History of Drifting

The origin of drifting can be traced back in its native land which was in Japan. On the many rural mountains of Japan, the street racers would go up to the mountain and race there. From there started an event called touge racing ( Toh-gey - mountain racing) and at that time it was growing in popularity. One of the many founders of drifting was Kunimitsu Takahashi he was an exceptionally talented racer. From Takahashi to Keiichi Tsuchiya, Keiichi was the man to follow up on drifting when it was still developing.

Keiichi became known as the dorikin (Drift king) in the street because of his skills. He eventually turned pro racer and went on to achieved many great feats in his racing career. In 1977 Keiichi began his racing career driving many different cars in amateur racing series events. Racing these underpowered cars was difficult but again a great learning experience. Later Keiichi was picked up to drive the ADVAN sponsored Toyota AE86 Sprinter Trueno (JDM Corolla GT-S). During many races on a downhill corner he would drift the car and carry a better corner speed than his competitors. This technique is what made him the Drift King, not, as most believe, that he was first in the drift scene. In 1988, alongside Option magazine founder Daijiro Inada, he would help to organise one of the first drift events, the event was a success despite very few drivers were capable of drifting then.

Alot of the techniques that were used in drifting was derived in rally racing, where the fastest way around a corner is to slide. That is why some of the current drifters around are ex rally racers and they are very good at drifting because of their experience in rallying.