actually, by it's very nature, drifting involves a loss of traction, so less lateral stress on the beads. Obviously it's a matter of relative degree - the further you stretch them, the more dangerous it gets. Relatively speaking, and I don't want to get into a huge physics post, but relative to circuit racers, the front tyres don't have to do nearly as much laterally.. Yes drifters are getting decent lateral speeds happening, but the angle of attack (for want of a better term) and experienced slip angles of the fronts are actually relatively low stress to the tyres. I'm trying to put this in terms of the forces involved, it is _not_ in any way a sly snipe at drifting. I'm not trying to be a smart alec by saying the cornering forces aren't as high, and in no way is it any marker of driving skill, it's just the nature of the way the car is (of necessity) put around a circuit for each totally different competition scenario.

If you put 5 bullets into a revolver and place the gun to your head and pull the trigger and it doesn't fire, is the proof it's safe to keep doing so?? It's about the same thing really. There's a reason tyre manufacturers nominate the acceptable wheel widths for any given tyre.

I'm curious - have any tyre manufacturers stepped up and developed a tyre specifically for drift competition? I'm thinking something with more sidewall rigidity (for a consistent footprint/behaviour when traction limits are exceeded, whereas a circuit racer wan'ts something a little softer, to allow weight transfer to maximise downforce and by extension lateral grip) and possibly tread too (which would probably actually mean the use of slicks as any 'tread' ultimately means 'blocks' of tread, which get torn up and produce an inconsistent footprint when hit hard - i.e. burnouts or drifting.). Any tyre makers actually gotten on board? There'd have to be some profit in it, drifting is hardly a fringe activity, it's got considerable popularity/participation.