Originally published on metropolis.co.jp on October 2010

The word “drifting” conjures up images of lazy days at the beach or just calmly breezing your way through life. But drifting, the motorsport, is anything but. It’s loud, raucous and wild. It’s about screeching engines, squealing tires and burning rubber. It’s motor racing with a lot of attitude.

To check out all the excitement firsthand, head to Fuji Speedway in Gotemba, Shizuoka Prefecture, on Oct 16 and 17. That’s when the world’s top racers will gather for the Grand Final of the 2010 Gran Turismo D1 Grand Prix Series Round 7 EX.

Drifting seems like it’s been around a long time, but the D1 circuit is celebrating just its tenth anniversary this year. In that decade, the sport has gone from a relatively unknown hobby to a massive event with followers all over the globe. Drifting has become a worldwide phenomenon—what was once an outlaw pursuit is now a huge mainstream event. And the D1 Series is the king of the sport.

At the upcoming Fuji Speedway competition, the Final Round of the D1 Series will take place on Saturday, while the Sunday lineup will climax with the D1 Series 10th Anniversary Grand Final. This second day of races is meant to thank the sport’s fans for a decade of support. It will include the best 24 performers in the style known as “Tsuiso”—dual-drift racing in which the cars run side by side in close formation. You have to see it to believe it.

Unlike most motorsports, drifting is more about style than speed. It’s not a matter of first to the post; instead, technique and control are key. It’s also not about stamina, so age is less of a factor. But it is about attitude and confidence—and the driver’s total belief in his car and his skills.

In simple terms, drifting involves putting your car into a controlled slide and holding it through a designated course. The technique became widely known thanks to Kunimitsu Takahashi, a legendary motorbike racer and driver who competed in the All-Japan Touring Car Championship in the ’70s. Takahashi mastered the art of drifting through corners and inspired Keiichi Tsuchiya to practice the art on Japan’s mountain roads. And so drifting as an outlaw sport began. But Tsuchiya and fellow enthusiast Daijiro Inada realized the potential of turning this wild “hidden” sport into a competition, and the D1 Grand Prix Series was the result. There are now major championships in the US, Australia, New Zealand, the Middle East, the UK, Italy and other European countries. But the home of drifting is Japan.

If drifting had a parallel, it would be freestyle skiing and other extreme sports. Competitions are based on speed, line, angle and show factor. While many of these can be quantified, some of the judging is subjective. So even though your technique may not be 100 percent, if you can make those tires smoke and get the fans on the edge of their seats, you’ll still have a shot at winning. Qualifying runs are done in Tanso (single file), while the final runs are in Tsuiso. The winning driver from each round progresses to the next round until they reach the final pairing.

At the Fuji Speedway event, Yoichi Imamura is one driver who will be able to relax a little—or show off more—as he’s already won this year’s title. The real competition on Saturday will be for the subsequent places in the standings, which will affect seeding for next year. It’s still a close battle, so there’s everything to fight for.

The Sunday event is more of an exhibition day, featuring some of the great drifters of the past decade. Fans will also be able to get up close to the drivers and cars in the pits, before the competition kicks off in a 30-man Tanso race and a 24-car Tsuiso race. The top 10-ranked drivers in this year’s standings will get automatic entry to the Tsuiso competition, and they’ll be joined by the top 14 from the Tanso race.

Drifting is not about being relaxed—it’s a full-speed-ahead rock ‘n’ roll sport, and the upcoming weekend of racing will be full of breakneck action.

For more information or to purchase tickets, see http://metropolis.co.jp/drift