The relatively new motorsport known as drifting, whose championships have been reported on these web pages recently, is about to get its own track days thanks to Santa Pod Raceway in Northamptonshire. Emerging from its origins as an underground recreation, drifting is now described by the track’s administrators as “a mainstream art-form,” boasting its own championships, computer games and dedicated Scalextric set. Thanks to Santa Pod, becoming a drifting virtuoso, or at least being able to hold your car in a controlled slide, has become a much more attainable goal.

Learning to drift can be quite tricky and expensive, particularly when a learner gets it wrong. Santa Pod states, “Drift competitions require a pretty high standard before you can enter, most drift-schools add a considerable cost, and neither the local constabulary nor your local Tesco will appreciate you doing it on their turf.”