A little while back, Pavel from the Ricedelivery crew messaged me, asking if I’d like to come along to an event: “Hey, we’re putting together a drift track day, something in the spirit of Shotshu and NEXT Level.” The ‘Mizu Drift Bash’ would be focused on people, good vibes, and driving, not on chaos or pointless nonsense, so of course I was keen.
The next Thursday after work, I packed my gear and made the drive out to Autodrom Sosnová, a small circuit, but one with plenty of Czech motorsport history. By the time I arrived, cars were already lining up, and the driver briefing was underway. It was refreshing to see that there are still petrolheads out there who drift simply because they want to, not because they need content for social media.
When it comes to competitive drift events, while I’ll occasionally watch them, they don’t really pull me in. What I enjoy far more are events like Shotshu, where you have dozens of drivers, 10 hours of action in a day, and the freedom to run as many cars on track at once as you want. For drivers, spectators, and especially photographers, it’s chaos in the best possible way. And that’s exactly what Ricedelivery set out to recreate with the Mizu Drift Bash.
The watered section extended over the final six corners of the track, while the rest of the circuit remained closed. This helped limit noise and tire smoke for nearby residents, provided a safer environment for staging and drift trains, and allowed some control over the cars on track, which is nearly impossible with a fully open pit lane.
The variety of cars that turned out for the first Mizu Drift Bash was impressive. Of course, there were plenty of BMWs, mostly E36 and E46 Compacts, and some close to stock with open diffs, right up to Michal Reichert’s purpose-built E36 M3, powered by a turbo S54B32 engine making 1,000hp.
There were also a couple of Porsches, a Lexus, and what I’d call the Mizu Drift Bash’s unofficial ambassador, Jereme, in his well-sorted S14. The Nissan runs all genuine parts, looks incredible, and Jereme drives it properly, carrying speed and deep angle, even in trains.
When the evening rolled around, headlights came on, and the cars kept running, drivers relentlessly chasing each other around the circuit. Like many others, I just stood there soaking it all in. And right there in the moment, it hit me – this is exactly the direction drifting it should be going in.
I was genuinely glad that Pavel and the Ricedelivery crew decided to go for it with the first-ever Mizu Drift Bash. It wasn’t easy for them to put it together, but the whole event carried that feeling of doing things for the community, and the community loved it.
Check out my video below for more action from the event.
