Top class drifting action
Over 2 000 petrol heads were treated to two days of world class competitive drifting as 25 professional drivers competed for the top spot and the championship title.
Southern Africa’s top drifters descended on Carnival City for a high horse power, tyre-smoking weekend like no other.
The final round of SupaDrift (Motorsport South Africa’s national drift series) was one for the books.
Over 2 000 petrol heads were treated to two days of world class competitive drifting as 25 professional drivers competed for the top spot and the championship title.
Drivers coming from as far as Cape Town and Mozambique fired up their fully customised, high-powered drift machines on Friday morning for the official practice.
Drivers had until Saturday morning to perfect the track before having to put down qualification runs in front of the judges to make it to the top 16 and final tandem eliminations.
The lunchtime break saw something a little different with the addition of the Drum Dash, a time trial autocross race around a custom course.
Local drivers had the opportunity to qualify for the illustrious Gymkhana GRiD event, happening at Carnival City on November 18 and 19.
Gymkhana GRiD is a spectacular event with driving megastar Ken Block.
Twenty-two international drivers will take on the locals to see who rules the GRiD.
SupaDrift competitors JP van der Spuy and Riaan Stokes, driving for Dragon Energy, each qualified with golden tickets as well as Mathys Naude, and Stuart Gregory.
Clare Vale, the only woman competitor, happened to pick up a wildcard place in her campaign to topple the boys.
The weekend’s racing continued after lunch, where drivers went into qualifying rounds to see who would be the best and be top of the ladder going into tandem battles.
Jim McFarlane, a local driver, in his Achilles Tyres 350Z Nissan, pulled out the stops to become the top contender for the day followed closely by Eric ‘The Viking’ van Eyssen.
Drivers impressed with new-found skills and an unrelenting pushy driving style like DeWit Oosthuizen, a young gun from Pretoria.
He made a name for himself and certainly brought his talent to the table, despite losing narrowly to Morne Venter in the top 16.
Mikey Skelton, driving his 350Z Rockford Fosgate machine, beat Jason Webb, who was struggling in his ‘Monstang’ which seemed to bear some gremlins and subsequent clutch problems.
Van Eyssen took charge against a fired up Stuart Gregory who forced the OMT (One More Time) and whose efforts have been earmarked as an up and comer for the 2018 season.
Similarly, Riaan Stokes (driving for Dragon Energy S13 Nissan) beat Carl Werner from the Western Cape.
Gavin Puren took on Armand Bronkhorst and even under the brave attempt of Bronkhorst, Puren came out tops.
Gouveia fought hard against Vic Pardal, who drifted wide in the battle on the last corner and who was passed by Gouveia, taking the judges to the replay, and eventually affording the Natalian the win.
Mathys Naude, back in drift action, eliminated Joey Govender from KwaZulu-Natal.
The top eights stage flew by and all drivers impressed.
McFarlane was definitely on top of his game and handed his second round opponent Venter a clean sweep.
Gouveia had to go OMT against Skelton, but came out tops and moved into the semi-finals, as did Puren and van Eyssen.
A semi-final run between Gouveia and McFarlane to decide the championship saw a contentious protest come from Gouveia, but, after significant reviews of the battle, judges deemed McFarlane the winner.
Puren and van Eyssen competed hard in the battle against one another in the top four, which could have gone either way.
Van Eyssen was eventually eliminated by Puren and set up the finals and third/fourth place run off.
Van Eyssen and Gouveia’s third/fourth battle was tight, but saw the on-form Gouveia step onto the podium in third place.
The final battle between Puren and McFarlane went off ablaze, but Puren left a gap on the chase, which saw McFarlane take a clean sweep for the day’s racing.
McFarlane said: “Thank you to my sponsors and all the other drivers.
“I had to throw down some rubber and work for it.
“The level of driving this weekend was up a notch again and makes the win feel that extra bit special.”
Also read: Ken Block coming to Carnival
WATCH: Drifting jackpot at Carnival
Incredible drifting talent at The Rock
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