SA Drift

Round 3 of the SupaDrift Series took place this past weekend at Dezzi Raceway in Port Shepstone. Otto Graven was awarded the win with Jason Webb taking second and Shane Gutzeit claiming third place.

As is protocol, the official governing body, MSA, (with representatives present at each event) will review the results and approve them before championship points are awarded to the drivers. This allows for protests and discrepancies to be dealt with and avoids championship points reversals. The MSA has 14-days after the event to alter or change results as is necessary, in the name of fairness and equality, based on the findings of any inquests or protests.

The MSA Clerk of the Course on the day officially requested to review on of the semi-final runs from round 3, fearing an oversight from the judges. The run in question was the first semi-final pass between Otto Graven and Shane Gutzeit. In the first pass, Otto Graven hit the front clipping point while leading which, according to the official SupaDrift rule book (and supplementary regulations on the day), should result in a zero score.

On the second pass, both drivers completed their runs without a major infringement. This would ordinarily mean that Shane Gutzeit would have taken the win with a 10-0 first run advantage (Shane would have to score a zero on his second pass to make it 10-0, 0-10 and force the OMT). The win however was awarded to Otto Graven by a majority vote from the judges, some of the judges not scoring a zero for Otto in the first pass.

Upon officially requesting and reviewing the video footage of the run, the MSA ruled that the first run was indeed a zero-run as per the rule book and deemed the run to be won by Shane Gutzeit. This also voids the final podium standings.

In order to get a final result, reference is made back to the top two drivers’ qualifying scores, as no battle was run to determine overall winner.

Thus the final results are as follows:
1 Jason Webb
2 Shane Gutzeit
3 Otto Graven
4 Wade van Zummeren

The drivers were contacted and informed of the review. It goes without saying that Jason Webb and Shane Gutzeit were pleased. When contacted for comment, Otto Graven went on to say:

“I’m fine with the decision reversal. I was actually quite surprised with the initial results as I know I hit the cone – but I accepted it as the judge’s decision being final. I’m here to have fun and promote the growth of the sport. It’s about being fair and I’m all for that. The judges are human and I don’t doubt their ability, it’s not an easy job.”