18 Sep 2016 4th Red Bull Drift Battle ends - Federico Sceriffo claims title with narrow win

2016 Red Bull Drift Battle closes its curtains in a perfect manner on 18 September. In the Drift Battle on Sunday, Italian Red Bull team driver Federico Sceriffo defeated Indonesian Emanuelle Amandio to take the title. Chinese driver Liu Zhuo finished third.

Federico Sceriffo defeats Amandio by a single point

In the Drift Battle, two cars will chase each other in the order set in the qualifying session. The 11 participants will be ushered into A or B slots for their battle. The circuit is 260m long including all the corners. The judge will award points according to the angle, speed, the closeness between the leading and chasing cars and tyre smoke. Whether the drivers can hit the ball with their tails is another consideration for the judge.

Today, Zhuhai International Circuit is filled with fans. Thousands of fans have come to the circuit to witness this classic battle. Federico Sceriffo and Emmanuelle Amandio fight off other rivals as they progress to the final. In the final, Federico performs beautifully, showing fast and furious pace in the lead car. Although Emmanuelle also performs well as the chaser, he was not close enough and lost the first battle by a point.

In the second battle, the two drivers’ roles are reversed. Amandio’s car’s tail hit the ball and creates a lot of smoke. Federico, following closely, is visually affected and his car’s tail touches the wall, slightly hampering his progress. Federico is able to re-gain control, demonstrating why he is the champion, as the smoke clears, he emerges closely behind Amandio. The score is 5:5! Finally, Federico Sceriffo wins the battle by a mere point.

“For me this is a great race. Although the car’s tail touched the wall and affected my progress, I am very happy to have won this title. More importantly, I think the fans will remember me. Next year I will return, I want to win both titles!” Federico Sceriffo is unable to contain his emotions after the race.

For Emmanuelle Amandio, who won in Spring race and came second in Summer race, second overall is slightly regretful. “In the second round I made a small mistake, I was stuck in fifth gear when I accelerated at the corner. I was ready to move up to sixth gear, that mistake allowed Federico to close on me. “ Amandio said.

For Chinese drivers, Summer race double winner Xue Kun was unable to hit top form, failing to reach the semi-finals. But the other Chinese driver Liu Zhuo managed to break through, beating Japanese driver Hibiya Tetsuya and steeple chase winner Jake Jones, only to lose to Federico in the semi-final and finished third.

“Today’s race was very difficult for me. Tetsuya Hibiya and Jake Jones are great drivers. Federico performed very well. He followed me very closely. I think Chinese drivers need to enter more international race, in 3 to 5 years we will be able to show what we can do.” Liu Zhuo said confidently.

Drivers praise Red Bull Drift Battle: No need to envy other countries

After the final battle, the drivers expressed their praise for the 2016 Red Bull Drift Battle. Federico Sceriffo said, “Red Bull Drift Battle has invited the best drift drivers, the standard is very high. China has no need to envy other countries, you have the best drift races.”

Federico Sceriffo climbed up the fencing between the track and the spectators to express his thanks. The spectators also responded enthusiastically by cheering loudly to this great driver.

“In China, Red Bull Drift Battle gets more spectators in a race than the entire population of my home town. Drifting on this circuit and in this atmosphere is very emotional.” Federico was born in a small town near Milan, Italy. He said China is now his second home. This passionate Italian happily took photographs with any fan that made such requests.

Amandio specially mentioned the Chinese spectators, he said, “5 to 6,000 spectators cheering for you in a race, this can only happen in the Red Bull Drift Battle in China.”

In the 2016 season, whether it is the steeple chase or drift battle, new elements have been introduced. For example in the summer race a football themed “penalty shoot”; in autumn there are the graffiti oil drums and tyres, as well as the ball that’s just 1.5m from the wall. All these elements make the race even more challenging and spectacular.

The Red Bull Drift Battle is held three times a year, in Spring, Summer and Autumn. There are three competitions on each day of the event, qualifying, steeple chase and drift battle. In qualifying it mainly allows the drivers to get familiar with the circuit and set the order for the drift battle. The steeple chase tests each driver’s individual skill, while the drift battle test the driver’s complete driving ability.

Now the 2016 Red Bull Drift Battle is over. With the rules and regulations ever improving, more and more world class drivers are entering the series, bring a even better spectacle to the fans.