It seems like in early development they didn't plan on putting Amy in the game, But later in development, They were planning on putting a Flicky in the game instead of Amy
Original source:
https://info.sonicretro.org/Sonic_Drift/DevelopmentOriginal image descriptions:
0:00 Sonic's car never does this animation on the title screen in the final.
0:05 Image from a Japanese catalogue. It looks to be a mockup. There are checkered patterns on the side of the road and totem poles are in the place of palm trees. There is also a Flicky instead of Amy. (As I mentioned above)
00:09 The HUD has no info on it. The background is different. The icons on the map are also larger.
00:14 Same differences as the previous image.
00:18 Same track as the last ones but further developed. HUD is a bit diffferent. The background is slightly off center.
00:22 Water texture in the UI.
00:27 Water texture in the UI.
00:31 Scrap Brain background is different.
...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8cYoarYmLsg