The European Drift Scene (The Lowdown)
In Europe there are several established drift series and organisations busy
with running events, demo's and competitions. Almost all of them claim to be the biggest or the most professional but
this is just not so. All of them have their own strengths and weaknesses
and many are struggling to survive due to restrictions on event locations,
high costs and lack of serious response from the motor and tuning industry.
Response from investors and sponsors depends a lot on the level of professionalism
and good communication, and this is where some series are failing miserably. It's only a matter of time and the best series will prevail and start attracting the money of the big sponsors. Several organisers have also lost exclusive sponsoring deals from major players in the market due to very poor media management and failure to perform or produce any kind of ROI (Return on Investment). This has made it even more difficult to close serious sponsoring deals.
Some of these organisers dream of dominating Europe but unfortunately the scene is very complex with national cultures as well
as national legislation playing a big role in what you can and can't do.
Vested commercial interests and political motorsports organisations in some countries also pose a barrier, so it's
not as easy as some people think!!.
Up until now, organisations who have only put commercial interests first have failed to sustain a successful drift series. Organisers who make efforts to put the drivers in the limelight have learned otherwise and at last cooperation at an international level is beginning to show through.
UK/IRELAND
Prodrift is a commercial drift series running a Pro/Amateur championship
in Ireland.
ProDrift was established in 2004. ProDrift has a very healthy
championship in Ireland, has run numerous shows and demo's around Europe
at some exotic and far off locations and has a group of talented drivers
who put on these shows in professional looking cars.
The ProDrift organisation
has had some dedicated sponsors some serious money and backing is involved.
The current economic situation has however put many established drivers under pressure, forcing many to quit.
Aspirations to run a European Series were also present and we expected them to break this barrier but at the moment this appears not to be the case with the series restricted to Ireland.
Pro Drift's connections with the Formula D championship in the USA can only be seen as a positive factor for development of the sport and recognition of talent from Europe. Several very good formre ProDrift drivers are there such as Darren McNamara,
Eric O' Sullivan and James Deane.
ProDrift produced this nice film called WHAT IS DRIFTING?
This is a demo driven by PRODRIFT at the Paris Tuning Show, 2006
EDC is a commercial drift series running a
professional championship in the UK.
The D1UK organisation which ran the D1UK events in 2005 and 2006
changed it's identity to EDC (European Drift Championship) After a broken promise in 2006 by D1 corp. to send the top 5 UK drivers to the
USA. "The
Brits" are now doing it for themselves, EDC currently being one of the most professional series in the UK.
EDC also made it's first european outing in Poland in 2008 which was a spectacular event and the famous "TEAM ORANGE" is now a regular visitor to the events due to their involvement in the UK drift scene and EDC.
In 2010 the participation seems to be at a lower level despite efforts to keep the series going.
2008 also saw the formation of a new Pro-Am series to act as the official feeder for EDC, the British Drift Championship (BDC) after the earlier collapse of the UKDrift and Eurodrift initiatives due to poor management. This is a series which seems to be growing well and has atracted sponsoring from Maxxis tyrse for the 2010 season.
JDM All-Stars championship which seems to have all the "fun" elements many events have been missing up till now. This series is interesting with events planned in some pretty "off the wall" places in 2010.
The thing that stands head and shoulders above any other European event is the attention paid to the "Fun" and "show" factors. Due to this, JDM Allstars has attracted the participation of many foreign Pro drivers wishing to pit their skills against the UK and Ireland's best. It will blossom once again in 2010 for this reason.
D1UK Round 4, 2006
Tiff Needell tries his hand at drifting a soarer..
EDC Teaser, 2007
UKDC (UK Drift Championship) came from a one-off promotional, FUN event at Lydd in Kent called the SVA DRIFT CHALLENGE, (see below) . This has transformed into another organisation DRIFTRACING, who organise training and competitions in the Kent area of UK. Driftpromotion arranged the filming of the fun event by CLASHPRODUCTION, who now produce material for MotorsTV and EDC.
SVA DRIFT Challenge, Lydd, Kent.
BELGIUM/NETHERLANDS
Organisations in Belgium and Holland have long struggled to find good drift locations and adequate sponsorship.
The Netherlands is very strict on environmental issues, and noise
restrictions have caused problems for organisers (even at established motorsport
venues) in both countries including the racetracks at Zolder and Zandvoort. Despite these setbacks the Benelux is most certainly the source of the best drift talent in continental Europe.
Belgium and the Netherlands started their activities in 2005 in the form
of the Belgian Drift Series and NL Drift Series. The first serious events
(including invitational events at which many UK and Irish drivers attended)
were held at the WARNETON SPEEDWAY track in western Belgium, which is a
compact oval track with banked curves.
BE/NL Series final 2005, Zolder Belgium
The NL series concentrated on tracks such as Zandvoort and Assen with occasional
runs at existing tuning events and shows, and was accompanied by three other
organisations, DriftClub (established 2003) , DRIFTSPORT (established 2005)
and DRIFTCURSUS (2005) whose events were more for fun and training than
a serious competition. DriftClub also ran a competition event in 2003, 2004
and 2005.
In 2005 the final of the BE series was held at Zolder
in combination with the ERAN DRIFT day, starting a new partnership between
two drift event organisers. 2006 saw both BE and NL series blossom with a lot of interest
and a large following, and establishment of a drift school and even drift-karting
competitions, plus some spectacular and unique drift locations.
Round 1 BE Drift Series, 2006, Ciney, Belgium
Round 3 BE Drift Series, 2006, Zolder, Belgium.
Round 4 BE Drift Series, 2006, Maasmechelen Belgium.
The demise of Xtreme drift...
In 2007 the BE series changed it's identity to Xtreme
Drift Series increased the size of it's organising team and had
a low level of cooperation with ProDrift. XD was linked to a series of existing tuning and motorsport
events and sponsoring deals which restricted the choice
and quality of locations. Drivers from Holland and Belgium (plus some other
European countries) often participated in these events. Recently Xtreme Drift has come to an end due to internal politics, questionable sponsoring deals and financial irregularities. In addition, the whole organisation was over-hyped when there were actually no substantial sponsors or financial backers of the series.
Contractual and sponsoring upsets and some difficulties between organisers and drivers caused extra headaches for 2008, "Wet Paddock Drifting" was often the most on offer much to the frustration of the drivers. This was in the form of a low-level street legal event with the name Kamikaze Cup.
The NL Drift Series evolved into the NL Invitational series, linked to existing tuning and racing
events which shows drifting and demo's on a regular basis at
some popular venues and events in the Netherlands. These are often combined with a TIME ATTACK concept and a FULL CIRCUIT DRIFT, where all curves of the circuit are drifted. This format seems to be popular with drivers and public alike.
A new initiative, the Open Benelux Drift Challenge, was announced for 2009 and this seemed to be the most promising development since Xtreme Drift stopped as a drift series and was attracting a lot of interest. This was organised by SKYLIMIT EVENTS.
A new training initiative at the former BEAF base of Brustem, also organised by Skylimit was also becoming popular, although the Zolder drift school still exists.
In the Netherlands the activities have been revamped by a new organisation SD EVENTS who will hold several rounds both in and outside the Netherlands in 2009 in cooperation with the Belgian organisation under the name ODC.
In 2010 ODC is a fully fledged and well-managed series with numerous quality venues and a great team behind it. Meanwhile Skylimit operate in close cooperation with the ODC, running thier own SKYLIMIT DRIFT competition in Belgium.
NL Series invitationals at Zandvoort , "FULL CIRCUIT
DRIFT" , check out the chase car (Judges inside!!) Nice concept!
FRANCE
Friendly Drift Battle in 2006, France/Belgium, Pouilly-en-Auxouis
Driftpromotion set up the training day, safety rules and competition plan in cooperation with FFD organisers.
Round 1, 2007 or was it round 0? Pouilly en Auxouis
FDS was a commercial drift series running an amateur championship in France.
France started in 2007 with round one of it's series after ups and downs between two organisations and individuals of opposing opinions. Right now they lag behind many other national series and regular favouritism towards their own national drivers has often (unfortunately) put doubts on the credibility of the events.
Round 1 was declared a "show event" after the organisation failed to prepare adequately for the first round. A pity, because it was a fun event. The second and following rounds were also fraught with problems and silly mistakes once again based on poor management and lack of preparation by the organisers.
The final also became a fiasco after damage to track equipment at the Lyon Motor Show and a big claim being made by the show organisers against the FDS. At the moment it seems unlikely that the FDS will survive in it's present form.
Allied training organisation FFD also looks to be revamped after some financial problems, and a new independent drift initiative held at L'Anneau du Rhin was nothing short of a disaster due to inexperience and bad planning.
In 2008 FFD will possibly be revamped under another name (FDC) but currently lacks adequate sponsorship. Training sessions are planned in 2008 and some competitions in cooperation with other organisations.
In 2009 the ropes have been taken up again with the formation of a new organisation FDC under management of top drifter Tony Jouin and his team, and 5 rounds planned this season. There has been a massive leap forward in quality of management and some spectacular tracks on the calendar. In 2010 FDC struggles to find new venues due to limitation of funding, but a calendar of events has been announced.
GERMANY
DVD
- HOCKENHEIM DRIFT 2006
DRIFT DEMO at Augsburg Airport, July 2007
IDC was a drift series running
a Pro/Amateur drift championship in Germany.
After 8 years of crawling and people who attempted to drift just about
anything on 4 wheels, the German Sport Auto-Yokohama Drift Challenge (more recently called IDC) series made some serious steps forward in the 2007 season. Driftpromotion facilitated the involvement of top drivers and external experts in an affort to raise the level of competition. Based on this action, the first ever twin battles were held in Germany in 2007 which were a resounding success with the public.
With racetracks like Hockenheim and Nürburgring at it's disposal one would expect great things. The opportunities are endeless but a commited development to the sport in Germany is still absent unfortunately, mainly due to politics and commercially oriented individuals.
Consistent failure in 2007/2008 of the main "backer" of the series to produce or agree to any kind of viable business plan and at the same time actively blocking the involvement of any new sponsors resulted in stagnation of what could have been the most promising series in Europe.
Also the total failure to effectively market the series despite being part of a multinational media group led to a total lack of confidence in the organisation. Failure to communicate with drivers was a big problem mainly due to the general attitude of the main sponsors.Meantime, the series has spawned a new identity (IDS) but seems to have lost previous sponsors and along with it, the confidence of most of it's participants for 2009.Much of what was promised for 2008 just did not materialise, resulting in a final being held at the Belgian OBDC event in november due to lack of finances.
There is now exciting news from Germany with the announcement of the split of the original management team due to a difference of opinion. It seems that 2 key members have parted company with IDC and formed a new IDS initiative for 2009 with new sponsoring and a very professional set of regulations.
IDS still leaves a lot to be desired with avoidable mistakes made in 2009 and some classic organisation problems still remaining into the start of the 2010 season. We hope these can be resolved as soon as possible.
Another initiative from the former manager of IDC has appeared in the guise of
"DRIFT SENSATION" but with more focus on the show aspects of the sport.
KING OF EUROPE
King of Europe 2005 (here you can also see some drift shots
at Warneton)
King of Europe round in the Czech Republic, 2007
King of Europe is a commercially based drift event running exhibition
rounds in different countries.
King of Europe is an event that consists of combined events, mainly DRAG
and DRIFT events. Started in 2005 the event revolved around promotion
of a French Tuning Magazine, Street Racing Mania, and had sponsoring from
several companies, the most well known being TOYO Tyres Europe.
2005 Kicked off at the Warneton track in Belgium, the
winner in 2005 being Paul Vlasblom.
In 2006 the badge of KING OF EUROPE travelled to Poland,
Belgium (Chimay in combination with the BE Drift Series), Finland and an interesting outing to Dubai.
The series suffered from low participation at first, mainly because drivers
were expected to cover their own travel costs to far off places. In 2007
rounds have been held in France, Czech Republic, Hungary, with Finland,
and then Hungary again for the final, this also in combination with existing
events in the respective countries. KOE financed some of the travel costs in 2008, meaning a step in
the right direction. Winner in 2007 was once again
Paul Vlasblom, and in 2008 Kees Kok.
Although KOE has added more countries to it's list of conquests, the quality of the events suffered for a long time. The only improvements came where the events were under local management rather than under management of the mainly French crew. Actual tracktime was always an issue at KOE events and at last, things are looking much better for participants of this series.
"If you don't have fun drifting, you will never improve" : Ken Nomura