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| Tennis, drifting style -- batt the ball with the car's boot. |
KZN’s top drifters and spinners are preparing their cars for the
first trials that will see the 15 best spinners selected for Team KZN at Mason’s
Mill on July 8.
Reece Williamson told Wheels50 drivers
were expected for the spinning trials while 30 drivers will compete in the
driftkhana.
For the uninitiated, a spinning event sees the drivers spending as
much time outside their moving cars as in, aiming to impress the fans with
daredevil stunts and centimetre-precision slides, brakes and drifts, frequently
circling their snarling cars closely around a commentator or co-driver, who must
at all times be able touch the bonnet as it careens barely in control around him
or her.
Driftkhana adds an obstacle track and a clock to these stunts,
requiring drivers to, among others challenges, “bat” a giant ball and execute
precision parking against the clock.
Williamson recently competed in a driftkhana in Cape Town, where he
was asked why KZN’s precision drivers aren’t fielding a team so that
interprovincial events could be hosted.
One would be forgiven for thinking that this is because competitors
in spinning events pay their own way and stand to win only bragging rights and
perhaps a set of tyres at the end of an event, but Williamson said this was no
deterrent for all the drivers who have been calling him for a slot to compete
next Saturday.
“All the top drivers are keen to be part of the KZN team to
challenge other provinces,” said Williamson.
Their performances at the Spinkhana auditions will see a team of 15
top drivers emerge, of whom five will be reserves.
This team will decide which province they will challenge next, with
the event at this stage likely to be hosted at Mason’s Mill against a team of
drivers from Johannesburg.
Williamson said the producers of e-TV’s recent reality show So You Think You Can Spin had agreed the
old bus depot at Mason’s Mill is an ideal venue for such motoring events.
He assured Wheels the
event is arranged with paramedics and firefighters on standby at the venue in
case of an emergency.
The entry fee for the day’s entertainment is R70 for adults and R40
for children.
