Way Back When

 With electronic traction and stability control equipped vehicles it's less common to hear words like 'understeer' and 'oversteer,' although those who lived in the era before the electronic gizmos and vehicles experienced both of these terms first hand with no stability control systems. Probably without knowing it. As vehicles advanced, hazards erased and safety features enhanced so did racing styles and boy have they come a long ways.

 Drifting certainly didn't manifest with neon lights and plenty of nos in Fast n Furious, rather the technique of oversteering around a corner has been used as early as the 1930's Grand Prix  races. Drifting really took off in the late 80's in Japan when racers winding up and down mountain roads (touge) found losing traction when entering a corner and regaining it after was faster.  This method grew following the successful drifting of Kunimitsu Takahashi, a  Motorcycle Grand Prix rider and Formula Car driver of the 1960s and 1970s. Approaching a corner very fast he would hit the turn and create a large slip angle then play with the throttle to keep the angle until the straight. Street racers of Japan began to use it on the touge and boom, illegal touge racing now knew drifting.

Similar to Japanese touge racing we have rally racing where racers use nearly no grip at all. Races take place in point-to-point routes, commonly off roads. With no practice on the course drivers and co-drivers maneuver their way through the course using the instructions from the co-driver prompted from a supplied route book which describes the course in detail.