Incredible. Just incredible. And non of it would be possible without you Cape Town. Thank you for always being the awesome community you are. Drift City 2018 was once again jam packed with thrills and spills which kept Cape Town’s petrol heads on their toes and on the edge of their seat. I mean, did you guys see the Pyro?
This was our 3rd year running. Every year we try and do a little bit more than the years before. Drift City 2017 was brilliant because we were able to go into the night which gave the event a completely electric atmosphere. We would have loved to do it once again this year but unfortunately the next day was a regular working day and Cape Town would have been filled with zombies Tuesday morning.
Let’s jump straight into the action. As always Cape Towns best drivers entered and drove their hearts out at Drift City 2018. These are the real drivers who are motivated by the love of motor sport and not influenced by money, pressure from outside influence, industry politics and all the other negatives that affect motor sport. No. These guys drive for the right reasons. They drive for the love of motor sport, and we love them for it.
Coming to mix things up this year was the ‘Storm from the North’ We had at least 9 out of town drivers who came down with their machines in Drift City 2018. These are seasoned drivers who compete in the National Supadrift Series and they came looking for Cape Town blood.
Otto Graven was back in his Nissan Silvia defending his title.
A special guest this year was Danny Cross who came down all the way from Europe to come and slay tyres with the best is South Africa. Danny drove a Nissan Silvia s14 with a Boss kit which was built locally by Smokem’ Garage. Some misfortune however fell on the team and the motor decided it had had enough. Graven Motorsport then graciously stepped up to the plate and borrowed Danny their Toyota Soarer Missile to compete in.
With a field of just over 30 drivers it was going to be a good day of tire slaying. After the drivers had a chance to walk the track and then take a few practice runs we jumped straight into qualifying. Qualifying was by way of a top 32. After qualifying the drivers were paired up against their opponents and it was make or break time. And break some of them did. The technical course was just too much for some of the machines to cope with. Drivers and their pit crews gave it their all to get into the top 16 with close battles that kept spectators on the edge of their seats screaming for more. In some cases both drivers had clean runs and it literally came down to time. In other runs drivers managed to pick up penalties by either hitting course markers of going off course which killed their ambitions for top 16.
Top 16 kicked off and the competition was getting fierce. With the guys having a taste of what it felt like to advance a round they pulled out all the stops to get into top 8. As in top 32 the track claimed it’s fair share of victims and a few competitors got comfortable by-runs. One of the biggest upsets of the day happened during the top 8. It was clear that the Drift City 2018 crowd favorite was Izak Van Zyl and his v8 powered Toyota Corolla. Izak was slaying the course with surgical precision since top 32. Run after run he was flawless until his run against Zaeed Rajah in top eight. Izak made one little mistake by going off course and doing 1 to many 360’s in the washing machine. This unfortunately negatively affected his time and gave Rajah the win.
It was time for the top 4. Those that remained had been driving their hearts out since early morning and the pressure was getting real. Their machines had taken a beating. The pit crews were feeling the pressure. It was the final stretch. This is where it would count. This is what it was all about. The last 4 standing were Patrick Tuson, Bronny White, Zaeed Rajah and Jim Mc Farlane.
The first battle was Patrick Tuson vs Bronny White. Patrick unfortunately had a problem with the car and since he had previously used his 5 minute rule in his battle against Sean February he was unable to call it again. This handed the victory to White sending him into the finals. Next up was Zaeed Rajah against Jim Mc Farlane. As they lined up Zaeed had to call a 5 minute rule to fix a fuel leak they picked up. The crew was unfortunately unable to get it fixed in time handing the win to Mc Farlane. This the left the crowd with a final battle where Bronny White from Cape Town would battle Jim Mc Farlane from JHB. This one was going to be for all the marbles. It was make or break time and the drivers knew it. The crowd stood up from the seats, the flag dropped and as flames engulfed the start line the drivers were off like bats out of hell. In the first run drivers were neck on neck until White hit one of the cones, slowing him down and giving him a penalty. This one was going to Mc Farlane with a clean run. The drivers swapped and it was more of the same. Mc Farlane kept his composure and threw down a surgical run. It was all over Jim Mc Farlane was crowned the King of Drift City 2018 with Bronny white in 2nd place. 3rd place went to the highest qualifier of the day Patrick Tuson.
