16 Sep 2017 Sliding on the narrow track! Circuit Hero-Drift Steeple Chase

At 10:30 on 16 Sep 2017, Pan Delta Super Racing Festival Autumn Race Circuit Hero-Drift held the Steeple Chase on ZIC's main straight. The steeple chase is run on the rather narrow main straight which is rare to see in drift contests.  This race is well known nationally for its danger, excitement and heated competition. Since its inception, it has attracted top drivers from Japan, USA, Australia, Europe...etc. This race as well as the Chase on Sunday, have been one of the most popular races of the Pan Delta weekend.

Right at the start the race is really dramatic: every driver begins by circling a model girl, the front of the car is less than a metre away from the girl! After making their appearances, the drivers will zig zag their cars and smoke their tyres, moving from one end of the straight to the other. The track area is full of tyre smoke and sharp noises.

Today the obstacles are to drift around two centre cones and then drift backwards into a parking space. It sounds simple but it is very difficult to do on a narrow track. The first car made a good start and smoke its tyres with the handbrake, the race car left a trail of tyre smoke behind it as it drifted around the two cones, then it moved backwards into the parking slot. It made a good first impression, but this was just practice and not final result.

The competition officially begins. Australian Jake Jones is the first to appear.  He completes the course beautifully with a standard set of moves. But his pursue of perfection in his moves results in a slight loss of time. The drivers after him perform one better than the other. The competition is run very smoothly.

The engines roar and the tyres screech, every time a race car runs by it is trailed by very thick tyre smoke. This is a world where race cars run sideways. It has its own rules and it is not easily understood by everyone.

In the end, the judge makes his decision based on the drift moves and time taken. Norway's Fredric Aasbø is the champion of today's Steeple Chase, Emmanuelle Amandio is second and Jake Jones finishes third. After the race, James Tang said, "I am very happy with today's race, the spectators are very passionate.  We have been organizing drift events here for 5 years now, I am very happy to see more and more international drivers join in and bring better races to the fans. With the international drivers, the standards are getting higher and higher and the action is better and better. I hope tomorrow's chase will attract even more fans to cheer for us."

Winner Fredric Aasbø said, "This is the first time I have raced here. The drift race here is very different from my country. Firstly the track is narrower, unlike the usual wide open ground. This makes the race more exciting and on the edge. Furthermore, the organization is excellent. I love the way drift culture is promoted, very few places have this kind of atmosphere. It is not often for drift drivers to perform in front of thousands of spectators. I love racing here."