What is drift? What makes it so special? Now thats a question! Hell, whenever my friends ask me ” What’s that drift thing you are talkin’ about so much?” I have so many to tell that I don’t know where to start. That’s the hidden meaning in this photo. THIS is drift. THIS is why I love it. I don’t know if that’s why you like it so much, but pieces of rubber, broken light, some car part, smoke far away and a drift car – this is it. But that’s not what I will post about right now… The title says- TRIP!So yea, that’s my first post on Driftworks and I start with something so serious… That’s not good! Short introduction- In drift community I’m known as Ray. I’m 19 and from Poland. You’ve already seen the reason why I’m involved with drifting and why I like it. I had really struggle about this thing. I had no idea what to post. Too many photos, too many ideas, too many thoughts. So why not start with something a little odd? That’s when TRIP idea come to mind. So here it is!
I’m sure my Mom isn’t proud right now… After grabbing healthy breakfast, me and my mate Mila were on the road.
So that’s what I saw for most of our time to the event. Notice the awesome audio system. I was the one who stuck them there! Surprise surprise- it works! I actually felt a little odd ( you know- a JDM junkie driving something like this? Not good), but eventually I got used to it.
As some of you noticed what kind of car I’m talking about, you will probably know that it’s not really fast. So we had really trouble when something like THIS pop out in front of us… We actually got stuck for like 5 minutes…
Not cool fact – like 4 km from our destination we saw something like this… And a 2 minute drive lasted for 47 minutes… If any of you have ever been to Poland you SURELY know what to expect on roads. Well, the word “road” is a little too much for those who have no idea what I’m talking about.
So after 2 hour drive we were there. I grab our vests, leave money for them, and we roll in. This is what we saw right away; This is the place where the drivers keep their cars, equipment and all of that stuff. My friend was already happy because he actually saw a few nice cars; It’s nothing serious, it’s just the paddock.
So now few words about the event. It is a completely new series called Super Drift Cup ( by SSS ) and it was 5th round. What is special about these events is the fact, that they are using Driftboxes to help with qualifications. Many people said that these devices SUCK literally, but they do the job very good! I mean- how can a judge see the angle? So 50% of a final score is thanks to this little boxes and the other half- judges. Until now no one has ever said anything bad about this. Why? Because you can see your speed and angle and compare it to other drivers. If its lower/weaker you know why you were lower in qualification chart.
And the photo – Thats actually Marcin Skwierczyński, but everyone knows him as “Małpa” ( polish for Monkey). I have no idea why he has that nick name. That’s the guy who is called Marcin Mocnek by other media and it really bugs me! He was actually at Silverstone during the JDM Allstars but mechanical problem ended his day. During that event he was on fire and you can see what judges mean about hitting the clipping point.
Mechanical problems are everyday problems when it comes to drifting… Here we can see Bartosz “BRT” Stolarski suffering one during TOP32. This guy is really good! I’ve never saw him not qualify to any event. Unfortunately, this was the moment his day ended. You can also see the MC of Super Drift Series – Ping. He really is cool dude and he drifts himself with skyline.
They are joined by Bartek Owczarek ex-champion in drifting in Poland. He’s actually one of the guys who organize these events. You should really get to know this man, because he really loves drifting, even if it eats all his time and money. That was actually funny moment; Ping was talking to audience that the car broke and Bart said ” Stop talking and help me” Haha! It was funny for me too but then he pointed at me and I had to help too… WHAT THE HELL?!
These is photo from qualification one day before. The backdrop was amazing for last competitors. I was so pissed that my gear is not good at this conditions… The sunset and drift car. What more do you want?
When most people leave, there are tons of other dudes that are working. This are the people no one really hears about, but they do a HELL lot of job working on setting the course and things like that. You should always remember that events are not easy things to do. That’s why I always have respect for guys who stays quiet and provide us all that fun.
After all qualifying, there is this brief moment of peace and silence around. You feel really good then. Even though you are covered in rubber and tired…
The Super Drift Cup is always made with drag competition. Here’s one of the drag cars- the awesome GT-R. Drag is not what I was expecting from that car… Track is the only place where it should be used. That’s my opinion. What do you think?
First time in a loooong time I’ve seen something like this… Few minutes after taking this photo the downpour was so hard that no one of the audience was left… Not to mention the fact that I was hiding behind a Fire truck to cover myself! After short but intense rain we were out to see what’s with the track. Unfortunately the track lays pretty low, so the water started pouring into it. Later there was another big rain with thunders and so… You could actually drift a boat, never mind a car… And that’s what stopped the magic.
It was the moment when the event was cancelled. There were no spectators, but the organizers wanted the drifters to have fun. The TOP32 was one battle from coming to end back then when the weather rain even more…
After talking with few people, we figured it was the end of the day. We packed up and were on our way back. That’s a nice river right? WRONG that is actually a road in the middle of Koszalin city… It shows how hard it rained!
Overall the event was incredible (as always) and I would really like to show you some pictures from it! But that’s it for now I hope you have enjoyed this little trip with me. After all, I talked about drifting a lot, but didn’t post a lot of action shots – SORRY! Thanks a lot to the Driftworks crew for letting me post something like this.
Oh and one more thing. Always remember why you drift for. Keep drifting fun!
Do you have a story you want to share about drifting? Good times? Bad times? Send it in to media@driftworks.com
Constructive criticism… Started reading got bored quick, so I just browsed the photo’s. It might just be me and if I remember I Might try again later.
There are a lot of talented drivers in Poland..Stolarski is ome of them, a great guy with a sense of humour. Poland has a lot to offer the sport..I have great respect for them.
good to have a read about polish events. (me being polish)
and YAY to the recent floods.
Driftbox really has no place in competition..It’s a great aid to training but not as accurate as people think with great variations between vehicle types. I’ve also come across 2 championships where the results were manipulated and the Driftbox used as an excuse to favour local drivers.
I think that driftbox isn’t half bad. It shows exact speed, so thats were you are SURE that you were better/worse than your opponent. Same with angle. So whats with the favour? Maybe the DB weren’t used correctly.
In Poland it works really good ( uptill now at least ) and I’m pretty sure that drivers don’t mind it.
Driftpromotion: It’s not the best idea to manipulate results when we post drift box binary files to the public on forums. And sometimes even more data. So the drivers are free to analyse it a all at home in private.
We will only keep using it for as long as we (organisers, judges) and the competing drivers believe it works good.
p.s.: Nice post Ray. 🙂
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nice wright up mate well done.was a good little read even though it was not over here.
[…] News -> “Ray on a trip” at driftworks I haven’t post anything recently here, but I forgot to post a link to my lil story over at driftworks.com haha. So check this out, this is more or less normal post: Ray on a trip […]
Ray, awesome relation. I hope you will post more on DW scene.
I have something to say about DB. If you are a spectator, you choose some cars or drivers, which has a good paintjob on a car, driver who is most crazy of everyone (greets for Wierzba). Drift judge should be impartial, but he is only a man. If judges would point every drifter in his scale, it could be unfair to someone. Imagine, you got the speed, angle, line, but you haven’t make show, your style is not agressive. Judge also could not see this. This is his his objective rating of every course. DB is very helpful, You shouldn’t be so sceptic.