Critical Viewing - Drifting Events

The folks at Live Sockets Entertainment bring us the On the Scene DVD series for our viewing pleasure. This month we watched their "Drift Battle," Collector's Edition which covers drifting in Hawaii and at Irwindale Speedway in California.

First off they hit the island of Oahu for the Drift Showoff, Hawaii. After some night footage of street racing and drifting we hit the main event featuring Japanese pro drifters Kazama and Kumakubo from team Drift Xtreme. The onboard camera footage keeps you close to the action. The locals, including Ross Petty and Stanford Lau, put on an impressive display of skill themselves. Loads of AE86s and 240s shred tires to your glee.

Next up is an A'PEXi test day at Irwindale featuring their pro Japanese drivers Yoichi Imamura (in the RX-7) and Takahiro Ueno (Toyota Soarer - our Lexus SC400). It was interesting to hear that Imamura felt drifting was dying in Japan, and this was filmed in 2003. He also takes out Andy Yen's beat down AE86 for a spin, something Yen will likely never forget. Aside from the cool onboard camera action, we see a 350Z, RX-7 and Silvia hit the track.

Hopping over to Las Vegas, we are treated to an interview with Katsuhiro Ueo at SEMA 2003. You may remember that Japanese pro drifter Ueo's AE86 won the D1 U.S. event in 2003. He shows us the ins and outs of his all-FRP (fiberglass reinforced plastic) vehicle.

Bouncing back to Irwindale catch footage of the first Drift Showoff which features the Falken pro drivers, Koguchi and Yamamoto; Drift Xtreme's pro driver Yuuki Izymida; Axis' Ferrari drift; and interviews with some of the best U.S. drifters including Dai Yoshihara (Silvia), Rhys Millen (GReddy Supra), Ben Schwartz (S13), Benson Hsu (S13), Chris Forsberg (350Z), and Taka Aono (AE86).

If drifting action shots are what you want, this DVD is full of 'em. What is lacking is the under-the-hood, what's your setup, technical information we crave. The footage and narration have also not yet reached professional level, but the quality is above other DVDs out there.

For more information on this DVD and the rest of the series, go to: OnTheScene.tv.

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