The evolution of drifting in america. a fan and drivers perspective.

[lookoutdriftmik]

great idea mike, a new thread. congrats to all the drivers in seattle, didnt mean to jack the thread. sorry /

how is taking someones line and making a clean drifting pass poor sportsmanship and driver control? every other form of motorsport praises the driver with the ability to do what he does, pass and keep on. if anything, that driver can manipulate the car better, pick a line and go with it. and as for D1, guess what it's not D1. i mean, in the beginning, it was great to try and emulate it, but to me, in the 7 years ive been drifting and watching drifting, it has gotten boring (except when im behind the wheel which isnt often lately). its time to step it up. its like listening to the same old U2 album over and over and quite frankly, if it doesnt change it will stagnate. the drivers with the skill (and there are many) to pass cleanly and drift at the same time (and right there is your definition for "illegal pass"), should be able to, proving they can run with the big boys, if you cant defend your line like in every other form of motorsport (and here we can define drifting as a motorsport for good and not a joke like many would like to believe) then maybe you should drop down and practice a bit more. I just dont want this sport that i love to go the way of touring cars in america, and road racing, and open wheel racing etc...in that its great overseas and there is a cult following but due to cultural differences here, cannot succeed but for so long at the highest level. to survive it must evolve, american style. and if you arent in it for the long haul (this goes for everyone) get out now because there are many people who are and you are taking up spots. and this post post is now TOTALLY off topic. maybe it should be its own thread.

[Slapshotnerd]

Simple as this:

there have been 2 passes this year. Both were by Japanese drivers who fly over only for events, both (to my knowledge) have driven in D1.

all the other drivers of the series are familiar with the way Formula D works, and I think there have been some amazing tandem battles this year sans passing.

There is still a large gap between the top 20 or so FD drivers, the next 20 or so drivers who are able to qualify in FD but not really able to go anywhere in tandems, and the next level of drivers who aren't quite consistent enough to qualify for FD. Until these numbers level out and the tandem skill of the drivers in the US increases, I think the no passing rule is a good one.

[Octagon]

If you ask me, taking the pass out of the trailing driver's arsenal is a big mistake, but not for lookoutdriftmilk's reasons.

One of the big controversies this year has been "blocking/trapping/holding" manuevers from the lead car. We have qualifying speeds to try and keep the driver's honest, but in the words of Colin Chapman "Rules are for the obedience of fools, and the interpretation of great men."

When it's clear to the lead car that he won't be passed and only needs to run within a certain percentage of his qualifying speed, he'll only run as hard and as fast as necessary to keep a clean run. He can then concentrate on preventing the trailing car from running in a more "impressive" fashion that would hand him (the trailing car) the advantage.

When the leading car is threatened with a pass, he'll be forced to do - as we call it in the short track world - the old "run-n-hide". It'll put equal pressure on the leading car to jackrabbit away from the trailing car, staying ahead and maintaining advantage, and on the trailing car to hunt the opening, sliding in close and threatening the leader.

Drifting with passing places emphasis on speed, tight lines, and versatility. It turns a tandem run from "follow the leader" into a fox & hound situation.

Quite frankly, it also makes it much easier to explain a winner to a new fan and takes a lot of the subjectivity out of judging (one of the weakest points, from a spectator's standpoint, of drifting).

[lookoutdriftmik]

Drifting with passing places emphasis on speed, tight lines, and versatility. It turns a tandem run from "follow the leader" into a fox & hound situation.

thank you octagon, that was exactly my point. the stagnation of drifting is a sidebar.

[my 1 88 u]

Simple as this:

there have been 2 passes this year. Both were by Japanese drivers who fly over only for events, both (to my knowledge) have driven in D1.

all the other drivers of the series are familiar with the way Formula D works, and I think there have been some amazing tandem battles this year sans passing.

There is still a large gap between the top 20 or so FD drivers, the next 20 or so drivers who are able to qualify in FD but not really able to go anywhere in tandems, and the next level of drivers who aren't quite consistent enough to qualify for FD. Until these numbers level out and the tandem skill of the drivers in the US increases, I think the no passing rule is a good one.

If that is Formula D's intensions then I support it, but as the level of competition evens out I think they should abolish the no passing rule.

[NismoSigma]

Radiohead mouse FTW.... srry had to say that lol.

[lookoutdriftmik]

Radiohead mouse FTW.... srry had to say that lol.

its a bear lol