Drifting Rules

Drifting Rules

Welcome back! The Drift Session rules and regulations are being posted once again for their intended purpose: helping new drivers get used to the Drift Session format. If your drifting organization wishes to use these rules and regulations for your own events, please remember to credit the Drift Session and its drivers for helping to bring these guidelines to life. For more information on Drift Session rules, regulations, and scoring, please be sure to visit an official Drift Session event.

Drifting Tracks

Drifting Tracks

Japanese Racetracks

Name:	Auto Polis International Racing Course
Circuit Length:	4,674 meters / 2.905 miles
Max Straight Length:	902 m
Course Width:	12 - 15 m
Address:	Kami-noda 1110-12, Kamitsue-mura Oaza, Hita-gun, Ohita Pref. 877-0321, Japan Google Maps Satellite
Telephone:	+81-973-55-1111
Fax:	+81-973-55-1113
Website:	http://www.autopolis.jp/
Email:	??
Comments:	Autopolis is an international racing circuit located near Kamitsue village in Ōita Prefecture. Opened in 1990, it hosts a range of domestic and international motorsport events throughout the year. Although the track meets a high standard in terms of its facilities, it has never hosted a Formula 1 race. Due to the circuit ending up in financial difficulties, it has changed hands several times but still operates to this day. The circuit, located within Aso Kujiyu National Park, was built at a cost of $500 million by the wealthy real-estate developer and investment banker Tomonori Tsurumaki who made headlines in 1989, when during a Paris auction, he successfully bid a Pablo Picasso painting Les Noces de Pierrette for $51.3 million from his Tokyo hotel room. Following his successful bid, he announced that his painting was to hang at at the art gallery of the auto racing resort, under development at the time. The circuit was designed by Yoshitoshi Sakurai who was the project leader of the Honda F1 team during the 1960s. Tsurumaki ordered 30 Buick powered US built single seater race cars called "Sabre Cars" for a race to take place on his circuit's grand opening, on November 1990 consisting of a mixture of invited US CART drivers such as Stan Fox, Johnny Rutherford, Dick Simon, Gary and Tony Bettenhausen, against local Japanese drivers. After the grand opening, Tsurumaki planned on a series with the cars, known as FC-45 "Formula Crane". A few races were run in 1991, with only a handful of cars competing. The only major international race held at Autopolis was the 1991 World Sportscar Championship season final race, the 1991 430km of Autopolis which was won by Michael Schumacher and Karl Wendlinger in a Mercedes-Benz C291 fielded by Sauber. To promote the venue's intention to host a Formula 1 race, it sponsored the Benetton Formula 1 team in 1990 and 1991. The cars featured prominent Autopolis logos. Visitors criticized the track for being too remote to the hotels which required several hours bus ride and felt that it was unsuitable for an F1 race. By then, hopes were fading, Tsurumaki turned up at the 1992 Portuguese Grand Prix. Whilst staying in Estoril, $250,000 of cash and jewels was stolen from his hotel room. Tsurumaki also invested in race horse A.P. Indy and paintings of renowned painters such as Picasso, Monet, Van Gogh, Chagall, Renoir and Magritte before his company, Nippon Tri-Trust collapsed, leading to his bankruptcy in 1993. The circuit plus the painting and contents ended up at the hands of Hazama who was responsible for the construction of the race track. By 1995, the company offered the site for sale at 10% of its build cost which consisted of three hotels, swimming pools and an artificial ski slope. The paintings by then remained in a bank vault waiting to be sold. The circuit currently holds events for the D1 Grand Prix as well as Super GT. Autopolis. wikipedia.org Accessed 11 July 2008.

Drift Technique:Swaying Drift (Manji Drift)

Swaying Drift (Manji Drift) 
 This is a slow side-to-side faint like drift where the rear end sways back and forth 

 down a strait.

Drift Technique:Long Slide Drift

Long Slide Drift
  This is done by pulling the E-brake through a strait to start a high angel drift and 

 to hold this to set up for the turn ahead. This technique can only be done at high 

 speed.

Long Slide Drift

1. Enter a turn at high speed to perform this drift.

2. Turn your wheels into from the turn. 

3. Hold in the release button on your E-Brake and pull up your brake sharply, then quickly release (e-brake is held up for only about 1 second). If using a RWD car, clutch in while pulling your E-Brake.

4. When you feel the vehicle’s rear end kicking out, immediately countersteer the wheels to face straight with the road. Your vehicle will pull in the direction of the front wheels, as long as the wheels are still moving. Keep on the throttle.

5. If your vehicle begins to lose speed while sliding sideways, heel-toe downshift into a gear low enough to pull your vehicle through the drift.

6. When you wish to straighten out your car, after completing the drift, let off the throttle smoothly and straighten out the wheels as your vehicle kicks in line behind the front tires.

 

Signal Auto's Drifter X demonstrating some long slides in Hawaii

Drift Technique:Kansei Drift (Inertia Drift)

Kansei Drift (Inertia Drift)
 This is performed at race speeds. When entering a high speed corner a driver 

 lifts his foot off the throttle to induce a mild oversteer and then balances the drift 

 through steering and throttle motions. The car that is being used for this style of 

 drift should be a neutral balanced car therefore the oversteer will induce itself. If 

 the car plows through any turn this technique will not work.

Drift Technique:Braking Drift

Braking Drift
  This is performed by trail braking into a corner. Loss of grip is obtained and then 

 balanced through steering and throttle motions. This is mainly for medium to low 

 speed corners.

Drift Technique: Jump Drift

 Jump Drift
  In this technique the rear tire on the inside of a turn or apex is bounced over a 

 curb to lose traction resulting in over steer. Do not attempt this technique at the 

 Drift Session.