Drift racing or often called just drifting, is a motorsport where oversteering is performed to make a car slide or ‘drift’. This first became popular in Japan on winding back roads and has now spread to Australia, Europe, the United States and elsewhere in just the last five years. The exact location of where this all began is not certain, but it is known that it began in the mid-1960s. Just like most types of racing today, drift car racing has come from what was an illegal form of racing. These races typically took place on curvy mountain roads that were referred to as touge. These dangerous roads were challenged by dedicated and intense drivers who were called the rolling zoku. The main goal was to get from point A to point B and achieve lower times each time it was driven.

Today’s modern drifting car racing began as something popular in All Japan Touring Car Championship races more than 30 years ago. Kunimitsu Takahashi, a motorcycle legend and car driver, was the first to perform the drifting in the 1970s. He was known for hitting the apex, which is where the car comes closest to the inside of a turn. This was done at high speeds and he would then drift through the corner and save his high speeds for the exit. Doing this led him to many championships and a multitude of fans who enjoyed the show of burning tires.

While the professional racers in Japan began to drive this way, so did those who raced on the streets. The drift has a car moving sideways within just one turn, but it can get much more complicated than just that. Pro drivers can drift through opposing turn and their wheels will never grip the road itself. That is why the winding mountain roads are so popular. Even though they are very dangerous, these roads make perfect drifting courses for drivers. The many s-type curving turns enable drivers to show their most advanced skills of drifting.