I’m a rally man through and through but, while I’m never happier than when I’m driving, building, watching or talking about rally cars, it’s not my only automotive interest.
I also grew up during a time when car modifying in the UK was massive business, when magazines were starting to feature wild builds from now infamous Japanese tuning houses and, latterly, when a certain street racing movie franchise began.
Because of that, alongside my love for rallying, I also have an affinity for Japanese sports cars from the 1990s. Having relocated to Saudi Arabia in 2021, where stage rallies are hard to come by, I found myself attending events in the growing drift scene. Perhaps more importantly in the context of this piece, I also found myself watching a whole lot of YouTube content about driving sideways.
It’s been an eye-opening experience, and it’s been impossible not to make comparisons between the rally world and the drifting one, especially when it comes to media and promotion – that is my job after all.
With the news that Kalle Rovanperä is stepping back from full-time WRC competition in 2024, such comparisons now seem even more valid, especially as the man himself has said that he will be using some of his new-found free time to enter some more drift events. The two-time champion has already drifted in Europe and Japan over the last couple of years but, as that becomes a more regular sight in the coming months, it has made me wonder whether there are things that we could learn from our sideways-loving cousins.
Don’t get me wrong, I’m not suggesting that rallying should attempt to copy drifting, as the two disciplines are very different (and should stay that way), but there are some areas where I believe we could learn some very important lessons, many of which aren’t anything to do with the on-track action.
The major one is of course media and promotion. What drifting does so, so well is engage with a young audience. You only have to look at the content from the major championships to see that it is aimed squarely at young car enthusiasts. The way they film, use music and put content out through social media is genuinely impressive, as it is perfectly tailored to their target audience.
Conversely, while rallying does many things well, I don’t think it’s a stretch to say that it doesn’t always make the best use of social media. That is especially true at the lower levels of the sport, which rely heavily on Facebook – a platform not known for being the home of a younger audience.
One of the series’ that Rovanperä himself has competed in, the Drift Masters European Championship (DMEC) is a particularly good example, and their output is even more impressive when you consider that the media side is run by a small team based in Ireland. Not only has this team helped to turn DMEC into a globally recognised brand, they have also cultivated their own dedicated YouTube following under their “Drift Games” banner; where they give behind-the-scenes access, not only to events, but to their own cars and other adventures.
They’re not alone either. YouTube content creators such as Adam Lizotte-Zeisler (better known as Adam LZ) have garnered a following of millions, to the extent that he (with assistance from the media team behind DMEC) has run his own series of drift events – the LZ World Tour – which visited the USA, Canada, Ireland and Australia in 2023.
What really makes drifting content so engaging though is that, through these creators, we get to see behind the events; into their own workshops, their own personal car builds, their businesses, and even their private lives.
Drifting content goes far beyond sport. It is a whole lifestyle; and one that is so deeply intertwined with modified car culture that the two are almost indistinguishable. Cars like the Nissan Silvia and Mazda RX-7 are every bit the stars that the drivers themselves are.
From here, those content creators are able to take significant advantage; launching lines of merchandise, selling their own lines of car parts, or even building their own venues. Yes, Adam LZ has his own 30-acre compound where he builds and stores cars, and even indulges in impromptu drift sessions.
Another impressive element is the way creators cross over; attending each other’s events, promoting each other’s content and ensuring that they all collaborate for mutual growth.
A great example of that is, while the eyes of the rally world were on Toyota City and the final round of the WRC, a few hours to the north, near Fukushima, the great and the good of the drifting world had descended on Ebisu Circuit for the annual autumn Matsuri event.
One also has to wonder, did any of the world-renowned drifters at Ebisu even know that the World Rally Championship was in town?
These gatherings have become a magnet for content creators and professional drift competitors from all over the world, who flock to this iconic venue to hone their skills. It’s a pretty chaotic affair in reality, with multiple car trains usually resulting in plenty of bumps and scrapes.
That’s what Matsuri is all about though. It’s the unhinged side of the sport and, as much as anything, a huge social gathering, where people can catch-up with old friends and make new ones. It doesn’t matter whether you are a YouTuber, a professional Formula Drift driver, or just someone with a love for drifting and old Japanese sports cars, you can find a home at Matsuri.
Contrast that with Dani Sordo’s comments recently reshared on DirtFish, where he said that the hectic schedule of a WRC event means there is now little time to enjoy the social side of rallying, and you have to wonder if we are getting some things wrong. One also has to wonder, did any of the world-renowned drifters at Ebisu even know that the World Rally Championship was in town? If they had, would they have attended, and could the WRC have benefitted from being featured on their channels?
Going further, with Kalle Rovanperä likely to spend more time in his Toyota Corolla or Supra drift cars in 2024, is now the time to try to create some real crossover between the rally world and the drifting one? Why not try to host a round of DMEC alongside a European WRC round, or have a round of the Japanese D1 GP at Rally Japan?
One of the strengths of the rally scene in the USA is that it has much closer links to other extreme sports, and events like X Games helped to cement that. Drifting is no different, with many competitive drifters and content creators having a background in BMX racing, skateboarding and other extreme sports. Perhaps it’s time that the European and World rallying scenes embraced that crossover and used it to their advantage.
Rallying has just as many legendary cars, just as many iconic venues, and some of the most talented drivers in the world. In many cases, those drivers are also filled with passion for what they do, and own wonderful collections of cars; from Jari-Matti Latvala’s historic Celica GT4s, to Thierry Neuville’s 306 Maxi and the MK2 Escort that Oliver Solberg is driving on this week’s Roger Albert Clark Rally. That car is owned by his father, Petter, and was built by Phil Mills, who sat alongside Solberg senior to win the 2003 WRC title. Is there a better example of shared passion for a sport than that?
What we could learn from drifting more than anything though is that engaging fans isn’t just about showing them what happens on the stages. We have to show people that rallying is something that people live and breathe. Just like drifting, it’s a lifestyle. We need to show people behind the scenes, show them the passion, the shared love of the cars, the events and the thrill of what we do.
Kalle Rovanperä has clearly decided that the hectic, hyper-professional WRC schedule isn’t something he can stomach in 2024. If his hiatus is to teach us anything, it’s that we need to inject some of the fun back into rallying, and present it to people in a way that makes them want a piece of it.
That way, he might come back to a sport that is bigger and better than ever before.
