Cruising down Klipfontein Road in his family wagon, Bobby Nitro’s ears pricked up to the pop and roar of V6 and his adrenalin suddenly started to run amok. It’s not something that needs to be resisted.
Walking through the stadium parking lot, passing crews clustered over engine bays to the rousing smell of fuel and burnt rubber, that adrenalin spiked even more the closer Bobby got to the action.
FIRM FAVOURITE: Eddie the Rasta piloting his lekker Ford
The scene before Bobby was somewhat mysterious; people packed around a pitch that was so shrouded in smoke that the cause of that smoke could not be discerned. Felt a bit like a Lord of the Rings battle scene and turned out to be a riotous urban Spin event of note.
The Auto Show 2018, presented by SPIN (Supporting People in Need) and organised by TPDZ turned the Athlone Stadium parking lot into a riot of smoke and obliterated tyres last Sunday, as people packed the safety fencing to cheer on their favourite driving heroes.
Spinning is an integral part of the Cape car scene, in a sense it’s where it all began. The search for a dedica- ted Spinning pitch together with recognition from the administration remains an ongoing project, and in the meanwhile organisers and the City are upping their game to bring this popular motorsport more into the limelight.
In fact, the Auto Show 2018 is the first event sanctioned to take place on City property. The permit was granted and the City even came to the show by partnering with the organisers and providing hefty sponsorship. Nice one.
Johnny ‘2j’ Schaffers, of the NGO SPIN, says: “We would really like to show appreciation to the City in general, and in particular to Shaun August, [of the City] who helped us make this event happen, as well as Julian Fredericks of the events permit office.”
LOW BLOW: Jade Rhoda’s Volkswagen Variant “The Frog’’ was on display
Bobby spoke to Keith van der Poll of Southern Gears Engineering, one of the sponsors of the event and also a Strandfontein days veteran. He says: “It looked good, was well attended, well handled, cordoned off properly and I didn’t hear a complaint.”
Keith, who is into drag racing, brought his classic yellow Opel Manta along “for the kids” as he says. Asked what stood out for him, Keith replies: “What I really like is it’s all very grassroots, guys are building, repairing and driving their own cars; so it’s about skill, not how much money you’ve got to spend. The cars are a lot stronger nowadays as well.”
ENDORSE: Keith van der Poll of Southern Gears Engineering
Bobby spoke to a “tyred and exhaust’d” Gustav Serfontein (his lekker phrase!) of organisers TPDZ after the show. He says: “We had a great turn out of over 70 cars, including some of the showstopper stars. Shane Green’s nine-year-old son Shay wowed the crowds, as did Nazeemah van Schalkwyk, a 24-year-old rising star in female Spinning.
Spin pioneer Oom Loekkie was there, and he’s a big boy in the game doing all the major shows. Eddie the Rasta, always a firm favourite, was there piloting his Ford. Then there were the Crazy Rastas from Lentegeur Hills, these guys are really making their mal mark on the scene.”
Johnny tells of the crew of seniors they bussed in from Lentegeur. This group is one of the SPIN beneficiaries and Bobby can imagine the excitement really made the day for them.
LAGBOL: Natassja Farmer
The show had many other attractions, including go-karts and a select park-off. But best of all, the Pick-a-Ride initiative awarded 17 free kwaai rides to lucky matrics, who will now get to go to their balls in the car of their dreams. The winner won a matric ball Lamborghini ride, as well as R500 for hair/ makeup and R1000 for attire.
Bobby Nitro hopes to see more of these City-sanctioned events, with the safety that is required, popping up in Spinning, as the scene becomes more legitimate and recognised for the homegrown and crowd-pulling motorsport it is.