TEAM TANDEM DRIFTING UP-CLOSE-AND-PERSONAL

Photo courtesy of Christian Buenaventura.

DriftCon Goes Old-School, Team Tandem Style!

What Is A Team Tandem Contest? 

Chances are, if you’re not a diehard follower of Japanese drifting - or U.S. grassroots groups that embrace it’s old-school driving style - you may not be knowledgeable about team tandem drifting. Even if you do follow drifting closely, but have never experienced the Pacific Northwest’s (PNW) drifting culture, this style of competitive drifting might not be familiar. 

We think it’s one contest every drifting fan should get to see at least once, and apparently, a few others in the United States agree. “Team Tandem is one of the fastest-growing drifting competitions nationwide,” states ProAm licensing and competitive drift organization DriftCon on its team tandem webpage.

But, what is it, exactly? Although there’s no hard and fast definition, DriftCon has been hosting multiple team tandem events annually since partnering with Evergreen Speedway nine years ago. We think their version of team tandem gives a pretty good up-close-and-personal view of what the team tandem drifting contest is all about. 

Photo courtesy of Drift Enthusiast Magazine.

Team Tandeming With DriftCon. 

DriftCon’s team tandem contests involve drift teams of no more than four or five drivers (depending on the event) battling against each other in full groups. Their main event, the Team Tandem Cup, happens annually in June in conjunction with DriftCon’s annual ProAm Evergreen Drift Shootout competition. 

Contestants in DriftCon’s team tandem events compete for cash prizes, and the winning team also gets their team name engraved on the Team Tandem Cup plaque; a tradition the organization has carried out since its inaugural Cup event in 2014.

“It's a very popular aspect of the event,” shared Matt Haugness, DriftCon event organizer. “As we continue to develop this type of competition structure, we look forward to seeing more teams competing and developing their skills.”

Haugness told us DriftCon’s team tandem competitions are popular with the local drivers. He also noted they’ve been maxing out the number of registered teams they can host consistently in the past few years, even with all the fan restrictions early in the pandemic.

Furthermore, Haugness indicated many teams consistently return to DriftCon’s team tandem events. “Oftentimes, these teams are close friends, and they even create Instagram or Facebook pages revolving around the team,” he said, adding that drivers may change teams, or new drivers might be added, but it’s usually due to availability or unforeseen car issues.

The Team Tandem Strategy.

In short, here’s how DriftCon’s team tandem contests play out:

Teams of at least three drivers drift in tandem around the course, always trying to maintain proximity. The team must remain in a tight drift formation through the entire track or they lose the ability to progress further in the competition.

The track layout for DriftCon’s team tandem events regularly changes. For example, a completely cageless ‘Peanut Layout’ was used in the latest Team Tandem Cup. Haugness indicated this is one layout that allows for as many teams as possible to compete. “Sometimes the drivers dislike the layout we choose, but we are somewhat limited on which layouts we can do to keep it lower speed and cageless,” he said.

Haugness also noted it’s typically best for teams to put their slowest car at the front of the train, adding, “It's important the lead driver picks a line and accelerates and decelerates at the proper times so the team can stay with them.”

Furthermore, DriftCon’s website urges teams to recruit drivers that are familiar with (and can anticipate) how their teammates drift. The site also counsels teams to strive for, “similar drifting characteristics (horsepower level, grip level, etc.).”

Photo courtesy of Jayme Allowatt.

In fact, similarities will often inspire new teams to form. First-time group, Team Aattak, placed third at DriftCon’s June event, after team members Aaron Soria [@aaronfelldown], Aaron Ramm [@double_a_ramm], and Matt Hamilton [@touge_wrx] decided it was time to join forces on the drift track.

“We expected our driving styles would all mesh well, and also knew Ramm’s aggressiveness would keep us tight and Matt’s fluidness would be beneficial for the team,” Soria said. “Team Aattak loved the challenge of competing in DriftCon’s Team Tandem Cup event, because it put our driving, synchronization, and drifting proximity skills to the ultimate test.”

As far as style, Haugness said teams will often try to maintain a common theme to get noticed by the judges. “Usually, the judges give a slight advantage to teams that try to color coordinate or build their cars to match, as this weighs heavily on the style portion of the judging,” he stated.

DriftCon Team Tandem Qualifying And Judging.

Team tandem qualifying and bracket placement guidelines are somewhat straight forward. As the DriftCon website outlines, these factors are, “determined by overall performance and impressions during the final practice.”

Once the qualifying results are posted, DriftCon creates a ‘Top 16’ competition bracket, and the teams compete in single-elimination battles, which generally consist of two runs per team.

The overall objective is to put on the best show, with style, angle, and proximity all judged equally. “Style and angle are more critical than the line when it comes to judging,” Haugness shared, indicating a general layout is provided for the drivers to follow, but the attention to line is, “the least critical part of judging.”

DriftCon judges look for teams that can drive within an arm’s reach of one another, and keep on the same line, matching style and form.

“What we really want to see is synchronized style and performance,” the DriftCon website reads, indicating the lead driver of the team is, “responsible for laying down the best line,” and follow cars should stay as close and keep as much uniformity with the lead car as possible.

Nikolay Konstantinov, along with Patrick Heald and Jake Hakarai, made up the judging team at the 2022 Team Tandem Cup. All three men are accomplished competitive drifters, with Konstantinov holding the distinction of being one of the initial PNW drifters in the early 2000s.

“The addition of extra cars to the mix becomes hectic and much more challenging,” Konstantinov stated. “The exciting part is watching three or more cars mimicking one another, while keeping super tight proximity.”

2022 ProAm Showdown Event.

Photo credit to Marquis Devine.

As mentioned, DriftCon’s Evergreen Showdown event happens on the same day as the Team Tandem Cup. It’s an exciting spectator event in its own right, which makes DriftCon’s annual June lineup a full, action-packed day.

This year’s ProAm Shootout judges were Brandon Schmidt and Lucas Dourado, along with Chris Uhl, whom some might recognize from the Formula DRIFT pro event judging lineup.

As with all ProAm events, the winner takes home a prized license to compete in the FD Prospec circuit (unless they already have one). A privilege every driver in the Shootout works hard to achieve, but only one can master.

At the June event, driver Kory Keezer [@korykeezerracing] took the top slot. Keezer is a well-known driver at Evergreen. He’s been driving around the PNW and battling his way up the ranks for the better of ten years now. Be sure to keep an eye out for him and his rad Mazda RX7 FD drift beast at FD Prospec and other grassroots competitions.

If you’ve ever attended a team tandem drifting contest, let us know what you thought of this old-school drifting challenge. Leave a note in the comments below or hit us up on social. We look forward to hearing from you!