Two really is better than one. Battle Drift is one of our favorite drifting videos. It features pro drifters Daigo Saito and Vaughn Gittin Jr. pulling off some epic tandem drifting moves in and around an abandoned village in Japan. Now Daigo is back for Battle Drift 2, with a new partner.
Gittin Jr. and his Ford Mustang are out, as is the rural setting of the first Battle Drift. Instead, Battle Drift 2 features British driver Steve “Baggsy” Biagioni, whose weapon of choice is a Nissan GT-R. Biagioni isn’t the only British thing in this video: the action was shot on the waterfront in Sheerness, England.
The dockyard location’s tight confines gave the drivers plenty of opportunities to show off their car-control skills, and also claimed a bit of the GT-R’s rear bodywork. Casey Currie added to the fun with a Pro Lite off-road race truck, pulling off some jumps and even drifting alongside the GT-R and Daigo’s Lamborghini Murciélago.
The Lambo is the same one that appeared in the original Battle Drift. It’s got 650 horsepower, and was converted from all-wheel drive to rear-wheel drive in order to drift. Rear-wheel drive is essential for drifting, since it relies on overpowering the back tires and using the resulting oversteer to get the car sliding.
That may sound impressive, but Biagioni’s GT-R is in a different league. It was also converted to rear-wheel drive, and the stock twin-turbocharged V6 was ditched in favor of a General Motors-derived turbocharged V8, producing 1,200 hp. Talk about overkill.
While videos like the Battle Drift series get lots of views online, drifting hasn’t received much attention from the mainstream motor-sport community. Pro series like Formula Drift do exist, but most racers and race fans can’t seem to wrap their heads around a motor sport that emphasizes looking good over going fast.
That’s changing, though. The FIA, the sanctioning body that oversees Formula One, Formula E, and the World Endurance Championship, is starting its own drift competition. It’s called the Intercontinental Drifting Cup, and it will take place in Japan September 30 to October 1. It could be the first step toward drifting going mainstream.
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