Drifting: An exciting finale for the Castrol Drift Mania Canadian Championship

From the organizers

Excitement had built up quite a bit for the fifth and final round of the 2009 Castrol Drift Mania Canadian Championship (DMCC) at Autodrome St-Eustache, Quebec. The event, held on Monday, September 7, certainly did not disappoint!

Before the competition, Quebec’s Frédéric Girard (Nissan Skyline HCR32) and Ontario’s Patrick Cyr (Toyota Corolla) were respectively 3rd and 2nd in the standings behind American Matt Waldin (Nissan 350Z).


As expected, the fans witnessed a spectacular show. More than 8,000 of them crowded the Autodrome St-Eustache to watch one of the most exciting tandem drifting competitions of the season.

Logic prevailed and the final battle between the top two drivers proved to be one of the day’s most intense. Cyr took home the victory and secured the second place in the championship behind Waldin.

Meanwhile, rookie Marc Landreville from Quebec surprised everyone by earning third place.

A local favourite since the emergence of drifting in Quebec in 2004, Montrealer Marco Santos made a return to action for the final round of the DMCC.


Established by Drift Mania in 2006, the Castrol Drift Mania Canadian Championship is the only professional drifting series in Canada. This year, the events were held in seven different cities located in five different provinces.

Basically, drifting involves intentionally over steering a vehicle through a succession of corners. Combining speed, noise, smoke, style and adrenaline, drifting is considered as extreme auto racing and requires exceptional driving skills. It’s currently the fastest-rising motorsport series in the world, with increasing interest from the media and a growing number of enthusiasts, spectators, drivers and organizations.

Drivers are judged based on three main criteria, including cornering speed (entry and exit), drift angle as well as overall technique (line, weight transfer, etc.). The competition uses a one-on-one formula (also called "tandem racing"), eliminating drivers until the two undefeated contestants meet in the final.

Among the crowd at Autodrome St-Eustache were fans of auto racing, extreme sports and tuning along with mainstream public and young families.

Screeching tires, 100-kph drifting cars and thousands of excited spectators made the Autodrome shake all day long. Drivers left their marks both on, and off the track.

For more information and the complete results of the 2009 season, go to www.driftmania.ca.