Yokomo opens web entry for the Drift International Cup at Tsukuba

The Cup runs three classes: Entry, Sport and RWD International. Drivers who won qualifiers in five overseas countries will travel to Japan for it. The published outline does not name which five countries ran those qualifiers, and it does not set out what separates the Entry and Sport classes from each other in machine or experience terms.

One piece of the running order is stated: the RWD International class takes two qualifying runs. Qualifying across the RC drift scene is usually solo running, with battles drawn from the result, but the outline as reported does not describe the battle format, the judging criteria or how many drivers advance, so none of that should be assumed here.

What the class name settles is the drivetrain. RWD is the modern standard for 1/10-scale drift, and Yokomo's own current RWD line runs through its Rookie Drift, Super Drift and Master Drift tiers. The outline does not say the class is restricted to Yokomo chassis.

Yokomo organizes the Cup, and it is being held on Yokomo's own ground. Tsukuba RC Arena — long known as Yatabe Arena — is the maker's track and headquarters at Yatabe in Tsukuba, renovated in 2022 with an air-conditioned drift course alongside a touring-car track, and the home of the Yokomo Drift Meeting series and the All Japan E-Drift Championship. Yokomo sells springs in a "P-TILE (YATABE ARENA)" spec, which tells you the drift surface there is P-tile.

That surface matters for anyone planning a trip. A carpet setup and a P-tile setup are different whole configurations — tyre, ride height, springs, gyro gain — not a single dial. The outline as reported does not state a spec tyre or any tyre restriction for the Cup, so that is a question for Yokomo rather than something to infer from the venue.

Web entry is open now, through two separate forms: one for Entry and Sport, one for RWD International. Reception closes as soon as 100 places are filled. The report does not say whether that cap of 100 is the combined total across both forms or applies to them separately, and it does not give a calendar closing date beyond the cap.

No entry fee is stated in the material. A pizza party is planned for the day of the event.

For a newcomer, the practical shape of the weekend is this: an official practice the day before where judges give advice, then a one-day competition across three classes, at a track an hour or so from Tokyo. The things a first-timer would most need — fees, class eligibility, the tyre rule, what time doors open — are not in the published outline, and are worth confirming with Yokomo directly before booking anything.