Drift 101 — Local services in Rosamond

There aren't many things in life where the value and what you take away from the experience and time invested far exceeds your expectations and what you thought you were getting and learning. Drift 101 is literally a way of life, very philosophical, and makes you think deeply and introspectively about yourself and how you perceive things when you're trying to get really good at something because you deeply care about it; but it teaches you that patience, allowing it to come to you without over thinking, and enjoying the process and having a good time is more important than trying to be the next drift king after your first class. Having owned mostly front engine rear wheel drive cars most of my life once I turned 18, I've always wanted to learn to drift properly at a safe race track from a qualified and professional teacher so I can build a solid foundation to participate in drifting as a hobby or perhaps more. After twenty years, I finally got the opportunity last week and had the honor to learn from Naoki and his assistant Ruben. I enrolled in the full one day class and it was an absolute blast and information overload for me because I wanted to get good too fast when in reality, I should've relaxed more and took it in stride. We were learning in these stout battle ready, all motor, fully bolted on with drift inducing and friendly tuned suspension S14's which in itself was a great dancing partner. The entire class, we got to personally drive and drift in these drift machines where I was definitely learning by doing and receiving super informative and clear feedback after every practice run and we're talking about a lot of runs which is where it's at and I feel bad how many times the instructors had to pick up the cones because I kept on hitting them due to my lack of ability! We started with learning how to do a proper counter steering donuts and went as intense as doing figure eights while sliding into and out of the box. With only two other awesome student drivers there, we got to practice a whole lot where without you realizing, you're slowly but surely improving and getting more comfortable throughout the day. No amount of reading reviews or the website does this class justice. You got to go to Willow Springs Race Track in Rosamond, CA and physically experience how to drift properly, learn car control, controlled slides, counter steering into and out of corners while sliding, figure eights while sliding and all that good stuff from these caring, passionate instructors! Thank you Naoki and Ruben for an incredible time and all the lessons. I can't wait to go back up...

I had an excellent day at Drift101. The exercises highlighted a wide range of skills required for drifting and the instruction was very detailed. There was one other person in my class and each of us received feedback tailored specifically to our strengths and weaknesses during each session. The teaching method is very straightforward/easy to understand and I saw instant results with each bit of feedback. I have moderate experience with road course track days but had never drifted before. It was challenging at first but by the end I saw significant improvement. The choice of exercises throughout the day flowed well. They progressively built upon each technique we were taught and our personal performance/progression. You get plenty of seat time, balanced with natural conversation to recap and prepare for each exercise. I arrived looking to improve my car control and have a good time but left a definite fan of drifting with a ton of things to think about that will improve my driving in both...

So I wanted to write this as soon as I got home today because it was an incredible day of driving. I’ve been a car enthusiast for over 20 years and have participated in autocross, some oval track stuff and the occasional invite on a track but I’ve never slid a car. Maybe a donut here and there but never grabbed an e brake or clutch kicked… until today. The guy were super cool, friendly and very knowledgeable. The cars they had are the standard issue 240s with upgraded e brakes and it was perfect for the course. Going from throttle work to 2nd gear slides all within the same day was incredible. Now it might seem a tad pricey BUT you get a massive amount of seat time and you will walk away with a huge smile. Bring water and lunch and if you are solo a camera and tripod or even a go pro to mount to your car. Well worth keeping the memories and seeing the progress throughout the day. My nose is still stuffy with tire smoke and I’m loving it. Can’t...