Nichola Beckford/Contributor

Originating in the hills of Japan, drifting — where a driver intentionally gets the rear of their vehicle sideways, with loss of traction, while maintaining control and driving the car through the entirety of a corner, is now a big budget international sport.

Local drifting has evolved in a different manner. It came out of the entry-level dexterity series. Open to anyone with a functioning car and a driver’s licence, drivers would take to a cone lined course in the attempt to get the fastest time. Here drifting was just one of the skills owners of rear-wheel drive competition cars mastered in order to navigate around a dexterity course.

It was a significant advantage over other drivetrain types, front and all-wheel drive. So much so, that it created the next evolution, the wet dexterity. Attributed to the western end of the island, promoters began to cover their dexterity venues with water on the reasoning that the lack of traction for all competitors, regardless of vehicle type, would equalise the field. While it did reduce the performance gap between rear, front, and all-wheel drive vehicles, the unexpected consequence was a bigger spectacle that drew in crowds.

One such event was Slippery Wen Wett. Brought to life by Kingsley Scott in 2007, it took over the parking lot of Pines Plaza, in Junction, St Elizabeth. It would become one of the most anticipated annual wet dexterity events on the island, due to the enormous amount of talent it drew and the challenge it posed to informal drift competitors. Still, wet or dry the core elements of a dexterity remained, drivers got three timed attempts at a course defined by traffic cones.

On October 23, drift event Slippery Wen Wett, held at the Falmouth Cruise Ship Pier in Trelawny, ushered in a new era for the genre in Jamaica. Hot on the heels of the first ever staging of the 2022 Red Bull Car Park Drift Competition in the western hemisphere on October 1, came a new outlook on dexterity events and its relation to drifting. It was time to make their own path, and Scott was the first to do so with his event.

No longer were runs to be timed. No longer were there three attempts. Adapting the international format, the focus would be on the driver’s ability to drift through an actual obstacle course, gaining or losing points based on their success with the various obstacles. Slippery Wen Wett featured challenges such as figure eight turns, flappers and a ball that had to be hit mid drift, and intricate spaces for cars to be danced sideways in and out of. It presented an aural and visual feast for the large crowd that came and watched bare knuckled if fate would be kind enough to allow their favourite driver to advance.

The competition began with over 30 drivers, divided into professional and rookie categories. From there each had to tackle the obstacle course attempting to get the maximum 300 points total for completing a mistake free run. Since the focus was no longer on time, potential victory had little to do with speed and power. It was now about car control, keeping their vehicle sideways to complete each obstacle. Only the top eight points scorers would move to the next round, with the top four having a chance at the final battle.

Such was the skill level on hand that all four professional drivers got there equal on points. The top two professionals, a returning Randall Singh, and pre-event favourite Nicholas Barnes ended the final, tied due to them each performing a flawless run. This required the judges to fall back on the score from the previous round. The upset came due to a five-point difference between them. Barnes, having missed an obstacle in the second round, only had 295 points against Singh’s perfect drive in that same round.

Victory then to Singh, who had borrowed a car to participate in the event, after a 12-year hiatus from motorsport. Just as intriguing was the rookie battle, having just entered the sport earlier in the year, Richard Ryan took home the rookie class.

Scott hailed the new rules, the way forward for local drifting, buoyed by the high level of acceptance of the fans and drivers alike.