Driving Skill cannot be Bought

What I like most about drifting is you can't win by out buying your competition. In on road racing you have to have THE BEST chassis, batteries, charger, radio, etc etc etc. If you don't have any of those forget about being competitive. Luckily that's not the case with all on road racing.

I recently went back to San Jose for a week and caught up with my old drift buddies and we hit the track. I haven't drifted in over a year since I last visited so I was expecting to be pretty rusty. You know, crashing everywhere, spinning out, going way off line. Surprisingly I did pretty good after such a long hiatus. Some guy at the track who drift almost every weekend were having trouble getting around the track. Granted, they were CS cars but what I'm trying to say is these guys had some fancy looking chassis with them. I glanced some looks around the pits to see what everyone is running these days and most of them are running these front motor mounted chassis that they use in Japan. Chassis' that are not very affordable. So these guys bought these expensive drift kits and they have trouble getting around the track still? Yes, that's right. They are neglecting something very important that I held so dear to myself when I first started drifting. 

Learn as much as you can about driving.

Driving on a track is VERY different then being in an open parking lot.

I still remember my first time on a track. Before I even went I was in parking lots "freestyling" or just drifting with no set course. I thought I was so good and better then some of those guys I saw on videos. Well, let's just say I had a very rude awakening. My first time on a track with my Traxxas 4 Tec I crashed on every single turn, didn't hit a single clipping point and probably pissed off a few guys by ramming their cars. But I still had a blast. After that I made myself clear: I was going to learn how to drive. I drifted for 2 years straight before I "retired" and I have to say, I'm still learning. Every day I went to the track to a session, competition or demo I learned something new. A new setup for my car, a new technique to get that right line, it was always something.

I hit the pinnacle of my driving skill when the SJ drifting king said I was one of the top guys for drifting in San Jose. That sure was a confidence boost.

I've come a long way to my first session at Hobbytown back in September 2008 and I still feel there is more to learn. You can't know everything about anything and driving is no exception. Not having fun at the track because you crash all the time and can't make a clean lap? Practice driving your car. It's not handling right? Ask someone! Another thing I like about drifting is the guys that drift along side you are very helpful and willing to aid someone who is new.

Another thing I do but not everyone notices is I watch other guys drift. A lot of my time spent at the track is just watching guys go around the track and just watching how they do it. Find someone who gets around the track cleanly and has a style that you like. When you get a chance, talk to them for a bit and they can help you out if you need it.