Drifting champ gets to race against the world’s number one gymkhana champion

When Eric (The Viking) Van Eyssen qualified to win a ticket to represent South Africa at the 2019 Ken Block Gymkhana Grid in Warsaw, Poland, he knew his prize included his vehicle being shipped to Poland and back, free flight tickets, and accommodation for him and one other. What he never knew though, was how this experience would be filled with extreme highs and some very anxious lows.

After making the cut in Vereening in May this year to go to Poland, Eric, with the dedication and commitment of his friends and pit crew, Johan Weideman and Oom Johan Minnaar, started to rebuild his Nissan S14 drift car at his home in Waterfall to get her ready for this international event, where Eric would be taking part in the rear-wheel drive (RWD) category.

“We were given a date and time to have the car ready by as it needed to be delivered to the shipping agents in Johannesburg. Suspension parts we had ordered only arrived the evening before the car needed to go to Johannesburg, I asked the cartage company if they could load our vehicle last to give us a few extra hours to finish her before having to be in Johannesburg the next day at 10.30am,” said Eric.

The last bolt was barely screwed into place when Dave Underwood, from Sharpline Graphics, arrived at 4.15am to tow the race car up to Johannesburg for Eric. The tired team had an hour’s rest before flying up to assist with loading the car into the container. After a five hour wait the container eventually arrived and the car could be loaded and locked down. Three days later the container arrived at Durban Harbour and was loaded onto the vessel, ER Tokyo.

“Technology is awesome and it was quite amazing to be able to track the container on the ship. But seeing the ship sitting just outside Umhlanga for four weeks, apparently due to port strikes, was very frustrating and worrying.”

Eric was also facing the challenge of getting the tyres he wanted after his tyre sponsor had not ordered his. He then had to settle and pay up front for the next best tyres he could find, and hope that these tyres would actually be delivered to the contact address in Warsaw.

Off to Poland

Finally, after all the paperwork was in order, Eric and his two crew members, Johan and Oom Johan, were off to Poland. “Picture, three XXL size guys squashed into a tin can next to each other on the plane. We couldn’t even eat because when we swallowed, the food would not pass through our bodies,” laughs Eric.

Upon arriving in Warsaw, figuring out airport and road sings in Polska (Polish) and adapting their driving skills to the “wrong side” of the road, the trio eventually got to the track to register for the big event.

“We found our pit area but as we were still waiting for our container to arrive, we were not able to set anything up yet. We also  had the worry of our tyres arriving as well as  receiving lubricants for the car as all of ours were prohibited to go into the shipping container. And, there was the “small” problem of trying to find race fuel after our local supplier had left  us dry.”

Eric says Motul South Africa was excellent, as their representative Stéphanie de Bruin, organised for Motul Poland to courier lubrication equipment to the team’s  hotel. The Polish Motul rep then also put Eric in touch with further Polish contacts to try organise race fuel. After making numerous phone calls, finally a call came through, close to midnight, to say that the fuel he required was available for 160 Euros.

“What option did I have? I asked the caller where do I collect and who do I pay, and the response was,  ‘Good,  I’ll get my guys to deliver by tomorrow morning.’  I asked where the fuel would be coming from and the answer was ‘Czechoslovakia.’ Wow, I said, that’s like 500 to 600km away and the response was,  ‘What’s the problem.’ I could not believe the comradeship and level of willingness to help.”

The next day the team spent a lot of time trying to organise the 160 Euros as it was not as simple as just withdrawing it from any ATM. When Eric returned to the track he had missed the track walk. His “two bullies” as he refers to his pit crew,  started frantically unpacking the container which had finally arrived at the track late that afternoon. The team had a mammoth task to get the car free without ramps and ended up using the wooden planks, that were the stability chocks in the container, for ramps.

While the “bullies” were offloading the container, Eric was given permission to do a track walk with one of the marshals, but half way through, he got a call to say that his welder, braai and tyres were being delivered at the gate so he was unable to complete the walk.

At around 6pm the car and mobile workshop were finally free from the container and the team was given permission to work late in their pit. They were able to get most of the setup done on the car, except for the wheel alignment for which they had no equipment for.

Qualifying day arrives, tyres still have to be fitted and there is no certainty about  the race fuel mixture received from “the mafia” as Eric laughingly refers to it. If the mixture was too lean, meaning too much ethanol, they risked the chance of damaging the engine.

Time to improvise

“So Oom Johan, like the professor he is, suggests we run the engine with the current fuel in the tank (which came from South Africa) at a constant 3,000rpm on the computer and we can log what the airflow mixture readings are, then drain and replace with the new fuel and repeat the process. Great we thought, but when the computer would not link to the car, our hearts nearly stopped. We eventually managed to use my phone as a hot spot to do a software update. It tuned out that we had almost 100 percent ethanol which would have spelt total disaster for the engine.”

Next up was the drivers’ briefing and when Eric returned to the pit he said he could not believe how the “bullies” were practically breaking every safety rule in the book with their “caveman, backyard-style fuel-blending plant”. With the use of an empty 1-litre and 500ml water bottle, they were able to premix the fuel to get the right ratio,  and like Eric says, “What else could they do.”

As everyone was going out on their first practice runs, the team had to sit tight as the tyre changing crew had not arrived. “The marshals kept asking when I was going to go out as practice time was running out, and all I could do was smile and say, no tyres buddy.”

When the tyre changing crew finally arrived, the other drivers  ensured Eric’s tyres got changed first. Questions like whether the fuel would be ok and how would the car handle without wheel alignment were going through Eric’s mind as he was the last driver to head towards the track for the first practice run.  In Gymkhana Grid there are two tracks, a left and a right, and after each run the competitors’ immediately swap over to the opposite side and go again.

“After my first practice I was so disappointed. I discovered I suffered from severe dementia as I forgot the layout on both sides of track and obtained a Did Not Finish (DNF). My launch was like I was on ice, as I had no traction, and the result was devastating to me. But, I reminded myself that it was only practice and I still had a chance to pull a rabbit out of the hat.”

While still thinking he had time to compile and reflect on what needed to be done, Eric had no sooner arrived back in his pit when he was summoned to line-up as the second practice run was starting. The crew quickly made tyre pressure changes and checked why the engine temperature was running high, resulting in backfiring and retarding. According to Eric, the brain of the engine, the Electronic Control Unit (ECU), makes automatic changes under extreme conditions and Oom Johan had to literally do some magical computer changes to retune the engine on the side of the track.

“The second practice run was better, the launch was still bad, but at least I got a better grasp of the tacks. We made some more tyre pressure changes and decided to stay on the slightly worn tyres and keep the new tyres for qualifying. We also decided to change the diff to slow my rear-wheel speed down and hopefully give me more traction on launch.

“The time arrived and practice number three was upon us. This was going to be our deciding run to see whether the changes we made would help. Both runs felt  good in the sense of the track layout, engine temperatures and backfiring. The only issues were the slightly worn tyres giving a washout feeling around the obstacles, and our launch was still bad.” But, said Eric, they felt comfortable with their times and results and knew that the new tyres and diff, with higher ratios, would be good for the qualifying runs later in the day.

As the first seeding session for qualifying runs approached, Eric said you could immediately feel the difference in the atmosphere as everyone became more serious, while making last minute changes – some he said, were even replacing broken parts in an effort to get their cars ready for the next runs.

“It was at this exact stage that I was so very grateful that we had stripped my car right down and rebuilt her, because all we had to do was fine tune and make minor adjustments. The golden rule of build your car in the workshop and maintain it at the track ,was a huge reflection on Johan Weideman and Oom Johan Minnaar, to whom I am very grateful towards for their commitment, effort and abilities during our many late night workings.”

The dreaded ‘clunk’

The Viking’s was up for his first attempt at qualifying and although he was not “over the moon” about his time it was solid enough to place him 11^th out of the 35 drivers. From practice to first qualifying session, Eric and his team had dropped  his times from 1:44 and 1:45 down to 1:41.139 and 1:39.371.

But, straight after the first qualifying run, as he was entering his pit he heard a “clunk”. On closer inspection they discovered that he diff  was about to destroy itself, and with only 15 minutes at hand the “bullies” had to reinstall another one which would mean a different ratio. Again he was left with nagging thoughts and questions but said he had to deal with the cards that he was dealt and was not about to give up.

Time for the second qualifying run and Eric was up against Mantas Sligeris, from Lithuania, in his modified supercharged Mazda MX5. Although Gymkhana Grid is not a race, faster times do give you better placings on the qualifying scoreboard.

“The Mazda pulled me on launch and was gone while I felt like I was taking part in ‘The Princess on Ice’ show. My rear-end didn’t make traction and I found myself feathering the throttle to minimise wheel spin. As I changed from second to third gear I squeezed the throttle more and more until midway through when everything came alive. I had so much traction it was just an amazing feeling. The only issue was that I was now starting to run into the declaration zone. My front wheels were also locking up when I had to brake hard to engage the curve around the wall of barrels, but somehow I made up a lot of lost time from my bad start.”

Eric said he got through the rest of track layout, with its tight manoeuvres around obstacles, quite well. “We had two straights where I could full throttle to make up time and I manged to catch up to Mantas. As we entered our final obstacle I had gained more ground and excited the track before him. I was extremely chuffed with that run, although I had wished that I could have had a better launch.”

Making it through to Race Day

Eric’s start on the right-side of the track was the same as he experienced on the left track, except for one major issue. “As I came around the wall of barrels I got confused as to which direction to take.  I slowed down to try and regain my focus and direction because if I’d stopped or changed direction, I would have automatically got a DNF. I was at least thankful to put time on the clock but I messed up and was so disappointed with myself.”

At the end of the qualifying sessions, Eric was placed 14^th overall thanks to his good left track time run of 1:37.071 and, as he refers to it, his disappointing second right-side time of 1:43.668. But these times got him through to the finals.

The following day it was the AWD category practices so the team took advantage to fit the new “Big Daddy Tyres” and  setup the car’s wheel alignment. Without having the correct equipment they placed four stands at each corner of the car with string tied around making a box. “We were busy with this when the current European Drift Masters winner, Martin Richards, walked up and offered to assist us. Wow! He brought out this amazing string alignment kit in a box and started setting it up on my car. I just stood and watched in absolute admiration at how this internationally recognised gentleman just stepped in and personally started setting up my car’s alignment. I could not stop thanking him when he said, ‘Thank you for helping us last year in South Africa at Gymkhana Grid 2018.’ All we had done was merely assist his fiancé, Tessa Whittock, when she had overheating issues on her Skyline R33. What a gentleman and professional sportsman, in fact he is a champion.”

So with The Viking’s race car ready to be tested, Eric went to one of the chief marshals and explained they had just finished with the car’s alignment and could he join the nine cars that were still lined up at the grid for a practice run. The response? “No sorry the track is closed” . “The answer knocked me flat. I tried again to explain our situation but again I was told, ‘Track is closed, Sorry.’ And then laughingly the marshal added that it was not like we had come from far. I thought he was kidding but I respected the rules, knowing that they could not be changed for individual competitors. All we could do was prepare and wait for the next day.”

Meeting fans and inspiring others

Race Day arrives  and the paddock is opened to the public. “It was insane, all the different ages and genders, people coming through asking questions and paying attention, you could honestly see they were passionate and interested in what I was saying. I met a man who could not believe that I was the driver of The Viking after he told me he had seen me race before. He asked about my family and I told him I have a son that drifts with me. The man estimated my son to be around 15 but when I told him that he was 33-years-old, and that I was 52, he looked like he had just received the winning lotto numbers. I told him age has nothing to do with having fun or making dreams come true. We continued  and when he heard that I had also only been drifting/racing for four years, he told me that I had inspired him more than I could ever imagine. It was seriously awesome to realise I had managed to make a difference in someone’s life just by following my own passion. Two days later I received a random message, ‘The things you take for granted, someone else is praying for.’ Makes you think,” says Eric.

The time had arrived for the main races to begin. Eric said for the grand opening the finalists completed a driver parade on the left track, stopping in front of grand stand where they were each introduced to the spectators. After Poland’s national anthem was presented the drivers then completed the parade lap through the right side of the track, leading back to the pits.

Eric says after the first Smoke and Style Show was finished, the battles began at 4pm with the programme format seeing the Top 16 RWD Race 1 competitors followed by the Top 16 AWD Race 1 competitors, proceeding through to Race 16. The Viking was drawn for Race 7, just before 6pm, against none other than, multiple world champion and world number one, Daigo Saito from Japan, in his new Toyota Supra.

“We had to be in the line-up lane way before the time and there we were alongside a legend. Daigo can speak a bit of English but prefers to speak through his interpreter because of his lack of vocabulary. I decided to break the ice and asked his representative to please tell Daigo that it was an honour and privilege to be able to get this opportunity to drive against Daigo because of who he is and what he has accomplished with his ability and level of skills. Daigo then stood up from leaning on his car’s boot, faced me, put his hands together and bowed his head slightly saying , ‘Thank you.’ At that moment he gained all my respect as the humble champion that he is.

The track is hot

“He asked me where I practice gymkhana in South Africa and I explained that these events were not common and that I had only taken part in qualifying session and the previous two international Grid’s that were hosted in SA. I heard that he had been drifting for 20 years and he looked shocked when I told him this was my forth year in the sport. He looked even more shocked when he heard my age. With a big smile I told him ‘Yes, you respect your elders now hey,’ both ending up having a good laugh and wishing each other well.”

It was time, and questions were “popping” through Eric’s mind, especially whether the new launch control button that Oom Johan had installed would work. Eric said he had never used launch control before because his car’s ECU system did not have one, so it was  a “boer maak ‘n plan” launch system that Oom Johan made up and the nagging issues that he had not felt the new tyre setup were plaguing him as he lined-up at the starting gate.

“I’m waiting, waiting, waiting for the red light, when the race start marshal comes over and instructs us to back off the start line. I reverse back ten metres and stop in line with Daigo. An oil spill on the track from a previous competitor was being cleaned up and it felt like it was taking ages. The marshal finally says, ‘Ok the track has been cleared and we can do a straight-line tyre warm up and stop by the start-line. Cool I thought, now I can try this launch control out so I backed up as far as I could, held the button in, pushed my accelerator flat,  dropped the clutch and at the same time let the button go BOOM, instant wheel spin, so I left foot braked to try warm up my tyres, all the time thinking did I do it wrong, was that supposed to happen, must I ease my clutch out more. But there was no more time for thoughts as it was focus on the track time.

 

“The red light appears and I’m off with a better launch but Daigo is pulling away like I was on half throttle. I select second gear, then third, and as I feel the traction grip I squeeze the throttle more and am at full throttle again, approaching the zone where I should have been tapping off. I held it a second longer and took the turn to go around the wall of barrels. All was feeling good until I was just past a quarter of the way when I felt my car break away and lose grip. I decided to drift that section instead of braking which would offset the angle and direction. I gave a lot of acceleration to get the rear-end out enough but I didn’t want to accelerate too much, and for too long, because it would have made me wash out wider around the end and then set me up on the wrong line for the next obstacle.

“I counter steered and trimmed the E-brake to try and get a nice tight line out the barrels, but unfortunately I hit the last barrel with the corner of the left front bumper – only one foot more and it would have been clear. A one second penalty was automatically added to my run and I knew I must stay focussed as I could be fast and tight around the obstacles, but at the beginning of the figure 8 cotton reels as I braked, E-braked and turned, I got the worst feeling as I began washing wide. My traction was disgusting. I squeezed the throttle to bullet out towards the next cotton reel and felt the rear-end swaying behind – this was a bad choice of tyre for this track as there was poor traction. I continued to do my best but there were no second breaks here, this was reality.

Huge disappointment and gratitude

“I would like to think I hung in there, not too far behind Daigo, until I completed an extra circle around the final obstacle which automatically gave me a DNF for that run. Extremely disheartened, we changed over lanes and completed our next run. The right lane was completed correctly, but I was not fast enough to defeat The Legend, Daigo Saito. Feeling wounded and with many things running through my head, I slowly drove back to our pit to face my two ‘Omegos’ who I realised were going to be as equally disappointed.”

Eric said after recapturing the issues of the event, reflecting on what could have been, instead of what had just happened, they were happy with their efforts and agreed they would build on the knowledge and experience that they had gained.

“I did the right thing and went over to Daigo’s pit to congratulate him. He was sitting in a bean bag and when he saw me he stood up and said ‘Haaa’. I extended my hand and as he shook it he put his other arm around me and gave me a hug. He said, ‘You did good,’ and gave me a thumbs up.

“We had a long flight home and were extremely tired, but so very happy to step back on to South African soil. Seeing my family made me realise I was actually a winner already, as I had missed them intensely.”

Eric and The Viking team thank all the people and businesses that made it possible for them to go abroad and represent their country and themselves. “I truly believe that this experience was testing the waters and I honestly look forward to being able to put what we learnt from this gymkhana into action and create an absolute game changer for the next event, if we are privileged enough to take part again.”

To follow The Viking log onto www.erictheviking.co.za