The Drift Ruption series was launched on Saturday, March 29, at Bogue City Centre, Montego Bay.

“The event went great, it was fabulous as the media had the chance to meet our drivers, officials, and sponsors,” Kingsley Scott, event organiser and founder, told the Jamaica Observer’s weekly Auto magazine.

Drift Ruption is set for five rounds across the island, starting on June 15. Venues include JamWest Speedway, Westmoreland; Dover Raceway in St Ann; and the spiritual home of Drift Ruption, Pines Plaza in Junction, St Elizabeth.

“It’s the first time we’re doing a launch event to get the public more aware of this genre of high-speed drifting,” he said.

For further competitor encouragement there is an extensive prize package, beginning with per event rewards of $130,000 for the first place finisher. Second and third will receive $120,000 and $100,000 respectively.

“The drift king, the overall winner crowned at the end of the Drift Ruption series will get $750,000,” he said.

Scott has indicated there are no changes in the rules or format for the series. He noted, though, the recent increase in the speeds at which local competitors drift, again to acclimatise themselves with international demands, in 2024, thus the switch from smaller, tighter locations to those that can safely handle faster drifting like dedicated racing circuits.

Long been considered the father of local drifting competition, Scott began with his Slippery Wen Wett series. At that point the sport was tied to the timed dexterity-type format, having cars race through a cone-defined course that prioritised sideways driving. In 2022, the Red Bull Car Park Drift event hit Jamaica like a hurricane, changing the drift landscape in its wake.

From then Scott has moved his Drift Ruption series to the judged, point-based obstacle layout style that the Red Bull Car Park Drift brought to our shores. This brings more emphasis on precision car control than on focusing on a timed lap. This has refreshed the sport significantly and, more importantly, since it uses a more international standard, created a training ground for local talent to participate across the world, as have Nicholas Barnes and Cleve Ottey.