23 Mar 2014 Red Bull Drift Battle begins at Pan Delta Spring Race

Japanese expert defeated by Hong Kong Drift King

At 22 March 2014, Pan Delta Super Racing Festival commences at Zhuhai International Circuit. The Red Bull Drift Battle once again becomes a key attraction. With the new "Boxer" addition, it has garnered even more interest than before.

In the qualifying session on Saturday, James Tang of Hong Kong successfully takes first place with a full 100 points. Japanese expert drifter Kuniaki Takahashi finishes second, merely 0.5 points behind. Last year's Autumn Race winner Federico Sceriffo is fourth after suffering from mechanical problems. A total of 8 drivers will proceed to the final on Sunday. They will face-off against each other.

In the qualifying session, each car goes out to drift on its own. They must try to kick the "Boxer" with the tail of their cars. Failure to do so will result in points being deducted. Everytime the boxer is hit, it generates a loud roar of approval from the grandstand.

For the drivers, the "Boxer" is a big challenge. It is not easy to kick it. Some drivers miss by just centimetres. But the more experienced drivers are able to kick it high.

No. 66 Kuniaki Takahashi, who worked as a stuntman in the "Initial D" film mainly as Shawn Yu's driver, is a professional competitor in the Japanese D1 Championship. This is his first appearance at the Pan Delta Super Racing Festival. "I have practiced drifting for 20 years and I practice daily since I am a professional."

James Tang though, out-performs him on the day, on each of his three drifts he has been able to hit the boxer. Each participant is permitted three tries and the point from his highest try count towards his result. The chief judge Iwata Kazuhiko commented after awarding 100 points to James. "James and Kuniaki both perform to very high standards and are inseparable, although James was slower, when he hit the boxer his car was closer to the wall. Kuniaki was faster but further away from the wall".

James Tang said, "The Boxer was not easy for me. I could not see whether my car could hit it, I had to feel it. Today I did okay and I hope to perform well again tomorrow."

Kuniaki Takahashi said, "It was not hard to hit the boxer, but I felt it was spectacular to hit it."

Federico Sceriffo said, "Hitting the boxer was not hard for me, it was not a problem at all. But in practice, the small camera plane that Red Bull was using flew on top of the boxer and when I hit the ball it almost hit the plane."

The Red Bull Drift Battle is run over two days, the top 8 drivers will qualify for the final on Sunday. Each battle carries 10 points and is divided between the two drivers base on their performance.

Result	No.	Driver	Nationality	Points
1	68	James Tang	Hong Kong	100
2	66	Kuniaki Takahashi	Japan	99.5
3	18	Liao Zhuo	China	96
4	17	Federico Sceriffo	Italy	93
5	5	Liao Xun-Qi	Hong Kong	91
6	28	Zhang Zhi-Cheng	China	83
7	13	Michael Sit	China	78
8	38	Li Dong-Sheng	China	10

Final Face-Off:

James Tang VS Li Dong-Sheng
Kuniaki Takahashi VS Michael Sit
Liao Zhuo VS Zhang Zhi-Cheng
Federico Sceriffo VS Liao Xun-Qi