Before leaving for a month long European vacation with girlfriend—and rumored fiancée--Judy Ann Santos, multi-talented actor Ryan Agoncillo talked about his other passions in life like photography, diving, motorcycling, and his most recent hobby, car drifting. "I was always a fan of motor sports. It’s just that I never really went into car racing, which gets a lot more attention than motorcycle racing. When I raced motorcycles and scooters before, it was all the way in Batangas so walang nakakanuod," he says.

It was Ryan’s good friend and current 2008 car drifting champion Alex Perez that got him into the sport late last year. "A lot of my friends were into it. I watched one of Alex’s races last year and it looked really interesting," Ryan shares. The good-looking actor has nothing but admiration and respect for local drifters. "I wish to perform even half as good as they do. Andoon pa lang ako sa level na natututo. So talagang bilib ako sa kanila," he reveals.

The 29-year-old is also quick to dispel notions that car drifting can be dangerous. "I’m actually a very cautious driver on the road. Drifting isn’t as scary as you may think because we do it on the racetrack and not on the streets. It’s a relatively safe sport, as long as you use your head," he explains. Juday, who usually accompanies Ryan on his weekend drifting practices, is often seen grilling food for their team. "She also knows how to drift. In fact, she’s even better than me! Wala lang siyang time," he laughingly admits.

Ryan says that the sport is not without its sacrifices. "It can be expensive. There’s a lot of initial investment. But the sport is as expensive as you make it. Kung maalaga ka mag-drive, the more practice you get, the better you are, the less chances of wrecking the car," he says matter-of-factly.

Because of his experience racing motorcycles and scooters in the past, Ryan says it wasn’t hard to take on the bigger challenge of taking on cars. "Car drifting is a skill. Hindi lang siya palakasan ng makina o pagandahan ng kotse. It’s really a skill. That’s what attracted me to it. Kasi with other motor sports, malaki yung pini-play ng role ng magandang set-up ng engine. A powerful engine means a fast car. I have nothing against that. That’s how they get their rush. Ang sa akin, the rush I get here is the challenge of actually controlling the car at its limit," he confides.

This new sport also has its benefits when it comes to Ryan’s showbiz career. "I’ve been working out four times a week. Especially now that I’m getting ready for a new role. It’s going to be really physically demanding. So it helps that my hobbies are also physically demanding. I’m used to expending a lot of energy and really pushing my body to the limit," he concludes.