Watch out Poland here comes South Africa’s Viking!

Known as Eric the Viking, due to his fearsome character on the race course and his notorious motoring reputation, the 51-year-old is a powerhouse behind the wheel of his Nissan S14, housing a Toyota 2JZ-GTE 3.0-litre, six-cylinder engine, mated to a M3 five-speed gearbox that puts power through the rear wheels.

Speaking about his introduction to drifting Eric explains, “I had the opportunity to go watch a friend compete in drifting and I fell in love while watching the sport. I told myself I have to do this and, ever since then,  I’ve been hooked on motoring.”

Eric is a regular participant in the South African SupaDrift series where he is known for his good times.  In 2017, when SupaDrift  organised the Gymkhana GRID world finals in Johannesburg, Eric was one of 16 South Africans who qualified and tried their hand at this series for the first time.

In 2018 the Gymkhana GRID final was back in South Africa, this time in Cape Town, and Eric was one of eight to represent South Africa. He came up against some of the top international gymkhana drivers during this event.

This year, Eric qualified in Vereeniging  to compete in the Gymkhana GRID final for 2019 in Warsaw, Poland, after recording official times of 49,57 seconds on the right-hand track and 51,25 seconds on  the left-hand course. He will be representing South Africa with Carl van As  from Johannesburg.

Gymkhana GRID is a racing format that challenges drivers to get through obstacle courses within a certain time with the fewest mistakes. The course or track is laid out with obstacles ranging from cones, tyres and barrels. It consists of a starting point, obstacles to get through, around, or past including doing 180 and 360 degree turns, figure eights and even parking/drifting boxes as well as a finishing point.

Drivers require strong mental concentration as they need to memorise the course and often have to repeat or navigate the track in the opposite direction. Some of the driving skills and techniques required to get through the courses include handbrake turns, drifting, sliding and left-foot-braking.

Gymkhana participants are allowed two runs of the track, with the fastest time being used to determine the winner of a class. Time penalties are issued for hitting obstacles, and a failure to navigate the course correctly results in no time score.

The excited drifter says that because there are no specific Gymkhana GRID events throughout the year in South Africa, he takes part in as many drifting competitions as he can and also gets to improve his driving and drifting skills at Dezzy Raceway in Port Shepstone on a monthly basis.

The confident racer is passionate about his Nissan drift car which he has had shipped over to Poland. “I can’t wait to see her and test her on international soil. This car is my baby and an extension of my arm, plus I know she’s very sexy.” Mechanic,  Johan Weideman, and “The Oom Johan Minaar”, Eric stresses, have prepped his  vehicle to international spec and Johan will be accompanying Eric to Poland.

The Viking racer said he hopes to make his country proud and is thankful for the sacrifices his family has made to help him get to this point.

Follow Eric on: www.erictheviking.co.za
www.facebook.com/ericthevikingsa/