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"Drifting" coming to Laguna Seca
Unorthodox event to be part of U.S. Sports Car Invitational
DAVID COFFIN
Pitstop
Fri, Apr. 23, 2004
The latest rage in motor sports, particularly among the younger generation, is something called "drifting."
When Ed Nicholls, the public relations guy out at Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca, told me this "drifting" thing was a pretty big deal and would be part of the track's season-opening Road & Track U.S. Sports Car Invitational, I responded, "What the heck is that?"
He said guys will go flying down the start-finish straight at Laguna Seca and intentionally put their high performance machines into a slide through the Andretti Hairpin (Turn 2), straighten out and go into a slide again through Turn 3.
I told him that sounds like something I've done accidentally with my life flashing before my eyes after hitting an ice patch on the highway.
Anyway, these guys do it on purpose and they are judged on execution and style as well as speed through the corners.
"Competition is done in bracket, or drag-racing, style, with drivers competing one-on-one, round-by-round, until a champion is determined," Nicholls said. And, the international drifting shootout at Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca is apparently going to be the richest drifting competition in U.S. history with a $10,000 winner-take-all purse.
Drifting began in Japan in the mid-1960s on windy, mountain roads in the Nagano area. The majority of cars that usually participate in the international competition are from Japanese manufacturers such as Mazda, Nissan and Toyota. The Americans are now throwing their two-bits worth in, however, with modern muscle cars such as Rhys Millen's brand new Pontiac GTO and Samuel Hubinette's 500 horsepower Team Mopar/Lateral G Dodge Viper.
Millen may be the most recognizable name from the American contingent. He is a six-time Pikes Peak Hill Climb champion, son of Pikes Peak record-holder and world-renowned rally driver Rod Millen and nephew of Steve Millen, who is an off-road, Pikes Peak and IMSA champ.
Full Article Here
Monaro race car:
Unorthodox event to be part of U.S. Sports Car Invitational
DAVID COFFIN
Pitstop
Fri, Apr. 23, 2004
The latest rage in motor sports, particularly among the younger generation, is something called "drifting."
When Ed Nicholls, the public relations guy out at Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca, told me this "drifting" thing was a pretty big deal and would be part of the track's season-opening Road & Track U.S. Sports Car Invitational, I responded, "What the heck is that?"
He said guys will go flying down the start-finish straight at Laguna Seca and intentionally put their high performance machines into a slide through the Andretti Hairpin (Turn 2), straighten out and go into a slide again through Turn 3.
I told him that sounds like something I've done accidentally with my life flashing before my eyes after hitting an ice patch on the highway.
Anyway, these guys do it on purpose and they are judged on execution and style as well as speed through the corners.
"Competition is done in bracket, or drag-racing, style, with drivers competing one-on-one, round-by-round, until a champion is determined," Nicholls said. And, the international drifting shootout at Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca is apparently going to be the richest drifting competition in U.S. history with a $10,000 winner-take-all purse.
Drifting began in Japan in the mid-1960s on windy, mountain roads in the Nagano area. The majority of cars that usually participate in the international competition are from Japanese manufacturers such as Mazda, Nissan and Toyota. The Americans are now throwing their two-bits worth in, however, with modern muscle cars such as Rhys Millen's brand new Pontiac GTO and Samuel Hubinette's 500 horsepower Team Mopar/Lateral G Dodge Viper.
Millen may be the most recognizable name from the American contingent. He is a six-time Pikes Peak Hill Climb champion, son of Pikes Peak record-holder and world-renowned rally driver Rod Millen and nephew of Steve Millen, who is an off-road, Pikes Peak and IMSA champ.
Full Article Here
Monaro race car:
