Force the SCCA to build some serious drift courses!

[servinmcgervin]

i say everyone gets together and forces the scca to build some serious drift courses. whole tracks that are just for drifting. i mean the parts of luguna, and small part of sonoma etc etc were cool. but we need something that can compete with japans drifting circuits. but then again im just talking out of my *Censored**Censored**Censored*.

[MarshallMX5]

I don't really care so much about drifting-only... I mean just a regular track would do if they had a regular "drift days".

I just want a Public track, period. The closest one to me is in Atlanta, about a 4 1/2 hour drive, and you have to be a member of a club or attending a driver's school to drive on it.

[servinmcgervin]

i definitely hear you on that a public track is more reasonable. the deal with track days sucks though becuase you cant get that much track time. atleast not out here in cali, and you most likely always have to be attending the driving school, or be affliated with some sort of club. still then you dont have enough time to seriously practice. we need something that isnt in the middle of things, something that EVERYONE has to drive to get there. something with more than a left, right, left, right set-up.

[iownju]

im not so sure on the track thing, because that most likely will be exploited by someone wanting money but we need places or at least large paved areas that are okay for doing our stuff without the police and others getting on our backs about it. Or let tracks open up on certain days to allow people to practice that they want to learn. And just make sure that everone behaves. But drift only tracks or a little much, you want to try to keep this as underground as possible

[my 1 88 u]

like WTF, did I not just start a thread on this subject just one day earlier? http://www.drifting.com/forums/showt...&threadid=8052

[Craftsman]

No this is different. This is about building actual drift tracks...

I think this would be an awesome idea honestly.

What the track needs is a nice straightaway or a straight path with slight turns to start the driver out in 70 - 80 MPH, then mix it up with chicanes and hairpins with hills to throw off the drivers. Make sure there are no walls surrounding for a good several feet except in front of the spectatators.

That would be a great track Anyone want to buy my ideas for good tracks?

Matt.

[Ripper]

building a track cost more than renting one.

[servinmcgervin]

theres alot of people out there that are willing to donate!

[servinmcgervin]

"like WTF, did I not just start a thread on this subject just one day earlier?" - my 1 88 u


sorry. i didnt realize that after i posted. ill be more responsible next time and look before i thread

[NismoSigma]

Whats wrong with a good ole' parking lot? I do admit though I would LOVE to see a drift track in the states. If someone does have the balls and money to build and sponsor 1, they would make a huge profit. You have to consider that building a race course of any kind needs to meet many regulations. You just cant draw a track, buy asphalt, and plant on some piece of land! You need supervisors supervising the supervisors, experts about the subject, contracters, hospitals, etc. At the moment they are just letting people drift in parking lots cause I personally dont belive that there are enough American drifters with enough skills to actually take a course. THATS JUST AN OPINION DONT FLAME ME. I mean in japan its been around for like 40 years! Thats a hell of alotta time to practice! Maybe in the next couple of years we'll see some sprout up, but than you gotta take into consideration how much time it takes to build 1 track! Look at Belgiums Spa-Francochamps. Beautiful course with that huge up/down hill! When i saw that in F1 i thought it would make a cool as hell drift course but thats just me. JMO!

[Ghost of Duluth]

Well first off you have to be a member of the SCCA to attempt to force them to do anything. Secondly, they aren't gonna build a track just for Drifting, not popular enough yet.

Drifting just doesn't have the popularity to warrant a track devoted to it. There is really only one large scale series in the states and the events are considered an exhibition of Import Culture at best. The sport needs some real growth to even think about a track devoted to Drifting. The insurance alone would be staggering. Could be done, but needs someone with a whole lot of money.

Not to mention that 90% of the people in it are immature and nobody with money wants to trust their investment to a bunch of what they see as kids with loud cars. Look at other sports, look at the drivers in those sports. They are respectable, well spoken and usually older. If they aren't, they are fined heavily until they either straighten up or they ship them out.

What alot of people fail to figure out is that people that are going to pump money into the sport are going to want it to be a business. They aren't going to want all their money to be risked on someone that may snap off, make alot of people mad or just flake off and be unreliable.

There's alot of stuff that sponsers are looking for, after talking to a couple of them, it's really just common sense but alot of people don't think about it.

[Octagon]

Another point you didn't point out, Ghost, but should be mentioned is that the SCCA does not build race tracks.

Just about every race course you see was built by private investors and are run by gentlemen (and ladies) known as promotors. It's a promoter's job to schedule series and events at the track that will make the investors money, keep the fans happy, and keep the track around for another year.

Groups like the SCCA are sanctioning bodies whose purpose is to see to it that racing is conducted in a fair and safe way under set guidelines. Many (if not all) road courses belong to the SCCA because of the SCCA's insurance coverage of club events and the inherent profitability of being able to conduct SCCA club racing.

The SCCA also sanctions many big name pro series. Being an SCCA sanctioned track will often mean that a pro series will have a date at your track, meaning tons of spectators, publicity, and cash in pocket. Courses like Ohio's Nelsons Ledges Sports Car Course are in a constant state of flux because of a lack of pro series visits, where as many new tracks (like VIR and BeaveRun) are becoming instant successes thanks to considerable pro support.

A sanctioning body can and often does make demands about track and facility quality (usually in regards to safety and conveniece), but it is the investors' choice to concede to those demands and the promoter's responsibility to carry out the investors' wishes. ISMA (the International Super Modified Association) refused to race at Mansfield Motorsports Speedway for five years after the track re-opened as a paved 1/2mile. It wasn't until MMS paved their pits, revised their backstretch wall, and installed better lighting in the turns that ISMA decided to run a double-header weekend there....

... to a record crowd for supermodified racing at Mansfield.

If it is felt that drifting is legitimate enough of an enterprise to warrant an entirely new track being built, even on the grounds of an existing course, it must be presented to the promoters and investors of individual courses as a profitable idea. Perhaps, once one track has been built by an individual course, the SCCA will decide that it is what's best and will demand individual courses as optimal at other tracks.

But until it is deemed necessary, it won't be done. Simple as that.

[Ris4drift]

every track can be drifted, you dont need a "drift track"

and how is laguna not driftable? i know its not real life, but ive seen teh videos of the comp at laguna, the pros didnt seem to have problems drifting on the straights, ive been playing gt3 drift for the last couple days, you can drift teh straights, its not a problem. you dont need a "drift track" work on getting some seat time / real drifting skills and you will see you dont need a "drift track" almost anything paved is driftable imho and experience, except the maybe some talledaga sized banked turns, which are probably driftable with some huge balls and 4000 hp.

[servinmcgervin]

im not sure who mentioned that laguna wasnt driftable, or if it was ever mentioned. im just saying that it would be nice to have somewhere to hold an event/go to where you could get more than average practice or basically have more freedom. GT3 is a fun game to play around on, i have to admit. i spend a lot of time playing that game, and i have drifted laguna about 30 minutes ago. but anyways. i understand that anywhere any surface can be drifted, and i try to get my share of the roads but a nice sized track would be great. as many have seen in options videos some of the drift/circuit tracks, are very small but with lots of turns. like a drift playground.

[Craftsman]

Originally posted by Ris4drift
every track can be drifted, you dont need a "drift track"

and how is laguna not driftable? i know its not real life, but ive seen teh videos of the comp at laguna, the pros didnt seem to have problems drifting on the straights, ive been playing gt3 drift for the last couple days, you can drift teh straights, its not a problem. you dont need a "drift track" work on getting some seat time / real drifting skills and you will see you dont need a "drift track" almost anything paved is driftable imho and experience, except the maybe some talledaga sized banked turns, which are probably driftable with some huge balls and 4000 hp.

It's not that we need drift tracks. It's that we'd prefer them compared to the type of tracks that we have been seeing at events like Formula D and D1. Irwindale for example... I'd rather see a purpose built track for it.

I think taking a touge and using it as a track might be fun

Matt.