Audel “Dr. Drift” Sison said a new organizing body that is managing drifting which is called Pacific Drift Championship organized the car drifting demonstration for the 19th Hot Air Balloon Festival to promote car drifting in the Philippines which is fast becoming a popular sports as well as a five-round international car drifting competition to be held at the Clark Speedway here and at the Quirino Grandstand and Cultural Center of the Philippines complex in Manila.
Sison said Round 1 of the international competition will be done during the launch of the “Fast and Furious 7” movie which is going to be held in Manila on March 28. Round 2 will be held at the brand new speedway in Tarlac in April, Round 3 at the Clark International Speedway and Rounds 4 and 5 in Manila.
Crowds milled around the heavily modified Nissan cars with fiberglass body and 600 horsepower engines that are used for drifting.
“We use Nissan Silvia S15 and Nissan Cefiro,” Sison said as he walked over the car displays.
Sison said a demo run, 30 minutes in the morning and another 30 minutes in the afternoon, were made during
the four-day festival to show what is going to be in the competition. He also said spectators were invited for shotgun rides to experience car drifting which was a hit at the festival.
“We drifted sideways plus a combination of side by side, two cars proper tandem demo,” Sison explained.
Some of the local car drifters include Tourism Infrastructure and Enterprise Zone Authority (TIEZA) GM Mark Lapid and his younger brother Porac Councilor Maynard Lapid, businessman Bingbong Lingat, and Radrich Albano, son of former QCPD chief Richard Albano.
Drifting is a driving technique where the driver intentionally oversteers, causing loss of traction in the rear wheels or all tires, while maintaining control from entry to exit of a corner.
A car is drifting when the rear slip angle is greater than the front slip angle, to such an extent that often the front
wheels are pointing in the opposite direction to the turn (e.g. car is turning left, wheels are pointed right or vice versa, also known as opposite lock or counter steering).
As a motorsport discipline, professional drifting competitions are held worldwide and are judged according to the speed, angle, showmanship and line taken through a corner or set of corners.
