In the mood for some casual drifting culture fun this weekend? If you are then Monstermob Raceway is the place to be this Saturday as drivers make their way to the NC Culture event.

It’s a combination of drifting, spinning, music and dancing in a relaxed, laid back vibe.

Drifters will be doing some training and practicing, honing their skills for future competitions. The spinners will be entertaining the crowds as will the various DJs and dancers, keen to show off what they have to offer.

The event starts at 2pm and entry is free. That’s right, no charge!

Word has it that a local production crew will be filming for the reality series “So What?”

Riaz Alibhai

New venues bring with it new crowds, new adventures and new excitement and it’s always guaranteed to be a fresh experience.

Such was the case this past weekend when the SupaDrift fraternity descended on the coastal nook that is Port Shepstone for the KZN leg of the 2012 SupaDrift series. The venue was the brand new Dezzi Circuit, a playground built in the one Dez Gutzeit’s back yard – literally.

Chris Landberg

Des, being an avid motorsport enthusiast and a competitor in various disciplines extended sections of his private runway so that he may test his own race cars and vehicles. The end result is a tight, technical stretch of tarmac, overlooking the Indian ocean, perfect for shredding a few sets of rubber on.

This highly anticipated round draw competitors from all around SA and included a few of the local KZN competitors that have yet to compete in a SupaDrift round. The field of 25 entries saw Chris Landberg, in a very familiar car, the ex Charel van Biljon Purple Turtle S14, make his debut along with Gary Sheratt in an E30 BMW and Lawrence Botha in a MkIV Toyota Supra. Joining them in the rookie debuts was Mathew Pieterse in an E28 525e powered by a turbocharged Nissan L28 motor, one of the strangest combinations we’ve ever seen.

Morne Venter

Track owner, Des Gutzeit, joined in on the action too, campaigning his fettled Nissan Silvia S15 in his first ever attempt at competitive drifting.

The only rookie to qualify for the top 16 however was the ‘Madala’ BMW of Mathew Pieterse with Gutzeit missing out by one position, qualifying in 17th place. Top qualifying spot went to Wade van Zummeren who was not having a good weekend and had to qualify in his father’s R34 after blowing the motor on his Black Tracking Nissan Skyline R33.

Dez Gudzeit

Van Zummeren paired off in the top 16 against the Turtle Wax Mazda RX-7 of Dornè Brits, a battle which was won by Brits in an unexpected turn of events when van Zummeren decimated one of the clipping point cones.

Brits would face off against Michael Radloff in the top 8 after Radloff defeated KZN local Morne Venter in the Auto Collision Center E30 BMW.

TurboToys’ Riaan Stokes battled against the Speed and Sound Drift Army Chev Lumina of Mikey Skelton but the decision was made easy for the judges when Skelton spun out on their first pass, handing the win to Stokes.

Dorne Brits and Wade van Zummeren

Mathew Pieterse was thrown in the deep end when his qualifying spot saw him paired against veteran driver David Nell for Ed Hardy Energy in the S14. A massive straight line from Pieterse while following Nell saw him score a zero for the first pass but then manage to hold Nell to a 5-5 tie on the second pass. Nell progressed through to the top 8, where he’d meet Stokes.

Monster Energy’s Jason Webb eliminated the second Speed and Sound Drift Army Chev Lumina, piloted by Jim McFarlane, to secure himself a top 8 slot. Webb would pair up against TurboToys’ Jonathan Rudman in the top 8 ladder with Rudman defeating the Autostyle V8 E30 BMW of Vic Pardal in the top 16.

Morne Venter and Michael Radloff

ALB Performance’s Adam Shefer took a comfortable win over Paulo Gouveia in the top 16 and LiquiMoly’s Jethro Schwartz fought tooth and nail with Jean Maré in an all BMW battle. It was enough for a one more time to be called with Schwartz finally taking the win by the narrowest of margins.

Radloff and Brits went back and forth with each driver taking a pass win but the battle win went to Radloff by a narrow margin.

Stokes’ form continued with a high line pass against Nell that saw Stokes dirt drop on one of the most dangerous parts of the track. The win went to Stokes in a unanimous decision.

Jethro Schwartz and Jean Mare'

Rudman held Webb to a highly controversial one more time battle which eventually went to Webb, granting Webb with a semi-final spot.

In a pairing that we’ve seen on numerous occasions prior, Schwartz lined up with Shefer. This time round though it was Shefer that faltered and Schwartz was awarded his first ever semi-final passage.

Stokes and Radloff fought hard and tied off after their first pass with Stokes leading but the second run had the judges giving the battle win to Radloff. Webb and Schwartz entertained the masses with a surprisingly tight tandem battle that saw a narrow win go to Webb.

Riaan Stokes and Jethro Schwartz

In Stokes and Schwartz’ battle for third place it was the TurboToys Nissan S13 of Riaan Stokes that would clinch the final spot on the podium.

The final battle was for all the marbles and saw Monster Energy’s Jason Webb in his S13 duke it out with East London’s Michael Radloff, also in an S13.

Michael Radloff and Jason Webb

Both driver are known for being able to apply the pressure in a tandem battle and Radloff managed to apply just that little bit extra. Webb came out of the first set of corners and switch too early, setting him up to hit the same cone that caused Wade van Zummeren’s demise. Despite last minute efforts to correct his line, Webb ran into the cone and relinquished all his points and the round win to Michael Radloff to give Radloff not only his first podium, but his first ever SupaDrift round win.

An elated Radloff accepted his trophy in front of a hoard of excited spectators that stayed glued to the excitement ’till the very end.

An amazing event thus drew to a close and thanks has to be extended to the supportive series sponsors; Ed Hardy Energy, Achilles Tyres, Turn 1 Wheels, Autotrader.co.za, LiquiMoly, Speed and Sound, Barloworld GM and Chevrolet. A special thanks goes to the crew and staff of Dezzi Circuit who helped the event run as smooth as silk and of course Dez Gutzeit for allowing us to come play in his backyard.

All images courtesy of Dave Nisbet of DaveNisbet. Follow the link for more images.

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SupaDrift Series has also got its new broadcast partner in Ignition TV; broadcast slots are as follows:

19/20 May – Atomic Junkies 1 (SD 2011: SD07/08)
26/27 May – Atomic Junkies 2 (SD 01)
16/17 June – Atomic Junkies 3 (SD 02)
7/8 July – Atomic Junkies 4 (SD 03)
4/5 August – Atomic Junkies 5 (SD 04)
8/9 September – Atomic Junkies 6 (SD 05)
13/14 October – Atomic Junkies 7 (SD 06)
17/18 November – Atomic Junkies 8 (SD 07)
15/16 December – Atomic Junkies 9 (SD 08)
12/13 January 2013 – Atomic Junkies 10 (SD 09)
*times and dates subject to change according to broadcaster schedule

Please watch the flightings on: Sat 8am, 6pm and Sun 4am, 2pm and 10pm Ignition is their new broadcast partner and will be airing the production throughout 2012 and beyond!

Being spread thin this last weekend didn’t help any, especially with events on the go in both Johannesburg and Kimberley.

Monstermob held the first round in their drift series: Shakedown and it was well attended by the coastal competitors and a few Johannesburg entries. It’s good to see that the likes of Jacques Lemmer hasn’t hung up his helmet indefinitely.

The crew from KZN Drift also joined in on the action, Shain Ferreira’s new R33 bearing the brunt of an untimely mistake and making contact with the unforgiving walls.

We’re awaiting more details on the event but we can give you the final podium results.

1st: Jacques Lemmer
2nd: Pieter Smit
3rd: Sean February
4th: Wade van Zummeren

Enjoy these photos, courtesy of Jennifer Gregory, Monstermob and Freestyle Films.

The second round of the 2012 Japan Auto Drift series took place this past Saturday at The Rock Raceway in Brakpan, and drew a surprisingly large crowd considering it was fighting for attention against both the rugby and the soccer.

The event was well supported by many of the drivers too, despite there being another event on the same day in Kimberley.

High temperatures were the order of the day and the increased traction claimed a few victims in the morning practice sessions. Lee-Roy Frans destroyed his Supra’s  gearbox and Gerald Small lunched his turbo, mere moments before the official driver briefing.

21 drivers took to the tarmac to qualify for the top 16 elimination round, with only one driver failing to set a qualifying score. The Japan Auto series differs slightly in that it offers and opportunity for the novices and those riddled with bad luck to get another go at the course with the Silver Cup eliminations. This is reserved for those that didn’t qualify in the top 16 and gives them some competitive tandem practice.

In the Silver Cup, Zein Raiden took the win over Lourens Rothman with Dennis Palm taking an automatic third after Vincent Ferreirinha was disqualified.

Tim Stephens in the Rock Raceway Nissan Skyline R33 made it two on the trot when he secured his second top qualifying spot in as many events. He was followed by Hannes Frans in the JMS / Devine Signs Nissan Skyline R32 with Lee-Roy Frans in third place who was loaned the hastily repaired MkIV Supra of Gerald Small for the event.

The Top 16 eliminations saw Tim Stephens defeat 17-year old Chail Cassamo for a spot in the Top 8 where he would be joined by Zanil Satar who defeated Juan du Toit in the Top 16 round.

Des Pienaar beat Mathys Naude in their Top 16 encounter to progress through to the next round where he would pair up with Imtiaz Dali who had to battle against Paul vd Spuy in the first round.

Issufo Ussuman was granted passage when he beat GWT Racing’s BG Smit who returned a little gun-shy after his encounter with the wall last time round. Ussuman was thus paired against Lee-Roy Frans in the Top 8. Frans beat Duane Small for the spot in the Top 8 despite some great efforts from the rookie.

Larry Smith won his first ever tandem battle pairing off against Shaun Cornelius who was piloting the ex-Aubrey Hiles S14 in this event.

Smith would go up against Hannes Frans in the second round after Frans beat Roelien du Toit in the Top 16 eliminations.

Tim Stephens drove a hard battle up against Zanil Satar in their Top 8 encounter to take the win and Des Pienaar continued his fine form when he eliminated Imtiaz Dali in his Toyota Soarer. Pienaar and Stephens would face off in the semi finals rounds.

Lee-Roy Frans suffered yet again at the hands of misfortune when the loaned Supra also decided to give in, this, midway through his battle with Issufo Ussuman. Frans retired and Ussuman was through to the semi-finals. Ussuman would battle against Hannes Frans in the semi finals after Frans snr beat Larry Smith.

A tight battle ensued between Pienaar and Stephens with Pienaar not setting a foot wrong, making the decision hard for the judges. In the end it was Stephens who would make it to the finals with Pienaar having to fight for third place.

The second semi final saw Ussuman pitted against an on form Hannes Frans. Despite bringing his A-game to the party, Ussuman’s Nissan Skyline let him down, developing an electrical gremlin which cut the power mid drift, forcing him to straight line. Frans was granted the win and a spot in the finals.

In the battle between Pienaar and Ussuman for third place, Ussuman’s gremlins returned and it was Pienaar that secured the final spot on the podium.

Tight racing from our finalists had the crowd on the edge of their seats but it was the final pass, with Stephens following that saw him veer off line ever so slightly and clip a cone, resulting in a decision swinging point reduction. Hannes Frans thus took the win with Tim Stephens in second, followed by Des Pienaar.

Tim Stephens, Des Pienaar and Hannes Frans

Thanks to Japan Auto and the sponsors involved.

Images courtesy Hiscox Photography

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