Here's the picture the world’s most awesome drifters, the iconic Tsukuba circuit, cars tweaked to perfection, and in among this, South African driver Juan Stemmet repping hard for us Kapies.
The FIA Intercontinental Drift Cup went down last weekend outside Tokyo, with Juan being the first South African to compete against drivers of this calibre, 25 in all and representing 17 countries, in an international drift event.
Bobby Nitro spoke to Raziek Rajah, founder of Drift Outlaws, after he landed in the Cape.
IN: Raziek, Uzayr and Nawaal Rajah at Juan Stemmet pits. Pictures: Supplied.
Raziek, who was instrumental in putting this tour together, says: “The IDC was epic beyond belief, so much was achieved for SA Drifting. I got to do a lot of networking, and got to explain to the internationals just what a motorsport crazy nation we are. Drift Outlaws now has a global network.
“With entry speeds of 180km/h , this event was on another level. This of course is beyond what we are used to, and the learning curve was steep. I can say that we now know what is required in terms of car setup and performance, we have a road map, to perform on that level.”
READY TO REV: Mad Mike Whidett of team New Zealand. Pictures: Supplied.
Juan, 25, drove his Nissan S13 200SX powered by a Ford V8 for 22nd place. Georgy Chivchyan of the Russian Drift Series took top honours for a second year running, with Japan’s Hideyuki Fujino second and Brit Andrew Gray third.
Juan says: “It was amazing, and on a different level to the drifting we know in SA. The fact is that we were underpowered, going in with a 470HP car when most others were upward of 900 HP. Especially when it came to the long straights.
CLASS ACT: Masato Kawabata’s kwaai Team Toyo Tires car. Pictures: Supplied.
“But now we know what it takes and I definitely want to go back again and take on those guys after I’ve rebuilt my car.”
He says the team will be able to prepare more for next year with regards to power output, as they only had a month to sort the car’s safety.