The future of RC Drifting.
As the popularity and exposure of RC drifting grows, so does a sentiment to standardize the rules of competition. Over the slow yet steady growth of RC drifting in the last few years, a few industry leading manufacturers have seen the need for RC drift-specific products, the media has given RC drifting some coverage here and there, but yet we are still far from becoming an established and recognized part of the hobby – and not just passed off as an off-shoot of touring car racing.
In full-scale motorsports, the organizations that have a proper structure, game plan, and standardized specifications give themselves the tools for growth on a worldwide level. Formula 1 would not be the pinnacle of motorsports without standards. NASCAR would not be a multi-billion dollar entity without standards. Both of these motorsports icons have gone beyond other competing organizations and have set “the standard” for their respective peers. In the scale world, other forms of RC competition have already benefited from having a global standard such as IFMAR and ROAR to follow. RC rock crawling – a niche of the hobby that is even newer than RC drifting – has taken leaps forward in popularity and recognition by having the USRCCA.
Amongst the many different RC drifting organizations and communities that exist, many have talked informally and formally about standardization. Efforts up to this point have not yet yielded any solid results that resulted in an advancement of our part of the hobby that we enjoy. This is why the RC Drift Network is trying a different approach. Of course, everybody has their own ideas of what a standard should be, or what they want it to be. The problem so far has been that while those involved have all been able to agree that they wanted to do something about standardization, actually implementing a standard has seemed to be the breaking point of compromise. In other words, there have been a lot of talking, but not a lot of “doing” – until now.
The RC Drift Network has contacted RC drifting organizations around the world, on 5 continents, proposing a consideration for standardizing events, event operating procedures, vehicle and driver specifications, and drift competition judging. If you haven’t noticed, there is no forum. There is no formal membership. The RC Drift Network is here to offer our interpretation of a standardized rule set – and resources, guides, and other RC drift-related or RC drift event-related information to guide and help not just drift organizations, but also the drifters themselves.
We encourage all RC drifting organizations and individuals who get events together to take a look at what a standardized rule set offers. The RC DriftNetwork rules set is the most comprehensive ever in the organized RC drift community. The RC DriftNetwork rules do not favor one manufacturer, one geographical location, or one particular type of RC drifter. These rules are being offered to everyone, with the intent that hopefully more and more events worldwide will adapt or use a modified version of these rules as a guide to running their events. Feel free to use our rule set as you wish; we are not attempting to force organizations to use it – we are just offering our set to those looking for a guide.
Regardless of if you choose to use our rule set or your own, in order to allow RC drifting to grow, gain popularity, and earn recognition, we need to all get on the same page. We need to have the same goals and enthusiastic mentality in order to evolve RC drifting to the next level.
The road to that goal starts here, at the RC Drift Network.
