Sorin Ene, national drift champion and founder of Romania’s first drift school, shares insights on performance, discipline and turning a passion for motorsport into an educational project with real impact. An interview about courage, control and building your own path in an extreme sport.
Sorin Ene is a professional drift driver with a career spanning over 22 years in the field and the founder of the first drift school, which he established 15 years ago. From an early age, he was drawn to everything related to the automotive world—cars, parts, and everything surrounding the automotive field—also influenced by his father, who owned quite a large number of cars, though he was not involved in motorsport, but simply drove these cars and enjoyed them on public roads.
His passion for motorsport began at the age of 18–19, with his first car, during a time when night street racing was rapidly expanding, Sorin being a prominent figure of this phenomenon for a considerable period. However, after some time, this night racing phenomenon was legally classified as a criminal offense, and he no longer wished to follow that path. This major shift in his passion for motorsport somehow pushed and compelled him to strongly desire to enter the legal framework. That is why Sorin obtained his racing driver’s license—this marking the beginning of his professional career.
His drift school, founded 15 years ago, has generated over 50–60% of the drivers currently active in the National Drift Championship and in other international championships, drivers with very good results, champions and vice-champions.
Having been active in this field for a very long time, he has accumulated an extraordinary body of technical and mechanical knowledge, discovering the role of every component that makes up a car. By pushing more and more cars at a professional circuit level, he began to understand how a car must be operated in competition conditions. Of course, this also includes each driver’s driving style in order to maintain the car in competition in the best possible condition, this being one of the secrets of motorsport—knowing how to preserve your car. It is every driver’s strategy to keep the car in the best possible technical condition so that they can always line up at the start with a clear and focused mind, in such a way that they can control their emotions.
C&B: How did your journey in drifting begin and what determined you to turn your passion into a career?
Sorin Ene: My journey in the world of motorsport, namely in controlled sliding—drifting—began at an amateur level, so to speak. Specifically, within demonstration events. At that time, we did not have a drift championship, there were not many drift drivers, there were only these sections within car events/exhibitions. The organizer allocated a period of time during the expo events—a session called a skill session—and every participant who wished to register for this demonstration was welcome. I only owned rear-wheel-drive cars, and at that time the car that made history in motorsport was the BMW E30, or as it is also known, the “little bear,” a fairly well-prepared car with a limited-slip differential and a suspension adapted at that time for such activity. I mastered the car more and more—there were simple donuts, there was that burnout maneuver (staying in place while generating a lot of smoke from the rear tires), and gradually, with each participation in such events, I began to control the car better and better, I wanted to evolve, I began to evolve in a controlled way and to take the car where I wanted it to go, and slowly I discovered the secret of drifting. Twenty-something years ago, there was no online environment, there were no sources of information, we had no examples, we could not inform ourselves, and I was somewhat self-taught in the sense that almost all the knowledge I acquired was self-taught. Gradually, I began to upgrade my cars, to make them more powerful, I felt the need to develop and that was the first step, in my opinion, and one of the most important ones.
Regarding my career, at that time I did not think that I would build a career in motorsport, in drifting, I was enjoying the moment, I was enjoying every instant, every event that I won and I was not thinking about what would follow, and this is also a recommendation from my own experience for those who are attracted to different fields, not necessarily motorsport, to live in the moment, to enjoy the beautiful moments created by their passion and to live those moments, to enjoy them because they are the result of their work, their dedication, it is a fulfillment of the moment and gradually, with each event, with each evolution, that is how any person’s career begins, especially in motorsport.
So for me things came somehow gradually. Now I realize that with each year, with each event and each experience that I had within motorsport events at the level of 20-something years ago, it was a step that I was climbing slowly and very, very steadily, in such a way that I developed a career that I wish to continue and strengthen more and more from now on.
C&B: What was the most difficult moment so far in your journey and how did you overcome it?
Sorin Ene: In my career there have been many difficult moments and I want to tell you that every person encounters in their career, of any nature, less pleasant moments or crossroads and they have their role, of course, and if you have the right person by your side, as I have had, I have and I hope I will continue to have, my wife, who was the person who motivated me and lifted me whenever I fell morally and emotionally and motivated me to be able to continue. So if you can overcome these critical moments in your career you will become stronger and stronger.
I am thinking but I cannot recall right now a very difficult moment. In the life of any motorsport driver, the most difficult and hardest moments to manage and the most frustrating ones are the moments when the competition material, meaning the car, breaks down, technical problems appear. Because your goal in a race is to participate and of course in every participant’s mind is winning the competition. This thought is so powerful and every driver wants to win so much that things happen that do not depend on him, that he cannot manage, and these moments are when technical failures appear, when the car breaks down perhaps beyond repair or requires a long period of time during the competition to fix it.
But if I think carefully, the hardest moments for me were not strictly related to my own performance in competitions, but to my daughter’s evolution, from the sidelines, at the moment when she suffered her first accident at a professional level, as a parent I would not wish this on anyone, even if for many it seems normal at a professional level to encounter such things, such failures. Fortunately, all these events ended well, without injuries, only material damage—these cars being very safe.
C&B: Is there a dream or an ambition that has always guided you, regardless of obstacles?
Sorin Ene: I have thoughts that later turn into a target, into a goal, and whenever I have set my mind and thought not in the short term, nor in the medium term, but in the long term, it has come true. Because along with maturity and the level of maturity that I gain more and more, I have learned that I must have patience because through patience this time of meticulous preparation is defined, of gaining as much experience as possible so that the results will come. However, these things do not happen overnight, nor from one week to another, but from one year to another, year after year and so on. And those who perform in motorsport and not only must learn to have patience, to be involved, dedicated and to give their best, to know how to manage moments of frustration and worry and to be able to move forward.
The dream that has guided me is the one I am living right now, namely that I can continue to express myself through an activity that brings me extraordinary pleasure and energizes me every single day that I live in this life that I have. Because by doing in life what you love, every day is a dream come true for you.
C&B: If we met your team or your collaborators, what do you think they would say about you?
Sorin Ene: A very good question, which has not been asked to me until now and I would like to answer as sincerely as possible. In life you cannot please all the people you interact with and precisely for that reason you cannot be friends with everyone and you cannot have everyone close around you. People are different, but I have gone through many less pleasant experiences and now I somehow know how to select people and to realize from the first moments of interaction that we will not have a common path because it is about how each person sees things. Some have one vision, others another vision, and in an elegant and beautiful way I let them understand that maybe I am not the right person for what they want to do. Now it is not hard for me to say what others think about me, indeed I did not have an extraordinarily good relationship with all people. Some perceived me in one way, others in another, and here it is about interaction and I would like to expand a little on this subject because it is very interesting and I am glad I have the opportunity to debate it now, the same being true in other fields as well.
I will give you an example: in a company not all employees get along well with each other or with their superiors and at some point one must give in to the other. And when the relationship becomes toxic, when there are misunderstandings, there is no point in continuing that relationship because it only harms both parties.
In my entire career and in all my interactions with all the people around me, I have had only two people so far with whom I did not get along, but the relationship ended in a civilized and beautiful way, each of us went our own way, but these two people represent, percentage-wise, I believe about 0.5% of those I have interacted with so far, meaning a small part. Because I want to be as transparent as possible, I want and hope to manage to be as fair as possible to everyone, maybe I do not always succeed, people may not perceive me as they thought I was, but they can perceive me as they wish and I have no problem with that. I want to be communicative, direct, transparent and to set things straight from the beginning and to discuss them in such a way that we do not have problems along the way. It has also happened in other cases, along the way, for discussions to arise, as I have had, and this is absolutely normal within competitions because there the mental factor is extremely demanded and when unpleasant moments occur clearly people begin to look for those to blame, but all these things were ultimately resolved and our professional relationships continued.
C&B: What is the most important decision you have made that changed your trajectory?
Sorin Ene: I honestly tell you that there was no single most important decision I have ever made because my entire career, as I believe also other successful careers of people who perform in motorsport and in other fields, is the sum of decisions. You make decisions every day, every moment.
I remember a decision I made at a drift stage on Transrarău when I destroyed a car that I was very fond of (Nissan 14) by hitting a metal guardrail. I remember that when I got out of the car I made the decision not to continue, to quit drifting, so it was a moment of decision. But the colleagues who helped me push the car to the paddock, which lasted 4–5 minutes, told me: “Come on, Sorin, let’s talk in an hour, think about it again.” And indeed, that was the case—an hour later I repaired the car and returned to the track.
So I did not have decisions that changed my trajectory because there was no need to make such decisions, as I did not reach points where I had to decide that tomorrow I must take that decision. The hardest moments a driver or any high performer can face are the lack of partners and sponsors because in performance if you do not have the support of strong, very serious companies that support you financially and even morally, it is very difficult to overcome sensitive moments in your career.
So decisions are at every step and I always make decisions both on the technical assistance side, I discuss and consult with my teammates, my mechanics, my drivers who are part of the team. I have never made a decision without communicating among ourselves, every opinion is welcome because the sum of opinions, at some point, is the best one.
C&B: How did you build your leadership style or the way you make decisions? Was it a natural or learned process?
Sorin Ene: The leadership style, from my point of view, adapts to the personality and DNA of each person who does such a thing. For me it came from my experience of over 14–15 years of interacting directly with all the people who crossed the threshold of my drift school. Direct communication with each person, direct contact, life experiences I went through, the fact that through my passion I met many people over time, many social categories, different temperaments, different characters. At the beginning I did not know and I would always become like the others when there were less pleasant moments for me, I would respond in the same way—I was verbally aggressive. In other words, I was adding fuel to the fire, but gradually this came naturally—to experiment, I learned how to speak to people, I learned how I must be with people, with each person individually. But an equally important remark I would like to make is that beyond your way of being and the education that underlies everything you have developed in this life, your life school, your interactions during your period of getting to know people, the pedagogical side is extremely important. I inherited this from my mother, who is a former teacher, and I thank God that He also placed this quality in my DNA and that along with life experience I began to be quiet, to listen to people, not to speak over those I interact with. I am anyway a fiery person by nature, someone who talks a lot, who likes to express himself, I learned that I am not always right, that the truth is somewhere in the middle, I began to listen more and more, with people with whom I relate more difficultly I learned to bring them to a common denominator.
So I believe that this leadership style depends on each person, on their professional training, how self-controlled they are, how they know to speak, how they know to transmit the message, but most importantly on the education each person has.
C&B: What did the national champion title mean to you and how did it influence your evolution as a professional driver?
Sorin Ene: The national champion title is a dream of every driver because we put in all the effort, besides the financial efforts which have been quite high in the last 10 years here in Romania due to the fact that the level of motorsport, not only drifting, has grown extraordinarily, it demands a lot from the driver and the less pleasant moments of the driver are those when he knows that the budget gradually decreases as you advance through the stages and you do not have results. It is, from my point of view, the supreme fulfillment for any driver in the world and any person who performs to have the highest distinction—champion.
But besides the national champion title, I have also obtained a European Vice-Champion title in a strong championship called Drift Kings (formerly King of Europe). It is a championship that has been held for over 20 years in Europe, where drivers from over 10–15 European countries take part and it is organized year after year in more and more European countries.
I want to tell you that I am at peace from this point of view because I received in return for my efforts and for what I offered the supreme satisfaction: a national champion title and a European vice-champion title, and for that I thank my partners, my family, my wife who supported me very much in the difficult moments which are more numerous than the pleasant ones in a driver’s life.
C&B: What does a typical day look like for you now and which moments of the day bring you the greatest satisfaction?
Sorin Ene: No matter how gloomy the day is—whether it is rainy, foggy, freezing—for me it is a spring day. Spring, from my preferences, is my favorite season because nature comes back to life, temperatures rise, May and June are the most beautiful months, trees turn green and along with that we as people on Earth are more motivated and have a different state of mind.
A normal day in my life begins with waking up in the morning, I thank God that I woke up healthy, I leave home, I stop at my favorite gas station, I enjoy my coffee there along with a small breakfast. After that, depending on the issues left from the previous day, I plan my schedule. If I have not finished everything from the previous day, I continue with what I have to do that day. And our main activity, of us drivers, in the off-season is of course the thorough technical revision of our cars, the cars are dismantled piece by piece, component by component, they are revised, reassembled and then follows the testing period. We also have during this period the annual meeting with our partners, with company representatives and our sponsors, we set up the strategy and budgets for the new competitive year. That is how a day unfolds in my schedule.
And the greatest satisfaction I have is in the evening when I return home, to my girls, to my wife, we talk about what we did during the day. We are very cheerful, very happy every time, in our house there is no lack of communication, we always talk when we see each other at home and we turn any discussion into a pleasant moment.
C&B: What values or principles guide you in what you do and how do you apply them daily?
Sorin Ene: Here I would like to expand more because the answer to this question is based on the solid and quality foundation regarding the desire to develop something in a career, in any field. You see that I like to generalize because not only in motorsport it is very difficult, but also in other fields where, from my point of view, the principles are common, they somehow have a common denominator. And here naturally came the period when you think and you want to be as correct as possible, to respect certain principles, certain values. But these values, exactly as I said earlier, come from education, from the education you received from your parents because you must know these values, they must be defined for you, explained what values in life mean to which you must relate. Usually people who do not respect values look for the same shortcut to succeed faster and in most situations they fail in their career or activity. Indeed, the road is harder when you want to respect the true values of society, you are correct, transparent, you want to do things with maximum seriousness where in the medium and long term it takes time but the result is the expected one, and many no longer have the patience to wait, to relate to these values that require a period of waiting and they look for the shortest path, not respecting the values. And it is not good at all because exactly as I said earlier it is a total failure.
As for my values, besides those instilled in me by my parents, growing up in the Teleorman area (Gratia commune) and being raised by my grandparents I heard all these old proverbs and sayings of ours which are extremely important. I transformed them in my life into life rules, such as “A lie has short legs”; “The jug does not go twice to the well”; “A good day is known from the morning”—along with my level of maturity and life experience—and I want to tell you that it is very, very good and that people treat you seriously and appreciate you very much as long as you also have values and know how to respect them, applying healthy rules of coexistence.
C&B: What are your objectives for the next period, both as a driver and as a trainer?
Sorin Ene: Going forward, my objectives as a driver clearly aim as high as possible toward another vice-champion or national champion title, however for 5–6 years now, since I have been managing the team that I formed, it has become more and more difficult. Because a healthy team, a team that should have good results, without good and healthy management, without a strategy cannot have results and if someone does not take care of this aspect the results are not exactly the expected and good ones.
And as a trainer I want to tell you that I feel more fulfilled when the drivers in my team, my students, have good results compared to me because these results at the stage of my career I am now in as a driver, but especially as a trainer, bring me extraordinary emotional and spiritual satisfaction hard to describe in words, especially in those moments when my students obtain good results and rank on the podium and I want to tell you that not rarely have I cried in those moments, something that only I know.
C&B: What message would you send to young people who want to become professional drivers but do not know where to start?
Sorin Ene: The message I would like to send to young people who want to become drivers and build a professional career out of this is that it has never been easier to start developing and it has never been faster to obtain better results. As I said in my previous answers, everything does not happen overnight but I would like to make a comparison: if I had to be involved and dedicated for 10–12 years in order to win a national champion title, now it is much easier to do this because in the period when I started developing there were no sources of information, there were no driving schools, there was no one I could pay to teach me, to have a trainer who knew how to work with me and so on. But now, for several years, there are driving schools for all branches of motorsport disciplines in Romania, good and very good trainers whose services you can access within their driving schools and of course with dedicated time where you treat things with maximum seriousness you can obtain results, compared to our period, in a shorter time. But this cannot happen overnight but over years and years because your colleagues are also preparing, the level increases year by year, cars are becoming more and more competitive and you must prepare yourself to have patience. Because as long as you are serious, involved, devoted to your activity, the results will not delay in appearing.
And where to start for those who want to: as I always recommend to them, many have the impression that if they watched YouTube, if they saw, if they attended an event and from the outside everything seems very simple, things are not easy at all. Drifting, as a driving technique, is the most difficult technique among all motorsports and I say this arguing by the fact that everything happens so fast and the driver must do so many things in a very short period of time compared to other motorsport disciplines where for the most part you have your hands on the steering wheel, except when shifting gears, whereas in controlled sliding you must also pull the handbrake, release the steering wheel, steer, counter-steer, brake with the left foot, accelerate and on top of that the basic principle of this activity, namely the oversteering character of the car, is an activity, a behavior of the car that not many can understand and apply very, very easily. It takes work, training and a lot of ambition.
Beyond titles and competitions, Sorin Ene’s journey is about consistency, accountability and the ambition to grow a spectacular sport through education and training.
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