The smell of burning rubber and the smoke-and-exhaust clouds filling the air can mean only one thing:
Motorsports season in Long Beach is underway.
Formula Drift, a sport in which drivers intentionally spin and skid their souped-up vehicles for style points, kicked off its 2023 pro championship season on Friday, April 7, in downtown Long Beach.
The two-day event, which began with qualifying on Friday and will end Saturday with the actual competition, also marked the start of Formula Drift’s 20th anniversary season.
Formula Drift was also set to announce the first two inductees to its new hall of fame this weekend, according to a March 20 press release. Their names will adorn a monument near the Long Beach Convention & Entertainment Center.
The bravura and style of this weekend’s drifting competition, meanwhile, will serve as a warm-up act of sorts for the larger Acura Grand Prix of Long Beach, which is set for the following weekend, April 14-16.
Formula Drift’s competition got its local launch as an exhibition event at the 2005 Grand Prix.
The competition is not about who is fastest, but rather who’s displays the most creative style and top technical ability.
Drifting judges consider three factors: Line, angle and style.
Judges set a line for drivers, and how well the competitors can stay on that line at top speed while skidding around tight corners, is of top consideration. Then, there’s angle — how sharply competitors can drift — and finally, there’s style consideration.
Drifting attracts a different demographic from many racing events. Formula Drift’s viewers tend to skew younger — with a large majority falling in the 16 to 30 age range. Attracting younger and more diverse audiences to motorsports is also an ongoing strategy for the Grand Prix Association of Long Beach, officials with that organization say.
The two-day drifting event got off to a relatively low-key start on Day 1 — considering how kinetic a sport it is — with…
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