Drift Australia Series
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| Drifting is the fastest growing form of motorsport in the world. What started as an underground activity on the mountain roads of Japan has developed into a high profile professional sport in that country and over the last 2 years it has exploded in popularity throughout the world. The Drift Australia Series started in 2005 and is recognised by CAMS as the official Australian Drift Championship. Drifting is an ‘extreme’ sport. Unlike other types of motor sport it is not just about who is fastest or who crosses the line first. Drifting is a judged sport – just like surfing, snow-boarding, freestyle BMX or motocross, snow-boarding, skateboarding, etc. A drift competition consists of a series of elimination rounds in which two drivers at a time slide their cars, side-by-side through a short course of just 3 or 4 corners. A tandem ‘drift battle’ consists of two runs with each car taking a turn to lead. A panel of judges assess the relative car control demonstrated by each driver by awarding points for criteria such as speed, angle, line, ability to emulate the other driver, proximity between the cars, etc. and choose a winner who progresses to the next round of eliminations. Drift Australia competitions start with a round of 32, which then becomes a round of 16, then 8, 4, and 2 to determine the ultimate winner. |
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There are 32 cars in a Drift Australia Series event. After a couple of brief practice sessions, drivers complete two qualifying runs, one car at a time and are scored and ranked from 1 to 32 by the judges. The next step is a series of tandem elimination battles:- - Round of 32
- Round of 16
- Round of 8
- Round of 4
- Battle for 3rd place
- Final
In the Round of 32 the number 1 qualifier battles the number 32 qualifier, the number 2 qualifier battles the number 31 qualifier and so on. The winner of each ‘battle’ then progresses to the next round of eliminations (i.e. the round of 16). A tandem elimination ‘battle’ consists of two judged runs, in which two cars travel through the course together, one following the other as closely as possible. Each car takes a turn a leading and following. Judges assess the relative speed, line and angle of the two cars scoring each factor on a proportional basis out of 10. For example in a battle between Car A and Car B judges may score the run 6-4, 7-3, 4-6, meaning car A was rated higher on speed than car B (6-4) by the speed judge, car A was rated higher on angle (7-3) by the angle judge but car A was rated lower than car B for line (4-6) by the line judge. The average score for the run being 5.67-4.33 i.e. a win to Car A. During the second run the position of the car’s is reversed. The lead car from run 1 becomes the chase car in run 2. Judges allocate proportional scores for the second run which are then added to the first run scores to give a proportional score out of 20 for the ‘battle’. The driver with the lowest score is eliminated from the competition. The driver with the highest score progresses to the next round of tandem eliminations battles. Almost any production based rear wheel drive car is capable of drifting. A limited slip differential is probably the single most important modification required although most cars used for drift competition also use upgraded suspension components and a variety of performance enhancing modifications. Safety accessories like race harnesses and a roll cage are recommended by are not mandatory. The Drift Australia Series is governed by the CAMS Standing Regulations for Drifting, the Drift Australia Sporting Regulations and the Supplementary Regulations for each event. For further information on the Drifting visit www.driftaustralia.com.au
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