‘Capital of Siberia 2014’ Drift Cup Brought Together 4,000 Spectators at the Novosibirsk Expo Centre International Exhibition Complex

The Novosibirsk Expo Centre International Exhibition Complex hosted the first stage of the annual Drift Championship of Siberia – drifters from different cities of Siberia arrived in Novosibirsk. About 30 contestants from Novosibirsk, Berdsk, the Town of Ob, Tomsk, and Barnaul were competing for the Winner Title. About 4,000 spectators came to see the main drift contest of Siberia, support the participants, and simply enjoy the exciting show. Yevgeniy Spirin, a drifter from Novosibirsk, who went through tough struggle, became the winner of the contest.   

What is a drift? Who are drifters? And how can one become a participant of drift contests? President of the Novosibirsk Automobile Federation Armen Arutyunyantold us this and much more in an interview.  

- Could you tell us about the event held today at the territory of the Novosibirsk Expo Centre International Exhibition Complex?

- The first stage of the ‘Capital of Siberia 2014’ Drift Cup has started today, we’ve opened a new season of drift contests. I think the start has been good, and we’ll move on. About 30 pilots arrived in Novosibirsk to take part in today’s event. We scheduled 6 events for this year, which will all take place here, at the same territory.   

- Who’s taking part in the ‘Capital of Siberia 2014’ Contests?

- We have participants from various cities of the Siberian Federal District. Unfortunately, not all the contestants could prepare for the first stage in time. Not everybody who planned it came. On the contrary, some of the participants were so eager to take part in the event that they literally prepared overnight. Though most racers usually do everything in the nick of time.

- Why do you conduct drift sports events?  

-  The main goal of such events is ensuring safety in Novosibirsk. Car sports contests, including drift events, actively attract attention of aggressive drivers, hardcore racers, and everybody subject to consciously violating the rules of safe driving. Events like the ‘Capital of Siberia Cup’ become a good platform that lets them demonstrate their ‘car’ capabilities and ‘driving’ talents. Such events are like a ‘vent hole’ for car racers, where they can show the best of their skills, win acclaim of the audience and respect of their colleagues.  Those who participate in such events are no longer eager to race along the city streets violating traffic regulations, risking their own lives and lives of the pedestrians. Everybody is waiting for the contests to show themselves off and see the others. Apart from the contests, we also conduct training sessions that can be attended by anyone who wants to try these sports.     

Another important goal is promoting motorsports and particularly drift among drivers and young people. Sadly, drift has not yet been added to the registry of the Russian Federation Ministry of Sports. In spite of that, the Novosibirsk Automobile Federation and the Russian Automobile Federation already acknowledges drift as a kind of motorsports. The list of all the rules has been worked out; there is an understanding of how we should conduct such events and ensure safety.    

- For how many years have such events been held?  

- I got involved in car drift back in 2001. And then started organizing drift contests since 2003. I’ve been arranging drift sports events for over 10 years in total.

- How do you find these so-called ‘violators’, aggressive drivers?  

- Of course, we don’t look for them intentionally. We just announce contests and conduct them. And the guys simply come to us. All the participants are mostly young and ambitious. They come because they want to be the best, want to achieve their sports goals. They are given opportunities to do that, when they take part in contests like the ‘Capital of Siberia Cup 2014’.  

- Who can become a participant of drift sports events? Do you have casting sessions?  

- Any person who has successfully passed medical and technical check-up is able to take part in the contests. It is important for us as organizers to ensure safety. Therefore, only the racers who have no health problems, medical conditions, and limitations can participate in the event. Participants that passed the medical check-up receive a certificate. They come up to us and submit the certificate. Then we provide the participants with information on the rules of the Russian Automobile Federation and the sports code. Check their special pilot’s knowledge. And if they pass the knowledge check successfully, we issue the license that allows racers to take part in the contest. Then their cars are also thoroughly checked: the car has to be rear-driven, without any technical deviations from the accepted standards. If the technical check-up was successfully passed, we register such participants and issue all necessary documents to them. After all these stages have been successfully completed, participants are granted admission to the contest.         

- Who is representing Novosibirsk this year?

- Very many pilots are representing Novosibirsk. The list include beginners and experienced drivers. For example, Maksim Rakin is an experienced pilot who successfully took part in last year’s drift contest, Arthur Volchanskiy, who showed good results at the drift battle in Krasnoyarsk last year. By the way, that is the main sports event for drifters of Russia.Sportspeople from all over Russia come to this contest.  

- How significant is the ‘Capital of Siberia Cup’ for racers in relation to all-Russia contests? How important is it for sportspeople?    

- The ‘Capital of Siberia Cup’ is a regional-level contest. It’s an event with a maximally high status for the Siberian Region. Other events such as RDS (The Russian Drift Series) are held on the all-Russian level. This year we, the Novosibirsk Automobile Federation, also established RDS. We will hold 6 stages of contests in Novosibirsk this year at the territory of the Novosibirsk Expo Centre International Exhibition Complex, two of which will be RDS-Siberia. These will be Russia-level contests. 

- What are the differences between this year’s contests and the events held in the previous years? Are there any peculiarities?  

- This year we decided to change the track – make it a little longer and add one more big lap, more exciting for pilots. Last year we had start, fury dash, assigning points, and finish right after that. The differences only concern the track layout. The rules are identical, the same drift, pair laps. It’s worth noting that the ‘Capital of Siberia Cup’ is an event for beginners, whereas RDS is for more experienced participants. Rules at RDS are stricter. Unfortunately, not all the participants pass the technical check-up.

The main thing in drift contests is pair laps. We can call them the basics of drift. Pair laps are done using the following principle: after qualification (single laps) 16 participants with a maximum amount of points are selected. Each participant is initially given 100 points; then these points are deduced for each mistake depending on the type of mistakes made. Afterwards, pair laps start. Pair laps go like this: a couple of participants are chosen, the ‘best’ with the maximum amount of points and the ‘worst’, that is 1 with 16 points. The best participant starts first. The second one starts right after the first. The first racer positions his car sideways during the fury dash, and the second one needs to repeat precisely what the first racer has done. All the participants drive through the track in such a manner: the first racer moves following the commands of the referee, and the second one needs to copy all his moves. After the finish the participants switch places  - now the ‘first one’ repeats the route of the racer with 16 points. Based on the results of these two races, the referees assess the participants – who showed a higher speed, had more smoke, a greater angle and so on. It’s almost like figure skating. And then TOP 8 racers are selected.    

- Will this event have only one winner?

- We’ll have 3 winners: first, second, and third place. The winner will receive a diploma, a medal, and a set of tires from our partner.   

- Are only the winners of today’s contest allowed to take part in subsequent events?

- Anyone can take part in the contests, if the participants meet all the requirements.

Subsequent contests: