Due to ongoing travel and quarantine restrictions in Norway, today the Drift Masters European Championship (DMEC) must make the sad announcement that the 2021 DMEC season, which was previously scheduled to begin in Norway’s Lillesand Arena at the end of June, will now begin with a double-header event at Austria’s PS Racing Center in Greinbach from July 9th to 11th.

Despite the excitement that DMEC drivers, organisers and fans alike had in bringing DMEC to Norway for the very first time in 2021, the Norwegian government announced their most recent COVID-19 restriction updates recently, which unfortunately for DMEC did not see quarantine and travel restrictions lifted to a level necessary to allow the DMEC parade to safely travel to Norway.

Although everyone in DMEC is gutted to not be able to start the 2021 season in Norway, we completely understand the importance of these COVID-19 health and safety measures and guidelines in protecting the health and safety of the Norwegian citizens and as such, we have made the difficult decision to drop our Norwegian event from the 2021 DMEC calendar, but we will do our utmost to return for our first ever DMEC Scandinavian event in 2022.

Don’t worry though, DMEC fans; it’s not all bad news! Just a mere 2 weeks later, we WILL get our 2021 season underway when we return to 2019’s season opening venue, the PS Racing Center in Greinbach, Austria. Previously scheduled for the third round of the season after a double-header in Norway, our Austrian event will now become our first ever season-opening double-header event, which will run from Friday, July 9th to Sunday, July 11th.

First up on the Friday of the event, our 50+ strong driver grid will take to the circuit for some early practice before things heat up with Round 1 Qualifying action. Saturday will then see more practice for our drivers before Round 1’s Top 32 battle action gets underway. Finally then, Sunday will see Round 2 taking place, with practice and qualifying in the morning and Top 32 battle action in the afternoon. Trust us when we say, the action and atmosphere will be electric.

The best news of all is that spectators will be able to attend our Austrian season-opener and limited tickets are available right now at https://bit.ly/dmecaustria21tix. Ready to once again witness the magic that is the Drift Masters European Championship? Grab your tickets now before it’s too late – They’re selling fast!

So with all of the above now said, it is of course with mixed emotions that we can announce our new DMEC 2021 calendar will be as follows:

Round 1 & 2 – Austria (PS Racing Center) – July 10-11
We now start our 2021 calendar with our first-ever double-header weekend in the fast, technical, and challenging PS Racing Center in Greinbach, Austria. With 2 chances to earn maximum points on this competitive and action-packed season-opening event, drivers will not be holding anything back in the hunt for the DMEC 2021 championship crown. Who will come out on top in Austria and lead the pack heading into our second double-header in Riga? It’s almost time to find out.

Round 3 & 4 – Latvia (Bikernieku Trase Circuit) – July 30-Aug 1
It’s Riga baby! The most infamous drift event in the world returns for 2021 and this time it’s bigger than ever before, because we’ve got another incredible double-header event in store for our adoring DMEC fans. As always, you can expect an extreme full-throttle layout, parades, after-parties and all the mayhem a European drift event should contain. Couple that with this second “double-points weekend” and our DMEC driver grid will be pushing themselves to limits they never thought possible to give themselves that all-important advantage heading into our season finale.

Round 5 – Georgia (Tbilisi City Centre) – September 4-5
What if we told you that the Georgian government suggested shutting down the centre of Tbilisi city and turning the public streets into a custom DMEC drift circuit for one weekend only? It may sound like fantasy, but the most ambitious drift event on earth has now become a reality. The DMEC 2021 season finale will be the wildest drift event ever attempted. A champion will be crowned on the streets of Georgia!

Although this latest announcement really is the last one we wanted to make today, and we understand the frustrations that this may bring about for our DMEC team, drivers and fans, we must do our all to continue the fight against COVID-19 and ensure DMEC 2021 is a safe environment for all to enjoy. That said, we are now extremely confident that the plans we have in place for this new-look DMEC 2021 calendar are all secured and backed by public health guidelines in Austria, Latvia and Georgia and we cannot wait to get things underway in just over a month’s time.

We would once again like to thank our partners, drivers, fans and extended DMEC team and family for their unwavering support this year as we do our all to work with local promoters, governing bodies and even governments to get our DMEC 2021 calendar off the ground. We are delighted to be able to say that we WILL be back for more crazy DMEC action this July and we cannot wait to share this with the World LIVE on Red Bull TV with plenty of brand-new digital additions and enhancements to our broadcast.

Get ready to kick back, relax and enjoy DMEC 2021 either in-person or on Red Bull TV this season as we edge ever closer to DMEC 2021. Keep an eye on the DMEC website and social media channels for more info, news and updates and until then, have a great day and we look forward to welcoming you back to DMEC from Greinbach, Austria this July.