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D1 Professional Drift Grand Prix Series invading Chicago this Saturday
This weekend some of the world’s best drivers will compete in an adrenaline packed competition at one of the country’s most prolific sporting facilities, Soldier Field, in Chicago, Illinois. Unlike most motorsports divisions, D1 Grand Prix Professional Drift Series, also known as drifting, is extreme, truly testing reflexes and car control at well over 100 miles per hour.
Rather than having regional or national reach, drifting is a worldwide phenomenon and is growing as one of the most popular forms of motorsports within the United States. With drifting’s success across the globe, drifting came to the U.S. in 2003, and quickly witnessed a tremendous following.
Driven Events, which now operates D1GP in the USA, consists of Rich Goodwin and Mike Munar, the same brain trusts that birthed Hot Import Nights, the U.S.’s most recognized car show series running for over ten years. Goodwin and Munar, in addition to founder/team owner of Lateral G Racing, Terence Jenkins, who guided his team to win the 2004 U.S. Drifting Championship, are credited with introducing this extreme style of motorsports competition to an entire generation of thrill seekers.
“It is all driver control. It is purely based on the driver’s ability to control a car sideways at high speed right next to your competitor. It is a very demanding job behind the wheel of a drift car. There are a lot of things going on. It’s not so much about accelerating and braking. You are changing gears, kicking the clutch, grabbing the emergency brake and steering with both the steering wheel and throttle simultaneously” explained the Senior Vice President of Operations and Competition Director for D1GP, Jenkins.
Still a roughly new sport originated in the 1990s in the mountains of Japan, drifting is all in the hands of the driver. While drivers in the most familiar forms of motorsports hope to avoid losing control of their cars, drifters intentionally maneuver their 600 horsepower rear-wheel-drive machines sideways. In a scene filled with tire smoke the driver strategically commands the throttle and steering wheel.
Roughly 40 competitors show up at each event, which begins on Friday, with only 14 slots available during qualifying. 16 drivers are guaranteed to start the event, leaving 30 total participants for the Saturday activities. Two drivers compete on the track at the same time during a tandem duel. Rather than awarding the winner for a fast lap, the winner is scored on their ability to control the car sideways through a marked course.
Driven Events has introduced electronic scoring which has taken a lot of the guessing out of the judging, providing real-time data to the panel and evidentially establishing a backbone to drifting as a truly skilled sport.
“In the past, the judges would typically estimate the speed and the angle of the vehicle. Now we have electronic equipment that can read it for us accurately, we monitor speed, angle and lateral g forces ten times per second to generate accurate scores,” explained Jenkins.
A weekend at a drifting event however, isn’t completely about the cars. Drifting is all about entertainment. An outing at a drifting competition also means an all-consuming extravaganza with music, car shows, stunt bikes, models and displays. Appealing to a younger demographic, drifting is a lived atmosphere, not just an experience. The sanctioning body also promotes the competitors, hosting pre and post event parties that are open to the fans.
This weekend the D1GP tour will take its show to the Windy City and host the weekend’s competition at the famed Soldier Field. Though better known as the home of the Chicago Bears NFL team, Soldier Field is not new to motorsports. The facility has historically hosted midget car events and tractor pulls, as well as a lone NASCAR race in 1956.
Traditionally D1GP events run on asphalt surfaces, though not restricted by a lack of an existing racetrack. The sanctioning body can easily rent a parking lot, as is the case at Soldier Field, and erect the track and grandstands, specifically designed for drifting competitions.
This weekend, the sport’s most recognizable names will invade Chicago, including the “Drift King,” the man credited with creating the sport, Keiichi Tsuchiya. Putting on the show will be top drifters from around the world; Japan, Finland, Canada and the U.S., including Ken Nomura, the Team Orange drivers, and the 2008 champion and current points leader Daigo Saito.
Chicago marks the third round of D1GP U.S. competition. Saito currently has a 21-point lead over Kazuhiro Tanaka after the first two events.
The event kicks off on Saturday, August 1 at 2:00 PM.
For more on D1 Professional Drift Grand Prix Series, visit www.d1pg.com |
