30 Jun 2017 Closely fought battle in the rain - Circuit Hero-Drift

For the drift race, the most exciting part must be the chase when two cars race side by side. Two cars running along the main straight of ZIC in front of thousands of fans. It is a beautiful waltz. Today there is still a lot of water on the track after the downpour. Drifting requires the driver to control his car precisely, the wet track greatly increases the difficulty of doing that. Under these circumstances the skills of each driver is tested to the full.

But rain is not an obstacle for all drivers. Before the race Brazilian female driver Tsukamoto Nanami said, “Since my car has less power, the water on the track is actually a good thing for me. Under these circumstances the requirement for horsepower is not so high, so for me this will be an opportunity to get closer to the other drivers.”

The race begins after some warm up runs for the drivers. The first battle is between James Tang of Hong Kong and Emmanuelle Amandio of Indonesia. Amandio will lead first while James Tang gives chase. James seems to lose touch with Amandio in the battle, probably due to the wet conditions. Then James lead for Amandio to chase and Amandio does well, keeping James on his toes.  But when they return Amandio’s car stops, this is a big mistake and there will be a penalty.

The drift battles continue. Soon it is the battle between Michael Xue and Tsukamoto Nanami. Michael leads first and his Nissan GT-R is very powerful, add that to the fact that Michael is a very good driver, the whole package drifts fast and beautifully. It is hard for Tsukamoto Nanami to keep up. After the two exchange positions, Nanami makes a good run but Michael is able to keep up. Just when we think Nanami will be eliminated, Michael spins around. According to the rules this is a massive mistake and he will not be awarded any points. The crowd is very excited. But soon after, Nanami also spins around. Therefore Michael Xue gets promoted to the next round.

In the final battle for the win, it is between Italian Federico Sceriffo and Indonesian Emmanuelle Amndio. First Federico leads, his race car draws a beautiful curve on the main straight of ZIC. But maybe he was too anxious, he hits one of the cones. This small mistake does not affect the race. In the following race Amandio continues to stick close and as they turn around, they are almost drifting parallel to each other. But then they hit! Both cars suffer some damage. Since both cars were going in the same direction, this hit was just a soft touch.

The two cars exchange positions. Amandio leads and he pulls clear of Federico. The winner’s trophy is almost within his grasp. But at the return corner, Amandio drifts too wide and hits a cone. That’s a penalty. The penalty takes his advantage away.

After the race, Hong Kong driver James Tang said, “My results have been good before, but today I was eliminated early on. My mistake was partly caused by the rain. On the other hand we now have many international drivers and they have helped us to raise our standards. With their help, Chinese drivers are also improving.”

Winner of today’s Circuit Hero-Drift, Federico Sceriffo, said, “The Chinese fans are very passionate, more so than the crowds back home. Back home I only hear applause. But here we can hear the fans scream. I love racing here, I love the crowd!”