Drifting is Touge run amok.
Drifting arguably started with Touge runs. Keiichi Tsuchia-san explained it as a way to keep the revs up [on their torque deprived] cars to stay in their power bands. Fine. Drifting, as I see it, is the result of trying to package "some form of" Touge for commercial mass consumption. Unfortunately, someone decided to package the events for small tracks and parking lots rather than build sanctioned Touge runs. Ok, so you can't just mount cameras all over the mountain side and it's hard to sell seats in ditches, so I guess it couldn't be helped. Touge is defenitly a sport and an art, but drifting just forgot what it was supposed to be about. It started as a means to find the fastest way around the course with what they had. The point is moot now that the rides are making big power, they'd be faster with grip driving. Now it's just about showboating and sponsorships. Sure it's fun and sure it's fun to watch, but is it really RACING?
|