Local News: New Team Championship To Add Spice to Formula Drift Singapore 2011

The organisers of the Achilles Asian Drift Series 2011 announced today the introduction of the first ever Team Championship format at the VIP Formula Drift Singapore 2011 Presented by Achilles Radial, with the goal to further professionalise the sport across the globe.

Singapore will be the first formula drift championship in the world to crown the inaugural Team Championship title, which is a new points system that rewards teams for their performance. This is a brand new aspect to the Formula Drift series worldwide (USA, Middle East and ASEAN), and the Republic’s Formula Drift event will be the first leg in the series to kick it off on 11-12 June 2011 at the F1 Pit Building.

Spectators and motorsports enthusiasts are in for a thrilling weekend, with 44 world-class drivers from the ASEAN region and international drivers from Japan, Australia and America competing in the fourth edition in Singapore. This year’s event will also introduce a new judging format that places greater importance in style over speed - a move that promises more screeching tyres, smoke and thrilling drift moves on the track that will make this year’s event more exciting than ever.

Explaining the reason behind the concept, Mr. Ryan Sage, Co-Founder of Formula Drift said, “Singapore’s a fantastic motorsport nation with passionate fans, and we’re pleased that this leg will be the first ever to adopt the new Team Champion format. The move aims to professionalise the sport led by the teams, while creating more opportunities for sponsorship and branding. At the drivers’ level, this also fosters and accelerates team and driver development as well.

“This year’s new judging system promises more exciting drift action, focusing on style than speed and bringing the sport closer to its roots. In drifting, going fast sideways is always more fun to watch.”

Added ESPN STAR Sports’ Harvey Davis, Vice President Event Management, “This is an exciting year for Formula Drift in Singapore. We are attracting more and more of the best drivers around the world to compete in our race and we are also very proud of the fact that the representation and talent from the South East Asian nations continues to grow every year. More importantly, the fantastic support from the growing number of spectators every year show how the sport resonates with motorsport fans in Singapore.”

Organised by ESPN STAR Sports Event Management Group, this inaugural drift championship will comprise an exciting four-leg series including Formula Drift Singapore, Indonesia, Thailand and Malaysia. The Singapore event is the first of a four-leg series for Achilles Asian Drift Series which will be followed by events in Indonesia in October, Thailand in November and the year-end Grand Finale this December in Malaysia.

Credits: wilswong