Some of you may have noticed that since Formula D Irwindale, that DriftLive has not been covering event scores. This is not because we have gotten lazy or stop covering drifting. Right off the top of my head I can update you that Tanner Foust took first at Irwindale and clenched the Formula D 2007 Championship, Chris Forsberg stood next to Tanner on the Podium and managed to win the Triple Crown (Irwindale, Atlanta, Sonoma) Daijiro Yoshiha masterfully piloted his mid season replacement s15 to a third place overall finish. The scores don’t tell the whole story, or even a good one.
Drifting so hard that 3 people in the crowd had their hearts explode
Over the last two years I have come to the realization that the success and growth of drifting is not based on scores and rankings. In fact, a concentration on scores and rankings may cause potential fans of the sport to miss out on what makes it so great. Just imagine that you are new to drifting and Formula D Irwindale 2007 was your first event. You go with a couple of friends, drink a few beers and really enjoy the show that was put on. If you are anything like me, you will be talking to you buddies about a few of the runs that stuck out most in your mind. When you get home you go google drifting to find out a bit more about the sport.
Look, the drivers like each other and hang out!!
Maybe you find DriftLive and start looking around a bit to try and find out what makes drifting any different then other motorsport competing for your fan love. Right now, I don’t know if we are doing a great job of telling you why you should love drifting. That is why I have spent the last few weeks changing around the site. I want to put the videos, photos and editorial first. I want fans to be able to see what goes on behind the scenes. Our live picture feed from Irwindale was our first attempt at covering a drifting event with this new focus in mind.
The excitement that is captured here is why people follow drifting
Alison still takes awesome photos of the on-track action, but I have decided that instead of focusing on getting the latest scores up on the Internet, I am going to try and capture a some cool moments that happen off the track. Maybe next time the Drift Alliance has a handstand contest I will publish those scores, because when you get right down to it, handstands are an important part of drifting.
The “House of Drift”
So, don’t expect DriftLive to have your up to the date drifting scores, expect us to give you a slice of what makes drifting so much fun. Now watch this video, and maybe you will understand a bit more about drifting.
Everyone drifts all the time, it is impossible to drive straight!
beautiful
Comment by Cam — November 23, 2007 #
Brian Peter way to go!!!!!
Comment by Michelle Fenske — November 24, 2007 #
I
Comment by c.b.leslie — November 28, 2007 #
+10 on the vid and ….. hahaha
Good points
Comment by Clinton Florczyk — November 29, 2007 #
I completely agree with you.
That doesn’t change the fact that people from all understandings of the sport seek out a place to find that information. If the info is there late or not at all, traffic and frequency will decline.
Comment by Keith — November 30, 2007 #
Clinton,
You are correct about a drop in traffic, but the ad revenue generated from drifting is low in proportion to traffic. After looking at things long and hard, we would are better served helping out the sport, then helping out DriftLive’s traffic.
This site was started because I love the sport of drifting, not because I was looking to cash in and make a quick buck off of it. If you look around you can find plenty of other drifting sites that have come and gone. DriftLive remains to be one of the more frequently updated sources for drifting information out there.
I don’t yet know what should replace the scoring systems that are being used right now in drifting, but if all the youtube action of JR’s win at D1GP is a clue, then it is video. The powers that be are simply to busy controlling their video rights to realize that actually seeing and hearing drifting is the only way to understand it. And that means more then a few seconds of practice.
-Geoff Chandler
Comment by DriftLive.com — November 30, 2007 #