Catch The Drift
Just as in the hit movie, the racing was fast and furious when MidWeek checked out a drift session for remote-controlled cars
The fun in drifting is getting sideways
the real car, that’s the most fun besides driving it of course,” says Kila Young, whose bronzy orange Toyota Chaser JZX 100 was the result of mixing gold, fluorescent red and chrome hues.
“R/C drifting is probably at its biggest here,” says Shimokawa, the marketing director, estimating that there are several hundred remote-controlled car owners on Oahu. “Per capita Hawaii has many more people drifting and interested in drifting than anywhere else in the U.S.” In addition to the weekly sessions, the Iwilei group also holds competitions every two weeks leading up to a final event at an August car show.
Alferes says that like the real drifting scene, remote-controlled drifting started in Japan and eventually came to Hawaii.
“I saw a Japan drifting video and they were playing R/C drifting,” he says.
“We were playing R/Cs at the time but we weren’t really drifting. We thought, ‘Hey, that’s a cool idea.’”
Young spectators get up close to the action
He says he’s seen the sport grow and evolve since he started selling the cars three years ago. It went from the “nitro stage (gas-operated) into this electric stage. I see more younger people coming out, plus I see a lot of true drifters that were actually out at the track racing cars.”
Racers here have been without a race track since the Hawaii Motorsports Center closed April 1, and toy drifters say their hobby doesn’t compare to the real thing, but it’s filling the void until they get a race track again.
“The real deal was a passion for me, and since I can’t do it I might as well get a toy,” says 29-year-old Jeron Sambrano, a computer programmer who once spent $800 on a remote-controlled drift car, including almost $600 in modifications.
“It doesn’t have to be expensive, it can always be cheap,” he says, “depends on how far you want to take it.”
Sambrano, who introduced his 13-year-old cousin to the sport a couple months ago, says it’s a good outlet for kids and it’s easy to learn.
“If you can drive a car and you have a good sense of direction as far as which is the front and which is the rear, then you’re OK.”
For information, visit drift-session.com, or email .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
Page 2 of 2 pages for this story < 1 2
E-mail this story | Print this page | Comments (0) | Archive | RSS
Most Recent Comment(s):
