Drifting
Welcome to the sideways world of the Red Bull Driftbrothers
Ahead of the Drift Masters European Championship round in Ferropolis, Germany, we caught up with drifting legends the Driftbrothers to get the lowdown on what makes them tick.
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The Red Bull Driftbrothers, Elias and Joe Hountondji, are at the pinnacle of the drifting world, a sport which combines speed, agility and performance driving, while creating masses of tyre smoke and proving that a straight line isn't necessarily the fastest route.
12 min
The mother of invention
Join Elias and Johannes Hountondji as they battle at the 2018 Polish Drift Masters European Championship stop.
Elias and Joe are actual brothers and like all good sibling pairings, whether it be Mario, Blues, Marx, Grimm or Allman, these guys are at the very top of their game. Since starting out drifting as a hobby, they're now picking up silverware and plaudits wherever they go.
Older brother Joe’s automotive weapon of choice is a heavily modified Nissan 200SX S13, with a Rocket Bunny bodykit and custom aerodynamics, whilst Elias’ whip of choice is a classic BMW E30 374i – again, heavily modified for drifting.
The pair will be taking them to Ferropolis open-air museum, aka the City of Iron, located on the outskirts of Gräfenhainichen in the state of Saxony-Anhalt, Germany. There they will compete in the Drift Masters European Championship, where the best drivers from Europe and Germany will compete to be crowned the coveted 2019 Iron Drift King.
Ahead of the event, we caught up with the brothers and found out a bit more about the inner circle of their drifting world...
Does drifting allow you to reflect your personality in terms of the way the car looks and performs more than any other form of motorsport?
Elias: Expressing your personality is one of the key elements of drift sports and its culture. The technical regulations allow for crazy builds. Of course, you have to meet all FIA-level safety regulations, but once that is taken care of there's very little restriction.
From brand-new Lamborghini to old 190 Mercedes Benz with Toyota Supra engines and Mazda MX5 convertibles powered by American muscle. If you can build it and it performs, make it yours and go.
Joe: And that's just the car side of things. When driving, one of the judging criteria besides speed, angle and line, is individual style – how aggressively do you drive, do you push your car to its limits? How clean is your line and how do you put pressure on your opponent when chasing? This really reflects the driver's personality.
2 min
'Mad' Mike's drift Lamborghini
Get a close-up look at 'Mad' Mike Whiddett's drift Lamborghini that he worked so hard to build.
Your cars – the BMW and the Nissan: Give us the lowdown. What's special about them? How did you develop them into drift racers?
Elias: They both run 7.4 litre V8 engines, known from the Corvette. They come with a sequential six-speed gearbox and have Bilstein MDS suspension. That's just the tip of the iceberg regarding the technical specs – what really makes them special to us, is that we and the guys in the team, have hand-built them to this level over the course of many years.
When they're being divas sometimes, I actually catch myself alone in the shop, elbow deep in the engine compartment, talking to them now and then. And yes, sometimes there's quite some cussing involved!
9 min
Repair and reward
Join Elias and Johannes Hountondji at the 2018 Hungarian Drift Masters European Championship stop.
Behind the scenes you have a close team. What's it like working with the Driftbrothers family and who is the craziest?
Joe: That's actually just the right way to put it: Driftbrothers family! Not only because we have our sister and dad with us at competitions and our mother and uncle join us many times as well.
We started as a grassroots team, bought a €200 car on the internet and let it rip at local car meets. Just a bunch of guys with a passion for drifting. That’s how it all started and we’re still the same guys.
From when we were kids, long before drifting was a thing for any of us, over time we grew into this team. On top of being friends. How can you put that in words?
Johannes Hountondji
© Christian Stadler/Red Bull Content Pool
What's it like to compete in your home country? And what about the challenge at Ferropolis? It's a pretty unique-looking course.
Joe: Competing in Germany is always cool. We have a lot of familiar faces come and visit us at the racetrack and get extra support from audiences on site.
Elias: Ferropolis is a really interesting venue, too. It's not a racetrack, but a peninsula that used to be an old coal mine – very cinematic! All those huge – like, really, really huge – old mining tools still being displayed there. It makes it an impressive backdrop.
But on the other hand, the venue allows for a racetrack-like layout. In short: you get real drift-action on track and a really cinematic setting with that. A great combo!
10 min
A rainy track in Riga
With a track covered in water all Elias and Johannes Hountondji can do is give it their best.
Tell us a bit about your show on Red Bull TV and DMAX. You've been pretty busy recently!
Joe: We're so excited about that! Being able to introduce the sport and its spirit to folks that haven’t been into it yet is a really exciting process. We’re overwhelmed with the positive response we get.
Sure, it adds a little to our schedules, but it’s very rewarding. And it’s not like we’ve been bored the past seven or eight years, so we’re used to a fast pace anyway!
Hopes for the remainder of the season?
Joe: Having fun with drift sports and sharing our passion with gearheads and enthusiasts all over the world.
Elias: Many, many more amazing, tight, exciting, exhilarating battles! If they all end in our favour, then that's even better!
Elias Hountondji
© Jordan Butters / DMEC / Red Bull Content Pool
What do you guys do to relax when the season is over?
Joe: When the season is over, the work continues almost as much. Building and upgrading cars, training in the simulators, improving workflows, maintaining infrastructure, planning ahead for the coming season and much, much more.
In the off-season we do make more time for some basketball. that's the other sport we carry in our hearts.
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