2016 TopDrift Formula Drift ProAm Round 2
Something happened in the world of competitive drifting recently that might give a bit of sobering realization into the concept of the sport as entertainment.
We saw a defending champion of the sport’s top professional league—a competitor who battled insurmountable odds to get to where he is today, fighting up an amateur ladder half a world away for over a decade—blast consistently perfect runs with a wildly modified, 900hp drift machine throughout an entire competition event, painting the wall with every initiation, hitting apexes perfectly, staying right on top of boundary lines, and earning an event victory while humbly thanking sponsors, fans and competitors alike in his acceptance speech… which all left a striking amount of drift fans unimpressed.
Many were downright upset.
It was almost as if they were confused and disillusioned to see precision, consistency and strategy win the day—as if maybe the level of mastery today’s pros and their 1,000+hp smoke machines began to seem commonplace grouped together on that stage.
“Shouldn’t door-smashing proximity, backwards angle, and do-or-be-damned risk taking be worth more than simply playing by the rules?” “Was there no reward for shock and awe?” “Isn’t that what drifting’s all about?!” Is perfection boring? Struggle, unpredictability, advancement, accomplishment, progress—is that where excitement comes from?
If you feel so, we have a solution for you: Top Drift. Yes, the veterans of Just Drift’s top-flight wing and FD Pro 2 authorized feeder series are getting better and more consistent, and yes, their cars are becoming faster and more reliable. Yes, there are still rules (judging criteria) to be followed in attaining a win. But there are still so many doors to be unlocked for so many competitors—newer, more impressive abilities to discover, techniques to master and mechanical improvements to be made—that drifting here really is some of the most unpredictable and exciting to be found anywhere.
But all that excitement doesn’t come free.
Round 2 of Top Drift at Willow Springs’ “Horse Thief Mile” brought us some of the closest and fastest tandem battling we’ve seen there yet (not quite as much as that Irwindale bank during FD finals, though), but the course’s changing elevation and steep drop-offs proved challenging to master. There were also more run-offs and track clean-ups that we can remember, resulting in a lot of costly downtime for competitors and fans alike.
Whether it was an unexpected perfect execution or a righteous attempt, while the driving was underway, there was a hell of a show.
A diverse field of competitors and machines made up Round 2 competition, with the usual lot of S-chassis Nissans in any imaginable configuration but also a growing number of BMWs, some vintage Japanese and American muscle, late-model Domestic iron, multiple generations of RX-7s, Corollas and more.
Trucks aren’t allowed in pro-level competition, but at Top Drift, Brian Nimmo and his Tacoma proved again themselves formidable competitors, surviving multiple rounds of eliminations and One More Time battles before falling to the eventual round winner.
Jason Kim and his Rival Auto Works “RHINO” S14 are on fire this year. The duo won Round 1 and faced some fierce competition moving up the ladder at Round 2 , leading to the final bout of the day (especially his fights against Adam Knapik in the chrome red S14!!). But when they got there, it was Sean Adriano in Kim’s old car—the S13 240SX Kim won Rd. 1 in last year—who defeated the vet and came through for the win in typical exciting, unpredictable, pro-am fashion.
So whether you’re a purist with an appreciation for precision and power, or someone who finds excitement in the unpredictable and in seeing unknown abilities come to life, you’ll find what you’re looking for at Top Drift … even if it’s a little less of the former than you’d find at FD.
Top Drift continues its 2016 season with its third of four competition rounds scheduled for the night of July 16th at Willow Springs’ Walt James Speedway, with Kim, Knapik and Adriano leading the championships points chance (in that order) at the halfway point. But who will take the eventual season honors is very much anyone’s guess!
If you missed our coverage from TopDrift Round 1, don't worry – we got you.
