Last year, one plucky old BMW drift car made a small drift course in rural Estonia famous all around the world.
As such, there’s a good chance you’ve heard of the Kehala Ring, otherwise known as the home of ‘Air Drift’.
If you didn’t catch the video or just feel like watching it again, hit the play button above. It was the first time a proper drift competition had been held on the rallycross track, and given the reception it received, this year the local organizers decided to do it all over again.
Nicknamed the ‘Rollercoaster from Hell’, the best North European drifters were invited along to compete at the opening round of 2019 NEZ (North European Zone) championship.
The Kehala Ring is very technical with lots of turns and elevation changes, and during the first practice laps the teams scrambled to figure out the best suspension settings. Drivers approached the jump section with caution, the hardest chargers only grabbing a little air.
Make the suspension too soft and you’ll bounce and lose traction; make it too hard and it’s fingers crossed your parts can handle it.
Unfortunately, things did go wrong for few competitors. Urmo Täheste fully dedicated himself to the jump, but it seemed as though something broke during the landing, and that sent this once very clean BMW E34 with a Viper V10 engine into the wall.
During the last half hour of practice driver confidence was much higher, and as such so were the jumps. I’ve never seen a flying Supra till now.
If I had to hand out an award for the most spectacular jump though, it would have gone to Henri Kivimägi.
Drifting is an exciting sport at any level, but in Northern Europe this is taking the grassroots side to another level.
What do you think – should jumps be a part of every drift track and event?
Vladimir Ljadov
Instagram: wheelsbywovka
because@wheelsbywovka.com
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Kehala Ring: the Estonian counterpart of Japan's Ebisu Minami. LOL!
Definitely adds an extra element of excitement. Makes me think of Ebisu and I remember ages ago seeing a video of an event at Wembley Stadium UK and the line in the parking lot had a small jump. In the US we have the "whoops" in many of the infields of the bank tracks that add at least a challenge to the drivers to maintain the line, angle, and transition while traversing them.
Someone needs to tell Estonia to calm tf down. There's a FINE line between a drift event and a rally event. Even though Ebisu has the Minami jump, you have to be on a very particular line to hit it
Elevation change is a thing lacking in most drift courses period. Yes, having Minomi jumps is rad, but even having more elevation change to add to the technicality of a track would add much more spice to drift courses.
Would you keep your rear wheels spinning whilst in the air and hope when you land it doesn't propel your forward under compression into the barrier or would you take your right foot off and rely on inertia that as you land you have the correct force to keep you sideways?
In traditional Motorsport during a jump staying on the throttle brings the back end down. Letting off brings the front down. No idea about drift jump technique.
Nothing new as Japan has a drift track with a jump in it. still enjoyable to watch.
This is a bit crazier then those as far as I know.
I can't believe that lateral jump isn't ripping the tire off the bead of those wheels!! That is a rough landing...
Actually quite a few times i witnessed the rear tires did slip off from the rims on couple of the drivers, which of course makes them stop drifting immediately. It depends how hard and what angle you hit the ground with these low profile tires.
The video on top of this article is actually showing how the blue e36 beemer stopped drifting at the lower part of the hill. I was there and i remember his tire came off after that hard landing.
The elevation change for that jump part is roughly 10 meters which is the equivalent of around 4 stories high. You don't understand it from the pictures, but the first time seeing it in person was mind-blowing
Any videos of this event?
Never seen a flying Supra? Has the author not watched The Fast & The Furious, or 2 Fast 2 Furious before???
Cool article though, would be an incredible spectator event.
That's not real life
What?! How dare you!
Collin's Crest.
OMfgDriftomaticCoptierNewgrouNDbreakingStuffslidewaysHellahellaflushomgz!!@
If you're going to bring the great man's name into it, at least spell it right. It's Colin.
First we take mountain driving and turn one aspect into a "sport" then take it off the mountain, then turn street cars into shells, throw large sums of cash and pointless amounts of hp until drifting becomes who can power oversteer with the most colored smoke, and since vr helmet in a real car aren't that hype and movies about drifting are lame too let's add jumps....and loops...and cliffs....and parachuting off the space station into a track held up by space balloons I to an underwater transition while attempting to apex the core of the Earth and back into a black hole.
You forgot 100-degree steering angle kits that go beyond parallel to ensure a backwards entry into every corner...
I wonder what it feels like doing your first jump