Drifting – a growing car sport!

by Kamal Bacchus-Browne

Drift motion is a local motorsport event in Trinidad and Tobago that is not just a meet up for car racing enthusiasts there, but a family friendly attraction for all ages that would rival its worldly counterparts.

At a recent meet I attended in Trinidad and Tobago there was mixed and local music, cars built for show and drifting, a variety of food and drinks, a DJ who could probably take top place in standup comedy{{more}}, and even a truck selling different flavored snow cones! The event I attended was the third installment for this year called Drift Motion 3, hosted by the non-profit organization TTDA (Trinidad and Tobago Drift Association). Although only few years in the making, it already has professional and amateur categories, which in both classes, some drivers displayed no lack of skill in the art of drifting.

To give you a little back story. Drifting is a form of motor vehicle racing that started in the hills of Japan where enthusiasts, instead of trying to make the car go around corners as fast as possible in the normal grip fashion, they would continuously slide around multiple corners sideways, connecting them into one big drift to see who was the best. Today a drifting is considered the fastest Growing motorsport in different parts of the world.

At most events around the world the judging criteria remains the same. A driver is judged by the speed and angle in relation to clipping points in the corner. The top competition in the world is the international event The D1 Grand Prix which in my opinion is every drifter’s goal to one day compete in.

When that day comes for our Trinidadian brethren I have full confidence that it will be a bitter battle to the end. It is my hope and dreams that drifting may one day become a local event here in Saint Vincent and the Grenadines. I encourage everyone one who reads this to take interest and look more depth into the brotherhood that is drifting by online means or by traveling to Trinidad as I did to experience what it is like to see or maybe even ride along and feel what it is like to drift!

I would just like to thank the TTDA for welcoming me with open arms and providing me with a pass and vest and allowing to be on the track for a firsthand experience of Trinidadian drifting. Before allowing me on the track though there was a briefing of myself and other members of the media, about the track, its dangers and where we were allowed to go.

I hope in future that Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Trinidad and Tobago as well as other Caribbean islands can one day come together as one and host a championship of our own!