▶︎ Watch Drift Masters European Championship LIVE from Latvia on Red Bull TV: win.gs/DriftMasters
The 2019 Drift Masters European Championship is live on Red Bull TV. But what is drifting, how do drivers win and why does no one overtake? If you need drifting explained, read on.
As one half of the Red Bull Driftbrothers, Johannes 'Joe' Hountondji is one of drifting’s best-known drivers. He loves the sport, but even he will tell you that “drifting is not the easiest sport to understand.”
It is, however, one of the most exciting (and fastest growing) disciplines in motorsport, demanding the perfect balance of speed, style and fearlessness from its drivers. As Joe says, competitors go “man against man, machine against machine, mano e mano, head to head.”
Drifting is, essentially, the art of getting cars to travel forwards, but sideways, as fast as possible through turns, so that once drivers are out of a corner they can quickly accelerate away. But attempting to control a car when its tyres aren't gripping the road means “battling the laws of physics to the fullest extent,” says Elias.
As any petrolhead will know, you can make cars go sideways by either locking up the rear wheels, speeding them up or playing with weight transfer. For beginners, the simplest way of drifting is, says Elias, “to go for a turn and pull the brake; the rear wheels will lock up, and then you just slowly put on angle as much as you like, then slowly release the brake, step on the throttle and hold the grip.”
The pros have a multitude of different drifting styles and techniques involving clutches and brakes, and will drift through successive turns without their wheels gripping the road.
The Drift Masters European Championship is, in some ways, more like ice skating than motorsport racing - and not just because its cars look like they’re sliding all over the place. The sport is actually all about scoring points. In the DMEC, three judges are on hand to score every run by four criteria, these being…
Speed: The faster a driver takes a corner, the better. However, the challenge is keeping that speed up while also performing the best angle.
Angle: This means swinging the car’s back end out as far as possible (ie, going sideways), for as long as possible. “But the more angle you put on,” explains Joe, “at some point you’re going to slow the car down.” Basically, drivers want to go as fast as possible while also travelling sideways.
Line: This means travelling as close to the judges’ predefined racing line as possible. This line is marked by clipping points and clipping zones - clipping points are mostly on the inside of turns, while clipping zones are on the outside. The aim is to keep the car’s nose as close to the clipping points as possible, while also keeping the rear as tight as possible to the clipping zone.
Style: As if there’s not already enough for drivers to think about, they must also achieve all of the above with as much style, aggression and showmanship as possible. Burning rubber is very much encouraged.
Judges can award a maximum of 100 points for each run.
Every round of DMEC starts with qualifying, which means every driver takes two solo runs. The above scoring system applies, but drivers need to find the right balance between points-scoring and keeping themselves in the game.
“You get two tries and that either takes you through to the battles, or it’s the end of your weekend,” explains Joe. “You can either go all-out on your first lap and if you mess it up, you have one to go. Or you can go easy on the first lap, then all-out in the second. Then you have a sort of safe one in the books.”
Drivers who don’t score enough points are sent packing. Those that do proceed into the tandem runs - battles between a lead car and chase car. For most drifting drivers, these are what define the sport.
Watch our video to learn more about the rules and the format of drifting with the Drift Brothers, then tune in to Red Bull TV to watch the Drift Masters European Championships: win.gs/DriftMasters
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28 июл 2019
