The FIA has announced that an official Intercontinental Drifting Cup will be initiated on 30 September in Tokyo, Japan.
While the concept of drifting is said to have originated in the late 1970s, official competitive drifting began in 2001 with the D1 championship, promoted by Sunpros. So, fittingly, Sunpros will be the official sponsor of the Intercontinental Drifting Cup.
The respective presidents of the FIA and Sunpros are suitably enthusiastic about the Intercontinental Drifting Cup.
“This is the beginning of a very important category for the FIA. As we continue to develop motorsport around the world, drifting has a great appeal to young people and has a passionate core following which is only going to get bigger,” FIA president Jean Todt said.
Sunpros president and D1 founder, Isao Saita, added: “We are proud to be able to hold a world competition in Japan with a form of motorsport that originated here. At the same time, I want to contribute to the expansion of drifting competition all over the world – this is an exciting time for this discipline”.
If you’re not too clued up on the history of drifting, here’s a video to give you a rundown on how it all started…