Our Drifting Experience days continue to be some of the most popular packages booked here on Trackdays; in fact, they've been amongst the top end of our year-end bestseller lists for the last five years (and, spoiler alert - it looks as if it'll be six years on the trot come the end of December. We'll say no more for now!)
But for those who are tempted by the thrills of the drift stage - or are just simply wondering what all the fuss is about - relax, because in our latest blog, we're going to deep dive into just what three of the key drifting techniques are, which we think will be useful prior to heading on your first session!
For those starting out with drifting, a clutch kick is usually one of the first moves you'll learn to master if you're in a rear-wheel drive car that has manual transmission.
How you perform this one is when you're in a corner on the track or drifting stage: you depress the clutch, but then quickly 'kick' it back out to jump the drivetrain, which then breaks traction in the rear wheels.
It's often the case that even though it's a simple manoeuvre to execute, it takes a bit of practice. But once you get your kick to be fast enough and gain in confidence on the follow-through of your throttle, you'll gain a more congruous entry.
When you ask most people to describe what they think a donut is (and not the sugar coated, delicious variety - sorry, Krispy Kreme fans), chances are they'll mean this, and what is easily the most recognisable drifting manoeuvre.
It's achieved by rotating the front wheels - but sometimes the rear, depending on what drivetrain your car is - around the opposing set of wheels in a continuous circular motion.
This then in turn leaves a donut shaped skid-mark pattern on the track (hence the name), and the resulting friction causes the tyres to emit smoke. Pretty cool to witness as well once you've nailed it!
What connects the drifting stage with the ice skating rink? Answer: our next manoeuvre, figure 8s. You've heard of how ice skaters perform a figure 8 of two perfect circles around the rink. Well, this is almost exactly the same principle.
It's basically doing a donut twice, with one initiated to the left, and another to the right utilising smooth transitions from the car's throttle control, steering adjustments and use of left-foot braking, with the resulting tyre skid-mark pattern resembling a shape like the number 8.
This is definitely one that takes practice, particularly when coming out of doing one donut into the other, but once you've built up your confidence on the other two techniques, it's a great way to stretch and test out your newly acquired drifting prowess!
If this has whetted your appetite for the thrill of going sideways, why not visit our pages for some of our most popular drifting venues in the UK, including Bovingdon Airfield in Hertfordshire, Seighford Driving Centre in Staffordshire and Kendrew Barracks in Leicestershire? Most sessions hosted at these venues start from as little as £49 - so you can get your drifting kicks no matter what your budget is!
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