Formula Drift has seen a few innovations recently. Corvettes, once the garage queen Meguiars-Quik-Detailer-every-five-minutes-at-the-car-show icon of Baby Boomers, have begun infiltrating the smoky FD field. FPV drones, long used for racing, are now inextricably tied to the series as a filming method. The series’ growth has taken drifting from the mountains of Japan to the biggest stages in the automotive world. Put all that together, and what does it get you?
Well, it gets you this: Matt Field’s 1,050 horsepower Corvette tearing its way up the Laguna Seca corkscrew, all seen through the eyes of an FPV drone. Then tearing back down the corkscrew, then back up, then down. Field isn’t gunning for fast times, he’s here for good times.
Field’s drift chassis is no bone-stock C6. It’s an incredibly detailed build, one that began with a flood-damaged 2013 Corvette and ended with a purpose-built drift machine. Four digit horsepower, a carbon kevlar body kit, and enough steering angle to shame a bicycle.
That power, lightness, and angle all help Field manage his figure-eights up and down the Corkscrew, turning Falkens into fine particulates the whole way through. The clip isn’t particularly long, just 45 seconds of V8 roar and FPV drone whirr, but it’s enough to be fun — a good time indeed.
Maybe Formula Drift, in its ever-changing schedule, needs to add a round at Laguna Seca. The series has added, lost, re-added, and replaced countless tracks in its time, what’s one more? I, for one, certainly wouldn’t complain about Field having a chase driver through that famed downhill bend.