JANUARY 19, 2005

Sleeping with the enemy

The younger generations in the United States have been smitten of late by a new sport called drifting. This originated in Japan where youngsters developed skills of controlling their cars in a series of elegant slides as close to the limit of adhesion as possible.

The younger generations in the United States have been smitten of late by a new sport called drifting. This originated in Japan where youngsters developed skills of controlling their cars in a series of elegant slides as close to the limit of adhesion as possible. The drivers were judged not on speed but on their style and their showmanship. As cars are designed NOT to do this the results are very spectacular and drifting has developed a big fan base around the world. Rather than try to fight the new phenomenon the organizers on the Long Beach Grand Prix have decided to get drifting on the schedule in the hope that it will attract new spectators for Champ Cars.

Perhaps some of the F1 race organizers around the world might take a leaf out of the Long Beach book and offer a little bit of excitement to a new range of fans who might one day become F1 supporters.