Drift Australia Ownership Change

[senna_T]

Not sure how many of you are into Drifting - particularly Drift Australia, but I thought I would post this up for those who are.

Last year, as a result of the "Global Economic Crisis" the official naming rights sponsor Toyo Tyres pulled their sponsorship from the Drift Australia Series, among other smaller motorsport sponsorship deals they had. With their withdrawal, Toyo took the financial ability of DA to have national rounds with Television coverage on both Free to Air and Pay-TV. This was quite devistating for the Sport as it was growing so rapidly in both competitor and spectator numbers, the level of competition rising to an international level.

Below is a quote from the Drift Australia Web-Site:

Drift Australia has been acquired by Ninety Degree Entertainment Pty Ltd.

The new directors of the business are Adam Toffolon, Greg Kruse and James Fava. Adam is a successful entertainment industry executive. Greg and James will be known to many members of the drift community as the organizers of the Driftfest event at Calder Park Raceway in 2007.

Wayne Boatwright who co-founded Drift Australia with Scott Anderson in 2005 said “We are confident that Adam, Greg and James will bring new energy and skills and will make a major contribution to the growth of the sport in future years. We will be working with them closely over the coming weeks to ensure a smooth transition and we look forward to successful future for Drift Australia and for Drift Australia teams and competitors.”

Greg Kruse said “We will be making some more detailed announcements in the near future but at this stage our plans for the 2009 Drift Australia Championship are to conduct a single major event at Sydney’s Oran Park Raceway on September 19 & 20, and to rebuild the championship to a multi-round series in 2010 and beyond.”

“Drift Australia is the pinnacle in terms of competitive drift competition in this country and we believe that with a greater focus on various elements of additional entertainment and promotion we have the opportunity to take the sport to even greater heights.” he added.

For more information contact info@driftaustralia.com.au

Hopefully the new owners can give the sport a big shot inthe arm and get another big name sponsor to allow all the guys and girls that are so dedicated to drifting the chance to get back out on the track.

[Erko]

never really got into watching drifting.....seen one drift dvd or event seen em all. Grip driving is where its at....the clock doesnt lie.

[Dillz]

I love my drifting and try and watch it as much as I can, unfortunately even though the sport was growing rapidly due to the current event setup and it’s repetitive nature unless they made a few big changes I honestly couldn’t see it going much further anyway. They really need someone in management to really grab it by the balls and launch in but at the moment that’s just not happening.

Having said that hopefully these guys can do it.

Edited 14/03/09 06:57 AM by Dillz

[F6R]

So I wonder if all the L1 licence holders did their $, or if they were carried across to the new owners.........

[senna_T]

Considering the lack of funds and sponsorship I think transfering it would've been a smart thing to do. If you have a sport that has been dealt a near fatal blow by sponsors, the last thing you need is for competitors to leave...

[tmac450]

never really got into watching drifting.....seen one drift dvd or event seen em all. Grip driving is where its at....the clock doesnt lie.

[senna_T]

Mate, go for a ride in a car doing 140kph sideways, which then follows a racing line through a corner and come back and say There is a huge amount of skill involved, not just in the driving but also the set-up of the car.

I was introduced to the sport direct from Japan, these guys are at least 10years ahead of the aussie blokes (although the aussies are coming along nicely, which is why we need this to grow)

[gregor]

I wonder with the new one HD (and im sure others will follow) if it would be easier to get some air time? I think the reason it seems to be the same every round is because when its on speedweek in a short time slot they can only show highlights and the finals. If theres free to air sports channels 24/7 im sure they could play some qualifying and wider coverage so we get more variety, with some bits that give us an insight into the cars themselves.

Chuck that on at various times - id be suggesting Thursday night when theres nothing good on, late night friday and saturdays and see what happens. Just dont put it up against Top Gear or a really popular timeslot and cry when no one watches.

[ThatXR]

Go the Drift.

This is a form of motorsport that has not just got many young and silly hooligans off the street and onto the track, but also put lots of cash (and spectators) into the smaller race tracks around. (e.g Mallala in SA).

OneHD (TV) should also be keen to get onboard. They have been talking about supporting much smaller and unestablished categories.

I hope that Toyo can get back into it soon, or another big sponsor can realise what a great series this is and spend the $$$$$$$

Bring back, bring back the DRIFT!!!!

[xrt123]

Erko Posted Mar 14 2009, 05:25 PM

never really got into watching drifting.....seen one drift dvd or event seen em all. Grip driving is where its at....the clock doesnt lie.

I love all motor sport

I have done many drag meets at the old eastern creek

many track days n club days eastern creek ,oran park,wakefield

and many drift events ec ,op ,wakie

if u have not drifted , u have not lived yet

I think its is the best motor sport to watch .

its non stop action at any moment you could me watching a big crash

every run is like the first lap of a sprint race (throw every thing at it)

sadly eastern creek will not allow drift on the full circut, untill they do the sport will not grow much in nsw

I hope DA can do better than 3 rounds for 2010