Okay… here comes a big one… blog that is. Prepare yourself, as I am about to touch on some drag racing, time attack, SEMA stuff, and drifting… yes, you read correctly… drifting. Let the Speedhunting begin!
So some have you may or may not have heard through the rumor-mill that I have been out at Willow Springs five days over the past two weeks causing some ruckus with veteran drifter Tony Angelo. Why you ask? Because in 2009, WORLD Racing will be starting their own drift program. That’s right folks, no need to check your eyes… drift program. Two weeks ago I started testing with Tony using his Nissan Silvia S13. I have had the best time learning with Tony; he is not only a great dude, but a great teacher as well.
It’s definitely been a huge challenge for me. While it’s true that a lot of the fundamentals are high-level basic driving skills, it is the timing and execution of these techniques to put the car exactly where you want it that has really been the biggest challenge for me. Sure I’ve got great car control from drag racing and road racing, and my throttle imputes and braking are very smooth, but with drifting it’s a whole different animal as I have been learning. These guys that are on the professional level are just that - TRUE professionals - and for me to compete with the best of the best, it’s going to take me quite a bit of practice. But as you all know, I am always up for a new challenge, and what more of a challenge can I face myself with right now in my career than to try to get to the level of these amazing guys and compete with them?
Day one of drift practice was pretty fun. Tony told me to get out there and do some tight donuts around a cone, which was pretty much no problem for me. Then we moved on to wide circles around a big group of cones, which was still pretty easy only because it didn’t involve any transitions of the vehicle,then we moved on to figure-eights. Figure-eights became a challenge for me at first because there are a lot of vehicle transitions involved. The perception of where to point the car in order to rotate the car around the cone and start my transition at the right time, how long to let go of the wheel, when to grab hold of the wheel again, were all factors I was battling with to get it down right. Once I got that down pat, Tony wanted me to move on to the next challenge - linking a small course.
Day two was interesting. I’m not going to lie; this small course was a big challenge for me at first. Especially coming from the last two-and-a-half years of road racing my FWD Scion tC, because one thing I learned from that was you can NEVER EVER let go of the wheel. If you let go of the wheel for one split-second, that car of yours is not going to go where you want it to go. This is completely opposite of drifting a RWD car. When a FWD car goes into a slide, you don’t breathe the throttle and counter-steer, because if you do that the car doesn’t go where you want it to go. In a FWD car, you point the wheels where you want the car to go, and you mash the throttle down and the car will pull out of the slide and go in the direction you want it to.
In a drift car, this is completely opposite, you need to let go of the wheel, and as a matter of fact, as I learned the hard way, even touching the steering wheel with one light tap before it has unwound to the correct amount, guess what? You’re gonna spin and not be successful, which is something I had a real hard time with. Sometimes it would feel like I had it, then my brain and my FWD instincts would kick in and I would give the wheel a little tap, like “Oh I need the car to go over here”, and guess what, I would spin.
It had finally started to set in that I needed to stop touching the stupid wheel and steer the car with my feet. After Tony beat this through my head of what to and not to do, at the end of the day, some of it actually started to sink in and I started to be able to link the course. Now believe me, this was not without many, many, many trials of me spinning or messing up that I was finally able to link this course. But when I finally did, damn it felt good. Here’s a quick video of my practice.
At first Tony was telling me these things and I was like “Oh yeah, I got it…” but you know what… I didn’t get it. I’m the type of person who has to do and feel things for myself and that’s the only way I was going to get it that day, and the only way I’m going to get it in the future. I still have a really long way to go to get to a competitive level, but the most important thing about my drifting practice with Tony was that I HAD A BLAST!
I am going to try - and I do mean “try”, because in no means do I think I’m going to be able to get out there after a couple weeks practice and knock ‘em dead - to get my FD license this year at the PRO/AM event in Long Beach. I’ve been in this business of motorsports for 11 years now and if there is one thing I’ve learned, it’s that you’ve got to pay your dues. If anything comes easy, you’re probably not doing it right anyway. I’m going to go out there and give it 100 percent of my effort because it’s the only way I know how, and if I fail, then I fail. But if I fail, then I am the only one to blame, because Tony Angelo has been a great teacher, and other friends of mine in this sport, like Vaughn Gittin, are great mentors as well. These are guys that I look up to and anytime I need help and guidance, they are always there for me. So do I think I will eventually be able to make it in drifting? Yes, I do. And that’s only because I am not the type of guy who gives up easily. How long it might take? Only time will tell!
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