Last Saturday’s Bragging Rights at Killarney was likely the last of the events that will be held in South Africa for some time, so it’s a good thing that is was off the hook, with some high drama nogal.
Top of the pops was the long-awaited showdown between Drifters Shane Green and Juan Stemmet. This all started as a slightly derogatory comment or two in an online interview, that quickly erupted into a challenge for R20k out on the pitch. All in the name of good fun, really.
Apparently Shane had been upset at the selection of Juan for the FIA Intercontinental Drift Cup in Japan late last year, possibly thinking he would be a better option. Anyway, the guys decided to battle it out before the eyes of Cape Town at Killarney.
As it turned out, the showdown was more an exhibition of sporting good manners than anything else. To begin with, Juan had a problem with imported fuel injectors, a recent addition to his car, and Shane gave him three hours to sort it out.
CHEQUE IT OUT: Raziek Rajah, left, with Shane Green, centre, and the winner Juan Stemmet. Picture: Riaaz Anderson
Then, on the warm up lap, Shane bust input shafts on his diff, so Juan became the winner by default, with there being no race. So the R20k cheque goes to Juan, out on the oval, and in a gesture of good sportsmanship he refuses to take it, telling Shane that no, they must race for it, and soon.
Shane apparently added this: “Let’s race for double the cash!” This is not official as of yet, as Juan tells Bobby Nitro: “Ag, sometimes Shane talks before he thinks.”
Bobby called Shane straight away, and he has this to say to Juan: “Pappa wag vir jou, no excuses or long waits this time.”
Nice thing is that neither man was prepared to take a cheque without racing and double the excitement is yet to come.
FINAL CHECK: Young spinners got a run on the oval. Picture: Supplied.
Meanwhile, it was a tough day for Drifting as 14 out of 26 cars broke over the day, more than the entire Drift Outlaws season last year. Christopher Long from the Supadrift crew won honours on the day, Izak van Zyl second and Juan Stemmet in third.
Ralph Kumbier lit up the drag strip on the day, in a street car recently acquired from the USA, doing a scintillating 8.9 second run over the quarter mile in his first run at Killarney.
Ralph says: “The car, although it can be mistaken for a Pro Mod, is still classified as street car, as the wheel base has not been altered and front suspension is stock. The motor is a big block Chevvy, 496ci, with output of 740HP, naturally aspirated.
“We went a little bit quicker than car did in the USA, but I sandbagged a bit near the finish line due to stopping distance and I wasn’t sure of the brakes. In fact, I will require an additional parachute. What is great is that we went quicker on the 60 foot and eighth mile marks.”
SIDEWAYS: Izak van Zyl came second in the drifting competition. Picture: Supplied.
It was deeply unfortunate that the Joburg Pro Mods basically stood us up and didn’t make an appearance, what with two runs to do up country but, as organiser Raziek Rajah puts it: “We have the template set up for the noise exemption, and we’ve tested this with Ralph’s car, so at the next event later this year, we will have Pro Mods shooting down our strip.”
Zanil Satar, known on the Drifting circuit, came all the way from Mozambique to impress on the strip and impressed on the drags with his Skyline 400R R33, with a best of 9.4 seconds.
Attendance was good despite the necessity to stay indoors as reactions to Coronavirus sweep the country, with about 7 000 people there.
VIN DIESEL STYLE: Sergio Hendricks gets perfectly off the line. Picture: Supplied.
Riaaz Anderson, who supplied some of the pics here, put it like this: “It was a top day filled with less talk and more torque.” Like that one.