Watch three drift cars take on an abandoned Soviet Missile Base

Published Dec. 9, 2016 1:26 p.m. ET

Samuel Reiman

True, not every drifting video takes place on a skidpad.

However, usually when a drift video is shot on public streets, the roads are nice and smooth.

In other words, an abandoned Soviet Missile Base in Latvia isn’t exactly what you’d expect to see a drift car on.

Yet that didn’t stop the guys at Donut Media from bringing Ryan Tuerck, Matt Powers and Kristaps Bluss to the outskirts of Latvia to kick up some tire smoke... as well as some dirt.

“We didn’t really have much of a plan,” admitted Powers, “We kind of just showed up and picked out what looked cool or what would be best to drift.

“This is definitely a little bit more freestyle because it’s almost just done for fun... you’re on your own schedule so everyone’s open to new ideas and there’s not as much of an end goal as aside to just get cool footage and make a cool video.”

Powers drove a twin turbo V8 Nissan 350Z during the stunt, while Tuerck found himself behind the wheel of an 800-horsepower Supercharged V8 BMW E92 M3, and Bluss a 950-horsepower Supercharged V8 BMW E46 M3.

While all of the cars boasted a lot of power, all three drivers had to be careful while navigating the narrow, bumpy roads around the abandoned Silo.

“All of the roads were really crazy,” explained Powers. “They’re all really narrow and bumpy and so there’s not a lot of room for error and so, throw some cameras in there and maybe like a chase car, and then everything’s super tight, so for me that was the most difficult part.”

Indeed, it appears that not everything went according to plan:

Powers adds that he plans to continue performing in some drift demos in 2017, as well as some one-off competitions and filming stunts as drifting continues to grow across the globe.

“It’s just about having fun,” says Powers. “Too many people try and analyze it in terms of racing and speed and all this stuff, and really it’s just a fun way to drive that’s exciting to watch as well.

“As long as you think about it from that perspective and realize that it does take a lot of skill and the cars are really advanced, but that you can’t look at it from a traditional motorsport viewpoint, then everyone will kind of appreciate it.”