Last Sunday when most people would have been sleeping in, a group of drift enthusiasts gathered bright and early at Changi Exhibition Centre for a day of sideways action.

In its bid to promote local motorsports, SPARK Motorsports (by Comfort DelGro) organised a drift clinic and welcomed anyone with a keen interest for drifting to participate.

15 participants attended the clinic that was conducted by leading Japanese drifter Ryuji Miki, the 2004 D1 Grand Prix and 2008 Formula Drift Singapore champion. Assisting Miki were local drift talent Ivan Lim of Team Goodyear SPARK Motorsports and rising Formula Drift USA driver Charles Ng.

The day started off hot and sunny, but a brief shower in the late afternoon helped to cool the weather and keep the sky overcast for the rest of the evening.

The drivers practised the entire morning and into the afternoon after lunch, testing their cars and improving their skills. Ending off the session was a little friendly competition where each of them did three individual runs.

I was hoping for tandem battles (two cars simultaneously drifting as close as possible to one another) but there were none!

Not all of the 15 cars there took part in the competition, but of those who did, it was Jason Tan, Andre Goh and Andy Gas who emerged first, second and third respectively. They collected for themselves cash prizes of $700, $500 and $300 in that order, which pretty much covered their registration fee of $350 for the clinic.

When asked about his win, Tan commented, "In the morning during the practice runs, I was still trying to solve some issues with my car set-up so I was sceptical of my performance and wasn't all that confident. This was a good experience as any track time is crucial and I would like to commend SPARK Motorsports for their efforts in organising this for the community."

The instructors Miki, Ng and Lim are taking part in Formula Drift Malaysia this weekend (19-21 Dec), so this clinic was timely for them to gain some practice time before they head up to Merdeka Square in Kuala Lumpur later this week.

SPARK Motorsports expressed the intention to have a drift clinic annually. I think it's great that more of such clinics are being organised so drift enthusiasts can, in the meantime, lawfully have a place to get some practice before our permanent circuit at Changi is built.

Those who missed this one from SPARK can look forward to it again next year.