Judging Drifting Skill

Speed/Driving Line
The faster a driver goes through a corner the better. This applies to entry and exit speeds as well as speed maintained through the drift. Although speed guns are not used at drifting competitions, the use of tandem runs makes an advantage in speed more obvious.

Driving line refers to the path the car travels through the corner. Judges prefer to see a driver take a tight line around a corner, putting the nose of the car as close as possible to the apex of the turn. Getting the back end of the car close to the outside of a turn also demonstrates car control and can score the driver addtional points.

Angle
Driving angle of the vehicle is the angle of rotation of the vehicle relative to the direction of its travel. Basically this means that the farther the back end of the car comes around (without losing control), the more points a driver would score in this category. Angle also refers to the length of time a drift is maintained as well as the average angle of the vehicle during the turn. This means that getting the back end to come around for a short period of time won't score the driver many points, even if the angle of rotation was significant.

Showmanship
This is the most subjective area of scoring in drifting events, and it's value relative to the other aspects of drifting varies from judge to judge and competition to competition.

Basically, this category refers to the driving style of each driver but can also include considerations for the vehicle. The judges in D1 are accomplished drivers in their own right and are familiar with all of the vehicles used on the circuit. They are able to use this knowledge to isolate driver skill from handling characteristics of the vehicle when judging events.

The most universal component of this category is smoke. The more tire smoke generated by a vehicle while drifting the more points a driver will score.

This category previously included the driver sticking hands/legs out the window or opening the door in a turn, but D1 now requires windows to be rolled up and prohibits door opening, demonstrating a shift in emphasis to more technical aspects of driving.

Tandem Runs
It is important to discuss tandem runs because the judging changes and tandem runs are used in later rounds to ultimately decide who wins an event.
In tandem runs, each driver of the pair is given a turn at being the lead vehicle. The chase driver must then prove to the judges that he or she is better able to drift by getting as close to the lead driver or better yet passing the lead car in a turn. Conversely, if the lead driver can pull away from the chase driver, he or she can score additional points.

Tandem runs also demonstrate which of the two drivers can perform better under pressure. Drivers often use intimidation to throw off the other driver causing them to lose a drift.

When a driver spins out on a tandem run, he or she loses that run. In case of contact, the driver causing the contact is ruled to have lost the run (usually the chase driver).

By running close together, judges can easily compare the aspects of scoring for solo runs discussed above. Numerical scores aren't as important as judges can simply award a winner based on comparative judgments.

Its important to understand that the concepts discussed in this article are general guidelines for scoring drift events meant to educate the general audience. They do not provide a guarantee of results and should not be used to compare to results from drift competitions. Drifting is still a subjective competition and the judges at an event are the final authority.