Ken Block burns a lot of rubber at Carnival City

A large crowd, serious spectacle and a sense of deja vu typified Saturday’s international Gymkhana Grid events at Carnival City on the East Rand.

As was the case last year, the event’s respective overall victory and second place went to world rallycross aces Johan Kristoffersson, from Sweden, and Petter Solberg, from Norway, in their works Volkswagen Polo entries.

They also dominated the allwheel drive category, finishing ahead of Swedish youngster Oli Solberg (Citroen Xsara) plus Brits Jonathan Buck and Wayne Hay in their Subaru Impreza WRX entries.

Japanese drifting champion Daigo Saito took his 600kW Chevrolet Corvette to overall victory in the rear-wheel drive class, beating South African driver Jason Webb (Ford Moonstang) in the category’s final run of the evening.

Drifting expert Webb adapted brilliantly to gymkhana competition in his 600kW car to become the most successful South African driver of the event.

Former Grid world champion Luke Woodham, from the UK (Nissan 200SX Turbo), took third place from fellow Brit Steve Biagioni (Nissan S13 Turbo) and Russian Dmitri Sribnyj (Subaru WRX).

With a special class set aside to promote sheer spectacle, American YouTube maestro Ken Block got the nod from the crowd with his twin turbocharged, eight-litre Ford Mustang Hoonicorn V2, which blasted around the course, smoking all four wheels and spitting flames.

He was closely followed by Saito, who put old tyres on the rear of his Corvette and wheelspun all around the circuit.

The on-track stuff apart, there were dozens of street rods and car club exhibits on show to keep the crowd happy throughout the day.

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