsport) (contributors), used under CC BY-SA 4.0; this entry is available under the same licence. Other sources were used for facts only; no text or images are copied from them.
More in Motorsport terminology
Sources
Compiled from Wikipedia and the sources listed below. Text from Wikipedia is available under CC BY-SA 4.0; this entry is adapted from it.
- Wikipedia: Drifting (motorsport) (CC BY-SA 4.0).
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