A special treat for race fans; motorsport.

Byline: BRUCE BOOTH

ONE of the fastest-growing forms of motorsport, the European Drift Championship, arrives in Scotland tomorrow when Knockhill play host to the third round of this spectacular, spectatorfriendly event.

Originating in Japan, drifting has quickly gained a huge fan base along with cult status, which accelerated when the top cars and drivers starred in the Hollywood movie The Fast and the Furious which starred Vin Diesel.

Unlike conventional motor racing, competitors deliberately put their cars into slides at between 80-110mph through a fixed course.

Entrants are judged on speed, angle of attack, execution and style rather than conventional racing whereby the winner is normally the one who crosses the finishing line first.

Defending champion Phil Morrison will be sliding his newlybuilt Driftworks Nissan S15 and will be up against some stiff opposition from mainly Japanese rear-wheeldrive sports cars producing up to 800bhp.

But there will also be a splattering of BMWs, Fords, Mercedes and powerful American muscle cars out to spoil his day.

Combined with a separate "track attack" challenge, around 90 cars and their drivers will line up to do battle.

The European Drifting Championship has made such a huge impact on the motorsport scene that this year, every round has been filmed by Motors TV and is watched by up to 16 million race fans throughout Europe.

The track action starts at 4pm and runs until 9pm.

THE Blaupunkt Seat Cupra Championship heads to Snetterton this weekend where Jonathan Adam, pictured, will be out to strengthen his grip on the series.

After a 1-2 at Donnington two weeks ago, the 22-year-old Kirkcaldy-born driver now has a 68.5-point lead in the series, and with just eight races left, is in a great position to lift the championship title and with it the whopping pounds 100,000 top prize.

CAPTION(S):

SLIP SLIDING AWAY: Phil Morrison puts his new Nissan through its paces