The Battles - Tsuiso (translates to Tandem Drift)
This is the second and final stage of an RC Drift Competition. This tests the competitors’ skill in both performing under pressure (leading), and their ability to chase and mimic the other driver (chasing). As with the Qualifying Stage, the judges will be closely watching and dissecting each run. The objective is to out-perform your opponent and advance to the next round.


Format
Each Battle involves 2 competitors, the winner advances to the next round and the loser is eliminated from the competition. This continues until there are only 2 competitors left, and the winner of the final round is the winner of the competition.

Each Battle consists of 2 runs. The competitors line up at the starting line, one is designated to Lead and the other to Chase, and are referred to as Lead and Chase. The runs are typically started with a starting light, starting tone, someone counting down, etc. The Lead MUST go at the specified moment, whereas the Chase can go at any time (before or after). The only limitation for the Chase is they must not impede the Lead.

After the run, the competitors trade places and run again, giving each competitor 1 Lead run and 1 Chase run. Once both runs are complete, the judges will weigh the performance of each competitor and announce a winner. In the event a winner cannot be chosen, an OMT (One More Time) is called, and the competitors will line up, and do it all again. Since the previous runs did not produce an obvious winner, those runs are disregarded as if they never happened. There is a limit of 3 OMTs. If it reaches the 3rd OMT, a winner must be called by the judges.

Lead Objective
The objective of the Lead is pretty straight forward. They must try to take the Qualifying Line and be as perfect as possible, driving deep in the zones and with the designated amount of angle (or more) while exhibiting the maximum amount of style.

In addition to the “basics”, the Lead can demonstrate their superior skill by getting as close to the walls and barriers as possible (even touching them without disrupting the chassis), holding more than the designated angle while still maintaining speed, being smooth and consistent throughout the turns with minimal to no corrections in line and angle, and demonstrating an aggressive, confident style (this means quick and snappy transitions, and early, hard initiations with full commitment for all maneuvers). All of this is taken into account when the Leads are compared. Sacrificing Line or Angle to “Gap” (leave behind) the Chase will count against the Lead, as the primary objective of the Lead was not fulfilled.

Chase Objective
The objective of the Chase is a little more complicated. The primary objective is to follow the line set by the Lead, while mimicking their angle and maintaining close proximity to them.
The Chase can also display dominance over the Lead by holding more angle, being deeper in the zones, pulling off extremely close transitions while not impeding the Lead, and / or exhibiting extremely tight proximity throughout the run. Sacrificing line or angle to accomplish tight proximity counts against the Chase.

True Lead and Chase Objective
The objectives above are those according to the rules. However, the objectives go deeper than that.

The Lead wants to complete the course so well that it forces the Chase to sacrifice their Line and / or Angle to keep up, entering the zones so aggressively that it makes it difficult for the Chase to mimic and overall makes the Chase feel and appear they cannot match what the Lead is doing. This can force mistakes by the Chase as it draws them outside of their comfort zone and puts them in a position of reacting instead of applying pressure to the Lead.

The Chase, although they cannot impede the Lead or knock them off line, can apply enough pressure to force the Lead to make mistakes. Aggressively chasing, closely mimicking the Lead’s moves, being able to match their Line and Angle, and even nudging the Lead along, is enough to make the strongest Lead driver crack. Making the Lead feel as if they are not in control of the battle is really the true, underlying objective of the Chase.

Judgement
After both runs are completed, the judges weigh the runs against each other. Typically it’s Lead against Lead and Chase against Chase. There is usually something that tips the decision one way or the other. 99.9% of the time, one of the competitors will make an error large enough to decisively tip the scales.


First question is, were there any errors that would automatically influence the decision? Did someone hit a barrier, impede the Lead, cause a collision, go out of bounds, straighten out (lose drift), etc.? If so, the call would be clear. If not, then Leads and Chases are compared.

When comparing Leads, how well did each competitor complete each zone? Was their angle matching the designated angle through the entire zone? Did they enter late, or exit early? Were there any corrections in Angle or Line? How smooth were they through the entire course? How aggressively did they drive?

When comparing Chases, how well did they follow the Lead’s line? Did they match or exceed the Lead’s angle? How was their proximity to the Lead? Were they struggling to keep up, or were they able to apply pressure to the Lead?


Within the Leads and Chases there is usually something that will influence the call one way or the other. If the Leads are close and there is a definite winner of the Chase, then the winner of the Chase will take the win. By the same token, if the Chases are close, but there is a definite winner of the Leads, then the winner of the Leads will take the win. It is a rare occurrence where both Leads and Chases are equal, but when they are, that is when the OMT is called.

I Get It, It’s Just Like Formula Drift
Formula Drift (FD) is the 1:1 (real car) leading Drift series in the United States. Although many of the rules have been modeled after FD, since these are RC Cars, not all the rules transfer correctly. Without the mass behind the cars, hitting the walls doesn’t have the same effect. The same goes for contact between the cars. Not to mention the panels can’t dent and crumble like real cars, instead they bounce.


We will cover the rules of RC Drift for the Super Drift Competition Series (SDC) in the next issue of DARC Mag.



Steve Fujita