state and national drift series

[Leigh]

I just had a rant in the Sydney section thought I would throw this up on here, maybe some one with money or skills or both could make it happen

I wish some one would start up a proper national drift series 5 rounds in each state each year run by local drift clubs with footage of the events posted on a website
(then potential sponsors can get a good idea of how many people are interested in the sport and will see their logo etc in that footage which logically would mean more sponsorship in the way of parts, tuning, money etc for the drifters out there)
Then the top five or so in each state get a FREE ticket to slide in a national end of year comp n show it online and SBS Channel 9 etc

And most importantly fair prices for tickets to watch and or compete so the sport will grow and not go backwards like it has this year GFC or not

[Brendo]

The only thing thats gone backwards this year is DA, reason being sponsors not having enough money to support the event.

As far as i know next year should be a proper series again. State comps this year i think are bigger than ever tho!

[Delazy]

lol HARD....you obviously have little to no understanding on wat you are talking about...

[sundee]

The only thing thats gone backwards this year is DA, reason being sponsors not having enough money to support the event.

As far as i know next year should be a proper series again. State comps this year i think are bigger than ever tho!

Thats what they say... if u only knew, so u have to purchase a specifinc DA licence to compete in their events, and its bloody expensive, they work it like shares in a company but they call it a licence! i know personally of one who payed 15K for the year. no joke
THEN..you have to foot the entree fees and at $1500 a round for the DA drivers thats a fetching joke!

DA is all about he coin and not about the sport, their events are poorly ran and setup, their is no entertainment value what so ever


lol HARD....you obviously have little to no understanding on wat you are talking about...

And thats y he put up the suggestion, and i think its a freaken good one at that. as for logistics of it, yeah it might be a tough cookies to crumble but as an idea its great.

y compete in DA though when, TAsmania have an awsome series, things are going on in QLD, They have their supercheap auto series.

bettter prizes much smaller entree fees, and no coroprate licening scheme!

what needs to happen is, with the likes of the super cheap auto series in QLD and the TAssi series, we should get one cranking in NSW, and the SA guys get one going, even WA..
The top 3 or 4 drivers from each state at the end of the series go into one massive round at the end of year, have it in a different state each time... it would be great for the sport. let the litte guys come together to form an alliance, not have some stupid money making corporation taking over the whole sport, ( im not saying the organisers cant make money, just make it more about providing a place and entertainment rather than a big bank account and corporate BS!

[Leigh]

yep yep
Start it from the bottom up instead of trying to have a big national series (which IMHO has some what failed to deliver) have all the state series better set up and then have them run the end of year final round.

DA is all about coin
Drifting is all about having fun and the majority of drifters are on a budget (especially when there are so many people out there in cars that are worth well under 10k)
budget mods, tyres scavenged from tile piles, locked diffs and saving all your cash just to get out on the track

[DR86TY]

DA was a joke,

They complain about not having enough money to run the event, did any one else notice forking out 40 bucks to watch the event, times that by the number of people at the day and all of a sudden your up 80k just on entry.

If the price was reasonable you would have alot more spectators at the sport, having more people will help sponsors come around to the idea of offering a few prizes for the drivers and receive value for money.

As for entertainment there was one DJ and rc cars, why not take a few more ideas from the international events, more music, more girls running around in skimpy outfits more noise and most of all more people.

In my own opinion DA killed drifting in Australia, DA was just a greedy bunch of blokes who saw an oppurtunity to make a few coins from a sport that wasn't even off the ground yet.

More track days, more chance for young drivers to get into the sport, even set up a grass roots program. This is the only way to move the sport forward

[ae86hachiroku]

DA failed. It was a disgrace to drifting.

Drift in Australia seems to have a hard time following our internatonal counterparts in terms of success. Too damn narrow minded.

[DR86TY]

All about making the most amount of coin out of an undeveloped sport.

Make ae86dc a club already so we can hit this sport with kick in the nuts to get it kick started again

[daily_driven_death_sled]

whose been to stadium drift at parklands? thats a well setup gig its like $15 to get in thers always a decent amount of cars they even ran it at night,tyre companies need to pull their finger out and do some sponsoring.

really ther needs 2 be a drift comp run in conjunction with v8 supercars, ther shuld be a series and a local comp running for each track that would be the best for the sport and who knows in a few yrs it would probably bring just as much fans to the races as the v8's do

[fantapants]

people need to chill out and realsise it takes decades to get a national support program together that is justifiable commercially and ingrained in the publics conscience.

The idea is sound, austrlia is too large and too sparsely populated for a national minority sport to gain popular air time... what sonsors need. air time.

Spend a few years developing strong local and state programs. Let the sport develop naturally in the psyche of the public, then events like v8 supercars will start to tap into the adittional interest it can bring to their events. That opens a lot of doors, but it wont happen without years of strong local development like we have in queensland and like delazy is putting together in tassie... or someonethrows 100 mill at the v8s and we buy our way in.

[daily_driven_death_sled]

lets get a pill press and start making some money :P

[Delazy]

Spend a few years developing strong local and state programs. Let the sport develop naturally in the psyche of the public, then events like v8 supercars will start to tap into the adittional interest it can bring to their events. That opens a lot of doors, but it wont happen without years of strong local development like we have in queensland and like delazy is putting together in tassie... or someonethrows 100 mill at the v8s and we buy our way in.

:thumbup::thumbup:

couple questions...how many ppl making comments have actually enter'd a competition and how many ppl have actually ran a state or national level motorsports event?

[DR86TY]

I enter every club event i can to keep the sport going.

I rarely see any other 86s at the track or any other toyotas to be honest.

[sundee]

yes and no - but where not batting against you Delazy, where actually batting for you and what others like you are doing, i can wait till the day that all the little guys.. aka local organisers/events come together, but for now the local stuff is where its at.. i think tazzie and Qld are ahead of NSW is this and its a shame, where loosing oran park, eastern creek is the only other local circuit, all the rest are a few hours drive from sydney.

i wish i knew what it took to organise a local event, if i did i would do it.

i dont think its a V8 supercar national event that guys want just now... mayb years down the track, but i think their just sick of being dissapointed by DA.. you can even see by the drivers who entered the comp on the day... they had 16 drivers...
16? enough said... something is not right.
the "boys" are eager and keen.. its like having demand but no supply i think in a way

[Rice86]

just not enough interest from the public over all...

they DID hold events and compitions..was up to the crowd to pay the tickets and show up...if this fail then ofcorse the big boys are going to look at it as a finaical lost so no point in trying to make the best comps and no one shows up...

you get what you give...in this case it didnt work...the event was shit cause the crowd was shit...

to much talking and not enough drifting anywhere to show the big boys that this can become bigger....

drift practice should be over packed with atleast 20+ cars in NSW...unfortunally this is a rare sight

like i said...to much talking not enough drifting....its called drifting cause people drift...same 16 people drifting for 1 nation is more just like hooning...no offence

there is no culture behind it like this...

[sundee]

so what do you do?

[Delazy]

the two biggest problems with drifting and why it wont go mainstream...

1. drifters are generally young and on reasonably less income than full on motorsport enthusiasts
2. drifters are lazy and expect everything handed to them on a silver platter (too lazy to fill out a piece of paper applying for required licenses whether they are free or not)

drift events are subject to all the permits/regulations/requirements of every other form of motorsport in australia....hence event outlay is much similar....

if event organisers didnt charge gate entry fees then they would have to pass the costs onto the drivers in attempt to breakeven for the event and be in the postition to continue running them...

so...scenario goes...

spectator entry - $0 / driver entry - $300
spectator entry - $15 / driver entry - $160

so its either a user pays system thats turns the younger generation of motorsporth enthusiasts away or spectators also contribute towards the events...

Drift Australia on the other hand may not be as greedy as you think...while it appeared as if they were cashing in on the drift scene...they attempted to take something from grassroots/underground into the mainstream and that isnt a cheap thing to do...

remebering that for the last 3 seasons the event was televised in full in a prime time spot...something i assure you isnt a cheap thing to do...i have just paid out 3.5k for television advertising in pretty mediocre time slots for 30 seconds...

ever wonder why suddenly the sport had brands/organisitions like TRD/Dickies getting onboard...thats wat the television advertising did...

regarding the culture comment...drifting has the biggest culture of any motorsport other than V8's atm in my opinion...the fact you took the time to post in this thread shows that you have an interest and in turn part of the culture...what needs to be done is to motivate the current culture and move them in a direction where they are self reliant and less "on a silver platter" kind of ppl

thats the fun part and something that we have tried to do down here in tassie...streamline everything and making it easy for ppl wanting to get into, continue doing and maximise time enjoying themself...not fun, stressful and time consuming for little to no reward...to the point that i get more recognition from ppl that have nothing to do with the local scene/looking in from the outside than i do from the ppl that are part of it...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yYg8fi8tCa8

[DR86TY]

On your two points,

1. Drivers are generally young. im one of the youngest guy out there in most of the sydney practise days. im 20, have a full time job, yes my income isn't 100k + but new guys starting in the sport can enter for 5 grand or less.

2. Drifters are lazy. Drifters spend time working on there cars, organising tyres, fixing cars, helping each other out to make sure they can get to the next meet. I dont think ive ever met a "lazy" drifter.

Once again on entry fee, the drivers at the last drift round had entry fees in the $1000+ range just for the super drift not to mention the actual DA drivers. Drift Australia made a killing on the day, even once you take away the film crews, the event fees they would have cleared $120-$160k+ gross turn over.

Drifting has the option to go big but we have the wrong group ie Drift Australia trying to make a few coins off the sport.

Little things like all the members of this forum pushing to make ae86dc a club would be the first steps, then getting into talks with other large driving communities then slowly setting up meets, track days, cruises, once these little things happen something big will come of it.

[sundee]

hmm this is good i like where its going,
hay 15 - 20 bux for entry is fine, anything more for the sport as it is right now is just going to kill it... like we have seen

and its what needs to be done to offset the driver entrys so u can in turn have a larger feild of drivers and a good number of spectators,

pit stores are a great idea, hard to organise i know.. but still it give the specators more variety, stuff to look at... hmm i really want to have a good think about this... give me a day or so.

whos up for organise some NSW events? i know Leigh is

[DR86TY]

You have all my spare time to help with getting some more events in the air.

Pm me with details and ill be there.

Even if we just set up a few more cruises, even one a month just so we can start to see some regular faces around, or better still jump onto toy mods, they have monthly cruises, we could plan our cruises to coincide with them.

Just a thought

[Delazy]

im going to break it down so its easier to read and explain



1. Drivers are generally young. im one of the youngest guy out there in most of the sydney practise days. im 20, have a full time job, yes my income isn't 100k + but new guys starting in the sport can enter for 5 grand or less.


its not so much the fact...drifting is a "phase" you have a car, you drift for abit, you get over the costs/stress and you step away...unfortunately the uptake in new drivers coming thru isnt as quick as the number of ppl stepping away from the sport...ive seen QUITE a few mates and big name players do exactly this in the recent 12 month period...



2. Drifters are lazy. Drifters spend time working on there cars, organising tyres, fixing cars, helping each other out to make sure they can get to the next meet. I dont think ive ever met a "lazy" drifter.


lol, try organising an event or speaking to someone that organises events...that is one of the first things organisations do when sorting out drift events..."how do we make it easy for them"

ive personally had to fill in entry forms/cams licences/club membership, give directions on getting to the track, find hotel rooms etc for drivers simply because they cbf...

its a problem ive seen all over australia to some degree...while i admit there are quite a few dedicated ppl attending events as you obviously know...there are still quite a few falling under my category of lazy, which is what prevents the sport moving on...you yourself mentioned lack of attendance at NSW based events...

tasmania has a population of absolutely fuck all in comparision and we get 30 ppl to the track...if you werent getting atleast 60 odd then id say that there are quite a few lazy cunts over your way



Once again on entry fee, the drivers at the last drift round had entry fees in the $1000+ range just for the super drift not to mention the actual DA drivers. Drift Australia made a killing on the day, even once you take away the film crews, the event fees they would have cleared $120-$160k+ gross turn over.


lol...well entries for superdrift werent that expensive...from memory it was about $500...which isnt all that bad considering it was a 2 day event...so its not all that much of a step up from a normal state level event, given the extra exposure and crowd you are driving infront of...

following is an outline of costings i myself can think up off the top of my head...

CAMS INSURANCE $$$$$$
TRACK HIRE $$$$$
OFFICALS WAGES/ACCOMADATION/AIRFARES
JUDGES WAGES/ACCOMADATION/AIRFARES
COMMENTRY WAGES/AIRFARES
MARKETING/ADVERTISING $$$$$
TV CREW $$$$$
TV EDITING $$$$$
TV PRIME TIME AIR TIME $$$$$

thats pretty basic and the main things that stand out to me....things cost quite alot on such a stage, which i think ppl underestimate how quickly cams and track based costs add up...

essentially you are providing insurance and we all know public liability insurance doesnt cost peanuts....

the current event im working on for november is outlaying a budget up front of $80,000 and im going to be happy purely to break even....



Drifting has the option to go big but we have the wrong group ie Drift Australia trying to make a few coins off the sport.


you obviously know that DA have changed hands...i personally know the new owners and i believe you have it quite wrong...anyone remember DRIFTFEST which was held at Calder park many moons ago....well the bloke that ran that event is now running DA....that event was part of his uni studies at the time and was held PURELY for the grass roots level competitors...

[MeZ Prod]

You the man delazy, see you in November!

[Delazy]

You the man delazy, see you in November!

if u need media access...give me a yell ;)

[worked]

ive seen QUITE a few mates and big name players do exactly this in the recent 12 month period...


*sigh* come on lazy you know i hate it when you call me a big name player...

[sundee]

yeah im mates with one aswell, it it kinda sucks, but the sport will come back..

[daily_driven_death_sled]

i think its stupid in qld how the government banned all drift events from the tracks they own because it promotes it on the street

id be at a track at least once a month if A it was close and B it was cheaper than QR and not as much people (and not an hour and a half plus away)

fuck if someone had the funds to open up a 24hr driftland anywhere in SE QLD theyd be laughing (but that is a massive massive strech of a dream)

[Leigh]

I guess it's time to stop ranting and get planning then!!!

[redsprinter]

lazy has it right .. in NSW ..there are lots of lazy ppl and heaps of poser... i know cause i got mate like that ... they buy say a 180 and say yeah im going to go drifitng . when it comes to crunch time they spend their money on modding their car for drift when it has never seen a clutch kick in its life .. and their excuse for not going to a drift day is oh no i forgot .. or i couldnt find tyres .. my car isnt ready yet... blah blah blah ..so i give them phone number to call for tyres .. names and links to sign up .. and even then they do jack all and complain on how expensive it is to go to a track day .. and that its better and cheaper to do it on the streets ..

so now i dont bother asking anymore .. i just do it myself. ... find out the dates , sort my tyres out, service my car , find a trailer to hire. and get my ass there.

how many of you guys actually attend track days to support the sport you love... ? heck i go to drift practice day to spectate while my car is off the road ..pay the spectator fee and while never complaining about how much it is ... i do it to support the sport i love so much ...

sorry to say this but im sick of all the guys complaining and comparing it to say d1 or other world drift scence ... when you personally have not done anything to support it but just illegalling d/l drifitng clips from the net ... and buying parts for that extra lock .. when your stock car is more then capable of getting its ass sideways in stock forms instead it has to be that more awesome then the next drift car .

i truly believe for this sport to grow .. ppl should forget about building that awesome dream drift car and just get out there with the basic mods .... practice ..practice .. and more practice. .. number will start increasing .. organizers will respond when they relies the number are there and local comps will begin ..

[Delazy]

i truly believe for this sport to grow .. ppl should forget about building that awesome dream drift car and just get out there with the basic mods .... practice ..practice .. and more practice. .. number will start increasing .. organizers will respond when they relies the number are there and local comps will begin ..

lol, explains even me to a tee...

instead rather than standing around whinging while i build my car, i choose to run events...

[Ae86sam]

i think its stupid in qld how the government banned all drift events from the tracks they own because it promotes it on the street

id be at a track at least once a month if A it was close and B it was cheaper than QR and not as much people (and not an hour and a half plus away)

fuck if someone had the funds to open up a 24hr driftland anywhere in SE QLD theyd be laughing (but that is a massive massive strech of a dream)

Umm..? archi is on nearly every wensday arvo/evening for practise for about $50?

[Ae86sam]

Delazy is one of the major players these days.. From what i've seen (i'll come down to watch one soon mate lol) on forums and whatnot your doing the right thing by the drivers which is definatly the failing point for so many other promoters and organisers..

When i was down in Tas recently i had family asking about your events and everyone down there seemed to know that they were on cause of your broad coverage across media and word of mouth. This is something that serverely lacking in the QLD events. Lazy cares about the sport and the drivers and this is what all the other events lack.

I lol'd at the quote of 'Drifters are lazy". SO TRUE. It comes from a young sport and the massive egos in it unfortunatly. At least you are pushing the envelope and organising more than you should (accomidation and what not).

Congrats to Lazy for his efforts and i wish you were up here mate..

** Vote 1 for Lazy for national drift co-ordinator ** :)

[Delazy]

Delazy is one of the major players these days.. From what i've seen (i'll come down to watch one soon mate lol) on forums and whatnot your doing the right thing by the drivers which is definatly the failing point for so many other promoters and organisers..

When i was down in Tas recently i had family asking about your events and everyone down there seemed to know that they were on cause of your broad coverage across media and word of mouth. This is something that serverely lacking in the QLD events. Lazy cares about the sport and the drivers and this is what all the other events lack.

I lol'd at the quote of 'Drifters are lazy". SO TRUE. It comes from a young sport and the massive egos in it unfortunatly. At least you are pushing the envelope and organising more than you should (accomidation and what not).

Congrats to Lazy for his efforts and i wish you were up here mate..

** Vote 1 for Lazy for national drift co-ordinator ** :)

:heart::heart::heart::heart::heart:

[Cerby86]

well i went to round 4 of the tas series yesterday and the turn out was HUGE!!!
I have to admit i was a bit worried because i think it was the first one at baskerville you had to pay to get into (at least the first i've been too anyway)
So I thought maybe that would turn off the casual spectators but no the crowd was the biggest i've seen at baskerville yet I got there late in the day and had to park like 1 km up the paddock and walk down! Usually you can drive up to the fence next to the track and park there!
It looked funny though because later in the day everyone\ pissed off and there was this one little car miles away in an empty paddock!

Having said that though i think the crowds might be attracted by a couple of the drifters in particular. One of the younger (16 years old!!!) drivers lloyd smith has stepped up from a ke30 to a dirty nissan and all of a sudden there has to be like 5 re runs to seperate him and the other finalist! And since he was trying reverse entries into the first turn later in the day people are coming to see :P
And this isn't some gay flat mainland track either first turn on baskerville is an uphill right hander and if you accidently go straight ahead its basically a jump hahah

Oh and i should mention the winner after 4 reruns was our own mark rogers in his 3sgte sprinter of death :P

[Delazy]

well as cerby has attested my latest event was a massive success...

first time in the local drift events we have charged a gate entry and also the first time we gave tv advertising a go...it was either going to work and pay off nicely or was going to fail and put us well into the shit financially...

by 11am i had 1,000 spectators thru the gate...remebering drifting started at 10am lol...by the end of the day the gate counter had ticked over 2,200 ppl...needless to say i was impressed and declared the event succesful :D

everything about the event was nailed :D making me a very very happy man and alot less stressed in comparison to previous events...

the most stressful part of the day as head judge was the final going to 4 reruns before a decision could be made...

very small selection of pics
http://www.flickr.com/photos/opticalnote/sets/72157622506063514/

[matt99]

Congrats to Lazy for his efforts and i wish you were up here mate..

** Vote 1 for Lazy for national drift co-ordinator ** :)

Ill second that.

[MeZ Prod]

if u need media access...give me a yell ;)

*yells* :p