Welcome to the motor sport where the right way is sideways. Paddy Comyn reports from Punchestown
A criticism of modern motorsport, especially Formula 1, is that it is a bit boring. You sit there watching a procession of cars for 50-odd laps and the winner was usually that Schumacher chap. At least Renault's Fernando Alonso has broken that particular monopoly, but it might just signal the arrival of a new monopoly in the sport.
With younger fans looking for something with a bit more excitement and a slightly quicker fix, a new motorsport is rapidly gaining favour amongst the Playstation generation. And Ireland, it seems, is at the very forefront of its development. This sport is called Drifting.
Drifting, as any eight-year-old boy will tell you, is when a car begins sliding and that slide is maintained using the throttle. It is also known as power-sliding. Unlike most track-based motorsports, where going sideways is going to lose you time and ultimately the race, drifting actively encourages this. The aim is for the driver to get the car sideways, keep it there and use their skills to complete a circuit as stylishly and quickly as possible.
The origins of the sport are in Japan, where drifting started as a racing technique in the All Japan Touring Car Championship races over 30 years ago. Kunimitsu Takahashi, a motorcycling legend turned racing driver, is credited with being an early user of the technique. He would hit the apex of a bend and then drift through the corner, preserving his speed. In the days of low-grip tyres, this technique proved quite useful. Takahashi's drifting techniques became popular with street racers, such as Keiichi Tsuchiya who in 1977 produced a video of his skills. The video became cult viewing and inspired the first drifting event eleven years later.
So where does Ireland come into all this? Last weekend saw the rather unfortunately named Slam 06 event in Punchestown, Co Kildare, which was a round of the European Prodrift Series. This series is in its infancy, but Ireland is already one of the leading participants. Karl O'Sullivan, in charge of sales and marketing for the event explains why.
"Ireland has a great rally tradition and cars like the Toyota Corolla Twin Cam are iconic in this country. Our rally fans always loved to see these rear-wheel drive cars going sideways so they took to it straight away."
Rose Green in Cashel, Co Tipperary, is the home of Irish drifting and from there the sport has gained popularity over the last couple of years, culminating in last weekend's European Event. "The average age of our drivers is 25, so this is quite a young motorsport and in the Prodrift Ireland novice series we have just introduced a junior class where drivers can be as young as 15.
Later this year we will open the first sanctioned Prodrift academy, where drivers can come and learn the techniques needed to compete."
Another reason for the increasing popularity in this country is that it is a relatively affordable motorsport. All a driver really needs is a rear-wheel drive car with reasonable amount of power and some minor modifications to the car itself. Participants must go through the ranks of the Prodrift Ireland Series gaining licenses along the way before being allowed to enter the European Prodrift Series, the Irish round of which was held at the weekend.
The event itself was held within the Punchestown racecourse arena. The surface is concrete and the track is made up of a series of corners. Qualification takes place with drivers doing individual runs past the judges before being paired off with another driver. The two car match-ups are where the main action happens.
There are two runs and each driver is given the chance to lead. The match-up or "pass" is scored out of ten. The two cars chase each other around the circuit maintaining the "drift" at all times. If you spin, stall or stop, your opponent wins - 10-0.
Most passes are more evenly matched however, with points awarded to drivers that display the most skill, the ability to stay close to or even overtake the leading car under drift conditions and the entry and exit speed in and out of corners.
To the uninitiated it is all a little bit confusing. This of course was not helped by a commentator who seemed to have been plucked straight from a kids disco. Visually it is a treat, especially since the main event was held at night under floodlight.
Each run starts quickly and ends quickly, all in the blink of an eye, with the requisite squeals of tyres and plumes of smoke that the mostly teenage to early twenties crowd desire.
The skill itself must be applauded. It is a mixture of ballet and brutality, like seeing Irish rugby star Paul O'Connell performing Swan Lake - it's a bit vulgar in places but you dare not laugh. Executed well, by the likes of rally veteran Mike Deane, Europe's leading driver Julian Smith and Ireland's own Darren McNamara, it is poetry to watch.
A worry, of course, would be that this sport would encourage copycat behaviour on the roads and judging by the contents of the car park at the event - souped-up Mitsubishis, Subarus and Nissan Skylines and some of the driving I witnessed to and from the event, this might be unavoidable but, like any sport, it can't really be responsible for the behaviour of its spectators.
What doesn't help its image are Hollywood films, such as The Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift depicting drifting taking place in car parks and city streets.
Negatives aside, this sport is about skill and precision rather than out and out speed. Judging by the Irish talent on display and by the reaction of the Kildare crowd, Drifting has found a welcoming home in Ireland.
Quick guide to: modifications
The most common car modifications to assist in drifting include:
1. A good clutch. Clutches on drift cars need to be tough, especially for those who use the "clutch kick" technique to cause a drift.
2. Suspension on drift cars needs to have very high spring and damper rates. The cars are lowered and stiffened and there are modifications to the steering rack. Some cars have negative camber on the front to reduce slide.
3. Engine power does not necessarily need to be high but there are modifications made to turbocharged cars to prevent turbo "lag" and there are improvements made to the cooling systems since the cars spend most of their time sideways.
4. Tyres are consumed rapidly. Good tyres go on the front to do the steering and hard-compound used tyres can go on the rear. More advanced drivers will use tyres of differing compounds.
UPCOMING DRIFTING EVENTS
Tipperary Motor Speedway, Rosegreen, Co. Tipperary - September 23rd/24th
Mondello Park International Circuit, Naas, Co. Kildare - October 21st/22nd
Kartworld, Watergrasshill, Co Cork - November 11th/12th