Drifting ace gets great crowd support

Toti’s drifting teen, Melissa Nell had the crowd cheering on its feet when she competed in her official event, the Thrill Seeker – Driftkhana at the Market in Pietermaritzburg on Saturday, 12 July.

She competed in her Gluedevil Nissan 200SX S14, which she inherited from her father, David, who is a drifting champion.

Melissa was the only female competitor, out of about 25 competitors in total and she competed in the driftkhana, which is similar to gymkana, doing a timed lap around the course. The difference is with driftkhana you are judged on style, angle, flair and tyre smoke as well.

The crowd couldn’t believe that a 16-year-old girl, small in stature like her, can handle a race car like that.

Melissa was awarded a trophy for her efforts on the day.

André Karrim, one of the organisers of the event said: “Melissa is a young and talented female drifter – the future of drifting in KZN looks bright.”

Melissa was nervous to begin with because of the tight spaces and the ‘unforgiving’ walls at the market, and it was her first time driving there, but as soon as she went out on track, instinct and talent took over.

“I’m very thankful and feel blessed to have the opportunity to compete,” she said. “I love drifting and never thought for a moment while watching my father compete over the years that I would one day be in the driver’s seat.

I’m thankful to my parents for allowing me to race and for supporting me. I’m working towards competing in the SupaDrift series and I can’t wait to see what the future holds.”

She did numerous television interviews and the event will air on Ignition TV from 23 to 29 August.

David also competed at the same event and won the trophy for third place.

“I’m very proud of Melissa. She works really hard and applies what I teach her,” he said.

“Besides that, she is not scared – fear keeps you back and she has more guts than I’ve seen some guys have. She is still young and can reach much higher career goals than I could ever imagine.”