Drifting
Open Drift Day: Lahore, donut drifts and the tire-tarmac love affair
Thrill-seekers from across Pakistan vroom their way to Lahore after the golden chance to unravel their talent at Pakistan’s first-ever drifting competition at the newly launched Vroom Racing track.
Between jaw-dropping donut drifts and clean shifts, the Red Bull Kart Fight season 2021 winner Talha Bin Azhar set the stage in Lahore last week to let aspiring and experienced drifters put the pedal to the metal at the recently inaugurated Vroom Racing tracks.
Entitled ‘Open Drift Day’, the first-of-its-kind, three-day event held at Vroom Racing tracks at SA Gardens, saw over 20 invited participants from seven cities of Pakistan, including Lahore, Islamabad, Karachi, Peshawar, Sukkur, Faisalabad and Quetta. Talking about the nitty-gritties of the event, Azhar termed it as a launchpad for drifting activities in Pakistan.
On the tracks, one could see a variety of drift cars from 350z to BMWE46 and Toyota Chaser JZX90 and JZX100. Both the chasers and the chased vroomed on the Vroom tracks and formed donut shapes as the tires screeched against the tarmac.
Renowned international drifter Babur Zia was one of the judges whereas acclaimed national drifter Adeel Yaqoob (Karachi) competed in the competitions alongside Sattar Jan (Quetta), Mohammed Omer (Islamabad), Usama Siddique (Karachi), Ali Sauza (Karachi) and Yawar (Lahore).
Donut drifting by Adeel at the Vroom Racing Track
© Sher Azam
As the motorsports and particularly drifting scene grows around the country, Azhar explained how understanding drifting is important to sift the right talent apart, which is something that starts with awareness.
“Once people are aware, more drivers will start building cars and exhibit their talent on the tracks – that’s how we can advance the motorsport scene in Pakistan,” he said. "If we want to see drifting events in Pakistan, we will have to do something ourselves to give people the real-time experience, the feel, and how good drifting is judged."
Talha Azhar termed the event as a launchpad for drifting in Pakistan.
© Sher Azam
The event featured the two-day training and the love affair of the cars and runways kicked into full gear on the final day with two competitions: drift race and donut maneuvers.
The pre-competition training included the tips and tricks of making the driving experience better while drifting. Apart from Azhar, the Motocross rider Moin Khan, sports bike racer Umer Farooq and Nida were part of in the training panel.
According to Azhar, 20 beginner and intermediate level car racers received first-hand schooling on the different techniques that drifters can use to their advantage.
The training sessions prepped up the participants for the final race day. The qualification round commenced the last day by contesting 15 participants, giving us the top six who moved into the two-lap final race that was intensively umpired by three judges.
Participant showcasing drifting skills at the Open Drift Day at Vroom Track
© Sher Azam
The judges focused on three areas – line, angle and style. Before the race, the trainers informed the participants about the five clipping zones on the track to focus on for scoring more points.
Azhar finds drifting to be a subjective sport, yet the only motorsport that is formally judged. The Open Drift Day event aimed to give people a real drift race experience, which included the subjective nature of the sport and compliance with all the safety guidelines and rules of Federation Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA).
Open Drift Day event aimed to give people a real drift race experience
© Sher Azam
“We followed all the guidelines of FIA and set aside a prize pool of PKR one million to encourage the drivers.”
Karachi based drifter Adeel Yaqoob, driving his 350z, bagged PKR 300,000 as the winner of the competition, followed by runners-up Muhammad Omer from Islamabad and Karachi’s Usama Siddiqui, taking home PKR 200,000 and PKR 100,000 respectively.
In the donut drift competition, where the prize was PKR 100, 000 each for the top three ranks, Quetta’s Sattar Jan emerged as the crown-bearer with Karachi’s Sauza and Lahore-based Yawar coming in 2nd and 3rd spots respectively.
An overwhelmed Yaqoob shared that it was his first competing in a drift race in Pakistan. “It was beyond my expectations. When I decided to take part in the event, I thought it would be a beginner level event, but when I arrived there, it was organized on an international level.”
Amateur drifters learnt various techniques by local drifting experts
© Sher Azam
He also praised his competitors. “Usama has six to seven years of experience, and I only started professionally 1.5 years back. He faced some issues with his car, otherwise he would have won the race,” he said, adding that as Pakistani drifters get more experienced and a larger number of them participate next year in the Open Drift Day, he’d definitely have to work harder to retain his position on the podium.
For Azhar and his team, seeing this new generation of racers and drifters in the country is delightful. "It was a huge success. We are confident that more drivers will participate next time and the current ones will come back stronger.”
While Zia commended how racers brought their own cars from across Pakistan and called the event “a great achievement for the drifting community and motorsport in Pakistan”, Yaqoob is equally optimistic about the future of drifting and overall, motorsports in Pakistan.
Winning drifters celebrating their success
© Sher Azam
Calling attention to an audience of over 3000 despite Drift Day being a closed event, he said, “Drifting is the most popular motorsport in the world. It is full of thrills and adventure for the spectators. The time is not far when drift events will be the center of attention in motorsports in Pakistan.”
Azhar echoed the sentiment and noted that the launch of the Vroom Racing Academy and tracks will undoubtedly attract many drivers, and more events like these will help Pakistan build its association with the international motorsport community. He further said that the future of motorsport in Pakistan seems bright, especially as new tracks like Vroom start showing up across the country.
This competition could spark a new era of motorsports in Pakistan, and Azhar sees endless motorsport talent and potential in the young blood of Pakistan.
"Every driver is unique – each drifter performs differently even after receiving the same training. That’s what makes this motorsport so subjective. We want our fellow drivers to rise to the occasion, compete at world level, and claim their deserved ranks."
Kart Fighting in Pakistan
