Team Falken GB Professional Drift Team
Massive in Japan and huge in the USA; Drifting is exploding in the UK with this country's first professional drift team sponsored by Falken High Performance Tyres. Falken Tyres are best known for Ultra High Performance Radials, their design and affordability made possible by use of the latest Japanese technology. Team Falken GB will be competing in the 2006 D1 drifting National Championship Great Britain, known as D1GB. This drifting championship is comprised of 5 rounds using the Rockingham, Silverstone and Knockhill circuits. For more information about the championship and the sport of drifting, take a look at the official D1GB website.
The Team Falken GB Drift Cars
| Team Falken GB use drift-spec Nissan 200SX S14 coupes. The Team Falken GB cars have been prepared at the team's own dedicated workshop based in Chobham, Surrey. These ex road cars are now full race drifting machines in Falken colours and are sitting pretty on Rota ultralight alloy wheels (from RareRims.co.uk) and Falken FK-452 High Performance Tyres. The engines are tuned by Horsham Developments, a Nissan 200SX specialist, in conjunction with Surrey Rolling Road and run with Millers Oils lubricants. Bespoke stainless exhaust systems have been provided by Performance 3000 and bonnets and boots are secured with Aerocatch fasteners. The stripped interiors have had multipoint rollcages welded into the car by DME Motorsport to provide a safe environment for the drivers and also to stiffen the chassis. Helping the cars perform in the twists and turns of a D1 drifting course are fully adjustable Tein suspension components. Finishing of the interior are FIA compliant seats, harnesses and steering wheels from leading safety equipment manufacturer, Sabelt. |
The History of D1 Drifting
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The Japanese towns of Rokkosan, Hakone, Irohazaka and various hill climbs in Nagano are all steeped
in legends of the origins of drifting, but no one can really pinpoint drifting’s actual birth place.
Like many forms of professional racing, the modern interpretation
of drifting evolved from a form of illegal street racing held on windy mountain roads, called 'Touge'.
Eventually some of the drivers began to adopt driving techniques used by rally drivers, techniques to
corner quickly without losing too much momentum.
As the drivers began to emulate the rally driver techniques, they discovered that not only did their times and driving performance improve but that it gave an exciting and intense drive – drifting was born. |
At the time that this technique became popular, drifters began to bring their sport to the towns and cities, adding their own flavour and flamboyant driving as well fantastic styling and outrageous vehicles. Eventually word spread and people began to form on the street to witness these amazing drivers and drifting machines. But as popular drifting had become, it was relegated to the underground scene due to the risks and image associated with illegal street contests.
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The popularity of drifting grew and competitors started organising their own events at local circuits, and
off the streets. A company called Video Option began to organise Driver Search events, held to allow the local drivers to
compete with each other. For a while the Driver Search events satisfied most, but as skills and techniques improved,
manufacturers began producing specific parts for drifting and the events got serious.
It was the vision of a car enthusiast and publisher that brought drifting to the mainstream, in Japan. Mr. Daijiro Inada, Founder of Option magazine and the Tokyo Auto Salon, knew that the Driver Search events held a fraction of the potential that drifting could generate and he decided to bring the sport to a professional level. |
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In 2001 with the help of Keiichi Tsuchiya, a professional Touring Car driver in Japan and the person he considered to be the father of modern drifting, Daijiro created the D1 Grand Prix. Today in Japan the D1 Grand Prix is so popular that the drivers are now all well known celebrities.
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