RandR·11 September
Red Bull Drift Masters finale in Warsaw adds F1 cars and Mad Mike
The 2026 Drift Masters season concludes this weekend at PGE Narodowy in Warsaw, with the championship decider accompanied by an expanded entertainment programme. Organisers have arranged a multi-faceted event featuring two Formula 1 cars, a high-powered drift machine, paddock access for spectators, and the finale of a build-and-drive project by Kuba Przygońskiego and Natan Czyżewski. The headline attraction will be two Red Bull RB7 cars from the 2011 F1 season, when Sebastian Vettel and Mark Webber combined for 18 pole positions and 12 victories across 19 races. Vettel claimed his second world championship that year, and Red Bull secured their second consecutive constructors' title. On the Warsaw circuit, former F1 driver Christian Klien and long-time Red Bull test driver Patrick Friesacher will pilot the RB7s in a specially prepared show run format. The cars retain their original V8 engines producing approximately 750 horsepower and functional blown diffuser systems. Rather than simple demonstration laps, Klien and Friesacher will compete in a pursuit-style race, starting simultaneously from opposite ends of the circuit and battling for advantage over successive laps. This unusual fusion of Formula 1 machinery and drift series infrastructure will test how the high-downforce cars perform on the tight layout. The programme will also feature a "Donut Show" — a 15-second contest between an F1 car and a drift machine to execute the most spins in place. New Zealand drifter Michael Brandon Whiddett, known as Mad Mike, will bring his Mazda MX-3 Bullet, a machine built for Pikes Peak competition. The car features rear-wheel drive and a twin-turbocharged four-rotor Wankel engine producing around 1,400 horsepower, with the radiator relocated to the boot to accommodate the extreme cooling demands. The Bullet holds the Pikes Peak record for Wankel-engined vehicles and is the fastest Mazda ever to compete there. Whiddett will demonstrate the car's capabilities during track runs and the donut contest. Spectators with appropriate tickets will access the paddock to view both the RB7s and the drift cars up close, alongside partner zones, team merchandise stands, and Red Bull activations on the main promenade. Fans can try sim racing simulators and a Formula 1 pit-stop wheel-change simulator. Saturday will also see the finale of Przygońskiego and Czyżewski's "From Stock Exchange to PGE Narodowy" project, in which a used BMW E46 was purchased, prepared, and driven by Czyżewski under Przygońskiego's tuition throughout the summer. The championship battle itself remains the centrepiece. Five-time Drift Masters champion Piotr Więcek leads the standings with 436 points, holding a 22-point advantage over Paweł Korpuliński, who seeks his first title. Conor Shanahan and James Deane from Ireland remain in contention with 370 and 337 points respectively.