Manga, Motorcycles and the Incredible History of Drifting

The art of drifting can be traced back to the early days of pre-war Grand Prix racing but nobody really knows exactly when it began as a specific sport, though its origins are believed to lie somewhere around the mid-1960s on the curving mountain roads of Japan.

Referred to as Tōge, these snaking high-speed passes attracted dedicated racers, who became known as the Rolling Zoku, and who raced each other to see who could set the fastest times between specific points in the roads.

Somewhat ironically, when the mountain roadways were originally built, the placement of a series of twists and bends in the steep routes was actually intended to be a safety measure. Limiting the speed that commuters could reach on the roads, these same turns were soon after appropriated by racers looking to test the limits of both their cars and their skills.

In time, some of the racers started to adopt similar oversteer techniques that European rally drivers had pioneered, which allowed them to corner through the winding Tōge curves without losing as much momentum.

While the aim of Tōge racing was to set the fastest time, as the Rolling Zoku drivers started to use drifting techniques more often, the focus shifted from lap times to who could come up with the most outrageous and sideward way to demonstrate their car control skills. Known to the drivers as ‘Ikaten’, drift culture had begun to catch on.

Although drifting would gain popularity throughout the rest of the decade as an underground scene, it was actually a motorcycle rider who would popularise and legitimise it as a competitive technique.

In 1961, Kunimitsu Takahashi raced for Honda as a Motorcycle Grand Prix rider, with four GP wins in his short career before he switched to racing on four wheels after being involved in a serious crash in the 1961 Isle of Man TT.

From 1965 onwards, he raced in various series including the 1977 Japanese Grand Prix, catching the attention of the world with his unique style. Approaching corners at near full speed, Takahashi would hit the apex and create an extremely large rear slip angle, locking the car into a controlled drift before barrelling full-throttle out the other end.

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