Drift Masters European Championship 2023: Swiss drift kings learn the ropes

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Almost no one in this country knows about the Drift Masters European Championship and the Swiss team Drift Force from Seelisberg RI. No wonder drifting is especially popular in Japan and the USA. But drifting has been taking place at the highest level in Europe for several years now – and this season, Yves Meyer (32) and Drift Force, a team from Switzerland with two Toyota GR Supras of his own construction, are competing. The strongest drift category in Europe for the first time.

Yves Meyer is not an unknown name in the racing scene. Although he came to motorsport relatively late, at the age of 23, the constraints of strict classical racing soon became too tight for him, and in 2017 he discovered drifting, a cult sport in Japan. The man from Uri competed at the 2018 World Championships in the adrift homeland of Japan as a nobody and a wildcard on the stage. Although he failed in the first qualifying round, he later performed excellently. Astonishing the competition, the “Swiss Man” survived the round of 16, quarter and semi-finals and only had to admit defeat in the final. Yves Meyer finished second in his first World Cup.

Difficult situation despite World Cup championship

Five years after this great success, Meyer and his team are struggling to qualify for the European Drift Masters Championship, which is being held over six weekends for the first time. “The driving level here is much higher than in the World Cup. The drivers’ field is large, the front rows are large and the race cars are very professionally built,” says Meyer. That’s why he and his teammate Joshua Reynolds, 27, will be driving this year Among the approximately 60 participants in Friday practice, 32 failed to qualify for the final in any of the six race weekends on Saturday and Sunday.

So how does drift actually work? “It’s not about who has the strongest car or set the fastest times,” explains Meyer. Rather, it is about completing the relatively short but extremely winding course in a specific line with precision and drifting the whole time. In individual training, in a qualifying race of 32 final participants, then in pairs and two qualifying runs each. As a leader starting a little further ahead, it is important to present as perfect a line as possible, while the chaser in the smoke of the man in front needs to copy this line as perfectly as possible in order to drift on the course. double skate. Then the roles are changed. The leader becomes the chaser and vice versa. The jury evaluates the rides and awards points similar to figure skating – a maximum of 60 points are awarded for a full line, 20 for driving style and up to 20 for perfection of drift angle.

New car as a big challenge

The main reason for the Swiss team’s modest results this year is their brand new car. “We are paying the lesson,” says Meyer. For this season he and Reynolds built two all-new Toyota GR Supras on bare chassis. Almost no parts were taken from the road car, but everything was new and designed in-house. The drift racing vehicle features a redesigned rear end with a quick-change rear axle, and the well-known three-litre inline six-cylinder engine now produces over 1000 hp and 1240 Nm of maximum torque with a large turbocharger and nitrous oxide injection.

Tuning the cars was just a tour de force. They need to be competitive now. But Yves Meyer has no doubts about this. “This season was our learning year. We were able to collect important data with the new cars and we will be a force to be reckoned with in the races next season,” promises the Seelisberg drift king.

Source: Blick