The turnout and sheer exuberant fun of Sunday’s DriftCity on the Grand Parade is testament to the hardiness and never-say-die attitude of not only the Cape drivers, but the fans too.
This was the day the Cape petrolheads had been looking forward to and, after a weather cancellation earlier in the year, organisers, drivers and fans alike were not about to be deterred by the wind whipping up and the rain threatening. The show, as the organisers said, must go on. And it sure did.
When Bobby Nitro arrived in the late morning, he was greeted by a collection of the Cape’s finest modified, restored and stanced-out show cars splayed across one end of the parade, with some never-before-seen lovelies. Like the technicolour wrapped Golf for one. Then there were the vintage cabbies, like a spotless Datsun 160Z. The stance guys had some real beauties on show, such as Zain Slamdien’s award-winning midnight pearlescent blue Honda S2K slammed right onto the paving. He says: “My best hopes of the day are to put smiles onto people’s faces, and see the amount of people that take photos.”
Tashreeq of Tashnation says: “I came out to enjoy the day, it’s all about the vibes and catching up with people. Commenting on the colourful wrapped Golf, and Bobby saying it looked like a return to the bling days, Tash says: “They say history does repeat itself, as does fashion in the car culture.”
On the Drift side, the dry weather saw Izak van Zyl in his power boxie qualifying first, with Daniel Blaser in second. However, the rain turned the tables.
As Shahiem Bell says: “Rain levels the playing field and it all becomes about technical proficiency. Rain takes the advantage away from the more powerful cars if you don’t have the grip to put that power down to the ground. Wet weather is about making adjustments to your car quickly, and knowing how to tap back on the throttle and brake earlier so as not to overshoot obstacles in the highly technical Driftkhana course.”
DriftCity media lead Jason Williams adds: “Of course the rain slowed the cars down into more of a graceful ballet but the drivers were impressive, adapting fast to the change.”
With no further ado, DriftCity 2023 was won by Kyle van Dyk in his daily drive nogal, a Nissan 350Z. Jason says: “Kyle won driver of the day in 2018, and this time took top honours. He has much less seat time than many others, but the man can pedal a car.” Second place was earned by Chris Long in an Auris, powered by a Ford Mustang V8, and third by Daniel Blaser in another 350Z.
Kyle says: “Definitely a bit of a curveball this year, with the rain and all that. We had pace on the dry, but we had to make quite a lot of changes on the wet to still be quick, and we had some decisions to make. I think we made the right choices, and it got us the win.”
When the rain came at about 2.30pm, the people hung on hoping for it to pass. It didn’t, but still by the finals you could see ardent petrolheads, drenched to the bone, cheering their lungs out. The organisers stepped up by opening the grandstand to all who remained, doing this for the love of car culture as they do. MC Vic Pardal added to the hospitality by organising a bunch of Monster giveaways for the loyal crowd.
Many spectators had travelled far to see the spectacle and they wanted to be there when the champion was announced, so they stayed resolutely until the end. The show and shine prize giving was online on Thursday night, so at the time of writing no details were available. Check out the DRIFTCity socials for the winners.
A big shout out to organiser Gary Stockenstroom and his dedicated crew for putting this awesome event together. We’re talking months of planning, four days of careful set up on a Heritage Site and keeping the vibe up when the weather was not playing ball. We can’t wait for next year.