Raptor flexes its American muscles at ‘Ice and Snow Drift’ in China.
This week’s Freaky-Ford Friday video comes to us from the YouTube channel of Skurp and it features a new Ford F-150 Raptor showing off its drifting abilities on a frozen river in China. As part of an event called the “Ice and Snow Drift” in Harbin, a series of curvy paths have been cleared to create multiple tracks that are ideal for drifting. After all, you don’t need a whole lot of power to drift on a slippery surface and it doesn’t get much slipperier than a frozen river, so while the Raptor has enough power to drift on dry pavement, it performs like a purpose-built machine on a big body of frozen water.
The Introduction
Thanks to the details shared with the video, we know that this YouTuber is the videographer who filmed the footage and created the video. This was the first time that he attended the DRS Ice and Snow Drift in Harbin, China along with being his first time creating a drift video, but we think that he did a nice job of capturing this Raptor at play on the frozen river.
Later on in the video, the F-150 is joined by a color compact that we know from the details is a Nissan Laurel. The Raptor is driven by Wang Qi and the Nissan is driven by Jen Chih Feng, both of whom seem to know their way around a slippery course in the town known as China’s Ice City.
River Drifting in China
The video begins with a flyover of the area being used for the event, at which point we can see that a massive portion of this Chinese river has been prepared for the DRS Ice and Snow Drift. There are several small ovals, a few simple circles and some figure-eight tracks, but the Raptor is playing on the huge course that travels along the bank, seemingly circling back around to make a huge loop. There are more of these long, winding tracks on the other side and this place looks like it would be a blast to drive in just about anything.
After we get a look at the course, we spend the next two minutes watching the truck slip and slide around the icy track. The footage is captured from a drone and from a camera inside of the F-150, giving us every angle of the icy fun. Later in the video, the Nissan shows up for some tentative tandem drifting fun.
"Before I was old enough to walk, my dad was taking me to various types of racing events, from local drag racing to the Daytona 500," says Patrick Rall, a lifetime automotive expert, diehard Dodge fan, and respected auto journalist for over 10 years. "He owned a repair shop and had a variety of performance cars when I was young, but by the time I was 16, he was ready to build me my first drag car – a 1983 Dodge Mirada that ran low 12s. I spent 10 years traveling around the country, racing with my dad by my side. While we live in different areas of the country, my dad still drag races at 80 years old in the car that he built when I was 16 while I race other vehicles, including my 2017 Dodge Challenger SRT Hellcat and my 1972 Dodge Demon 340.
"Although I went to college for accounting, my time in my dad’s shop growing up allowed me the knowledge to spend time working as a mechanic before getting my accounting degree, at which point I worked in the office of a dealership group. While I was working in the accounting world, I continued racing and taking pictures of cars at the track. Over time, I began showing off those pictures online and that led to my writing.
"Ten years ago, I left the accounting world to become a full-time automotive writer and I am living proof that if you love what you do, you will never “work” a day in your life," adds Rall, who has clocked in time as an auto mechanic, longtime drag racer and now automotive journalist who contributes to nearly a dozen popular auto websites dedicated to fellow enthusiasts.
"I love covering the automotive industry and everything involved with the job. I was fortunate to turn my love of the automotive world into a hobby that led to an exciting career, with my past of working as a mechanic and as an accountant in the automotive world provides me with a unique perspective of the industry.
"My experience drag racing for more than 20 years coupled with a newfound interest in road racing over the past decade allows me to push performance cars to their limit, while my role as a horse stable manager gives me vast experience towing and hauling with all of the newest trucks on the market today.
