FIA announces sanctioned international drift series

For the longest time drifting has been considered as somewhat of an underground sport. Considering its illegal origins and different nature compared to conventional racing, it took the Federation Internationale De L’Automobile (FIA) quite some time to warm up to the discipline as a legitimate motorsport. While there have been several recognized drifting competitions around the globe over the past decade, this is the first time that the FIA have taken it upon themselves to host their first-ever Intercontinental Drifting Cup.

Announced today at the fifth FIA Sport Conference in Geneva, the Intercontinental Drifting Cup will be first held on September 30^th to October 1^st at Odaiba, Tokyo. The FIA opened an inquiry seeking a promoter for the event last July 2016, and they’ve selected SUNPROS as their chosen partner to develop the sport. If you’re not familiar with them, SUNPROS is actually the organization behind the D1 Grand Prix – the very first drifting competition that put drifting on the center stage in 2001. With this, the FIA hopes that SUNPROS can spread the drift culture born in Japan across the globe.

“This is the beginning of a very important category for the FIA. As we continue to develop motor sport around the world, drifting has a great appeal to young people and has a passionate core following which is only going to get bigger.” Said FIA President Jean Todt. “With the creation of the FIA Intercontinental Drifting Cup, we are building the framework for a standard format which will help the sport continue to grow from grass roots level to more professional competitions globally. We are setting the standard for what I’m sure will be a hugely successful form of motor sport.”

With the announcement of the date of their first competition, we should soon see the roster of professional drifters that will join the fray.