Drifters speak about difficulties without Yigo racetrack

Another setback of the Attorney’s General's withdrawal is putting a pause on the ongoing discussion of re-opening of the Yigo racetrack 

Drifting is a driving technique where the driver intentionally oversteers, with loss of traction, while maintaining control and driving the car through the entirety of a corner or a turn.  

The sport has been a staple in Guam’s car community for decades

Von Burell and Karl Dumasig are longtime drifters. They’ve both gone off-island representing Guam for more than a decade.

However, with the Yigo racetrack still closed, it has been challenging for them to continue their drifting careers.

Burell said, “It's hard for me to get a sponsor, I reach out and people say yeah, and they just like, oh wait, Guam doesn't have a track. What are you going to be promoting? We'll be promoting my brand, but I know we don't have anything to really show.”

“Even with drifting wise, like it takes a lot of practice and seat time…It's for drag racers, for drifters, for auto crossers, and also the people that motocross, and all of that, and there's not really much of a place to go besides the track,” said Dumasig. 

With the Attorney General’s withdrawal from representing GovGuam agencies, CHamoru Land Trust officials confirmed that it has limited them to take any action on re-opening the racetrack, saying it could create more liability.  

The last time the two drifted was last Saturday’s Nissian generation aka N-Gen 4 event at Nissan dealership parking lot in Upper Tumon.

Dumasig said, “It's called tandems and where it's either one's doing the lead and one chasing. and you know, it takes two to actually practice that…Thankfully, Nissan hosted us or had us drift into the event and it was a real thrill that, you know, we were able to do it again for a little bit.”

Both Burell and Dumasig said the tracks continued closure not only affects them but the rest of the island community.

“It is, it is very hard, because like, I mean, the track is like one of the best places to just be drifting. Because if you're just out, out and about in the street, you know, you can hurt people or you can hit property and stuff. So try really try not to do that,” said Dumasig. 

Burell added, “There was a lot of people who were like we didn't know drifting existed on guam. We didn't even know you guys had a track. And these are like militaries. We even had Korean tourists that were there. And they're like, oh, you guys have drifting you have racetrack we didn't know. So then tourists, it really helps for us having a track…People might not know it, but it's the people's track and we just wish we had it back. And it brings tourists in general.”

Meanwhile, the gates to the former raceway park remain locked.