,
 |
| Mike tells me that he fears the Saturn Sky of Falken Teammate Darren McNamara shown here against the Nissan S15 of Dennis Mertzanis more than any other car/driver combo. D-Mac as he is called is fast and very consistent and his car packs 780 hp and only weighs 2200 lbs making it very fast on the straights. D-Mac is the personification of speed. |
Judging
Drifting is different from most other motorsports which typically award places based on who finishes a course in the shortest time. In the Formula Drift competition, the field is narrowed down to 32 qualifiers by giving each contender two non-consecutive runs where they are judged in four categories: Speed, Angle, Line, and Overall Impression, 25 points for each category.
 |
| Ken Gushi in the DTA Scion TC shown here against the 350Z of Matt Waldon is one of the last remaining 4 cylinder cars that is still competitive. |
Speed is usually judged as a combination of entry speed into the first corner and at another usually slower and tighter part of the course. The speed is measured with radar guns and the data fed to monitors in the judge’s stand, a high raised tentlike structure in a good viewing zone somewhere on the premises. Angle is the amount of countersteer and relative rear slip angle a driver uses through the course, the more angle the better. It is exceedingly hard to maintain a lot of speed and a lot of angle at once but that’s what the drivers aim for.
 |
| Mike Essa’s screaming M5 V10 powered BMW is the best sounding car in drifting, in my opinion anyway. |
Line is following the path drawn on the course for the drivers to follow that is introduced at the drivers meeting, including inner (front bumper) and outer (rear bumper) clipping points represented by cones on the course where the bumpers should get as close as possible to, as well as the transition zones. The driver is judged on how close he can come to the ideal line and the clipping points without hitting the cones.
 |
| Charles Ng bought Michael Essa’s old car, this LS powered FC and moved here from Taiwan to compete. He is one of the better privateers. |
Overall Impression is basically the style the driver carries during the run; more points are given for drivers that can excite the audience so a lot of flare and pizzazz will drum up a driver’s score in that category. Tire smoke, flair and snap to the presentations into maximum drift angle and aggression in attack in tandem drift can all affect the overall impression score. Straightening out and falling out of drift or spinning results in an automatic DQ for the run.
 |
| Mike’s friend privateer Taka Aono tried really hard in his vastly underpowered AE86. The days of small 4 cylinder cars being competitive are long gone. Even with his skill Taka could not make the show. It was heartbreaking. |
There are three judges who score the run, one for each category and those three scores are averaged. The highest lap score is the one that gets counted towards qualifying. Spins or over rotations, or having two tires off the course at any point constitute an elimination (zero points). Sometimes there is controversy over the scoring but this is usually because the judges have a better line of sight view than fans who see things at a different angle. The Judges also have instant replay on monitors and real time data from the radar guns to make their decisions. Quite simply put the Judges are far better equipped to give runs scores than the casual fan observer. The kill the ump factor will always exist though and through the internet conspiracy theories and accusations fly.
 |
| Joon Mang is probably the nicest driver on the Formula D circuit. The Berganholtz Racing RX-8 is a potent machine but the team seems to be struggling with developmental problems this year. |
