GHFM
REV LIFE 2013
Event
date: 17 November 2013 | Words: RaceMasteR
J |
Photos by: RaceMasteR J, Nishaam Ebrahim & Chevan Davids |
Location:
Killarney Race Track.
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Let me start off by saying
that getting this content up was somewhat of an uphill battle.
What I mean is that between me, Vaano and Nish, we accumulated
roughly just under 4000 photos for the day. I managed to knock
it down to about 500 of the best, for your viewing pleasure.
So the event, RevLife 2013… the name that was on everyone’s
lips for weeks on end, was sadly but thankfully postponed from
the Saturday to the Sunday. The week prior to the event was filled
with hours of heat and cloudless days, but as everyone was watching
the weather forecast, Mother Nature had other plans. Come the
Friday and Saturday it bucketed down just as the weather man said
it would with flash floods in some areas. There was no choice
but to postpone it to the Sunday.
There were guys down from all over the country and even our international
guest, superstar drift ace James Deane all the way from Ireland.
The day started off damp but it was looking promising to become
a great day as the weather cleared up.
My first stop was to the drag strip for some pure horsepower action
supplied by the numerous locals and even a few special guests
such as the team from Czank Racing with their sweet looking Escort
and drag bikes.
Motown Racing’s Ralph is always a crowd favourite with his
rolling burnouts. I did later on in the day see him have a “late
braking moment” which saw his car stopping just millimeters
in front of the catch nets.
Something new to the strip was the introduction of the 4 wheeler
biker mice on their quads. As funny as it was to watch, the poor
COC’s ended up pulling their hair out as these toys battled
to stage.
As always, there are plenty of hidden gems milling around the
pit area and in this case, a very stunning Lambo.
And some pretty promo girls who occupied the gents.
Bikers will be bikers… whatever that’s supposed to
mean…?
Raceweb sponsored rider Sharief Reynolds clocked the fastest time
of the day on his awesome looking Kawasaki ZX14 with a time of
8.9 seconds.
The old pit area was a show and shiners heaven filled with an
array of cars from slammed and bagged to race inspired machines.
While the new pit area played host to a lifestyle area filled
with stalls, show cars and a massive food court area and huge
big screen keeping everyone up to date and entertained with what’s
happening on the oval.
Which is where I went next as this was the main reason for all
my excitement. DRIFTING!!!
Upon arrival at the oval I was greeted by this comical yet awesome
sight of Mag Addictions 2J powered Hilux bakkie going sideways.
I say comical because it’s a Hilux bakkie!!! Awesome because…
well just look at it! And you had to be there to hear its massive
turbo spooling up and screaming.
The boys and girls from D1S kept the crowds entertained with their
highly choreographed stunts and tricks between drift practice
runs.
While the main stage performers were frantically changing rubber
in the pits…
Though others preferred to look their best at all times.
With practice done and dusted it was time to move onto qualifying.
But unfortunately as motorsport goes, cars break and we saw an
unfortunate drop in numbers.
But the rest of the guys soldiered on and put up an awesome display
of sportsmanship and skill.
Shane Green was back but this time in a new turbo charged E30.
Jason Webb, current SA Drift Champion, was out to dominate with
his crazy angle and entry speeds.
Undoubtedly THE crowd favorite, Sean February was out to mark
his territory on home ground smoking the crowd’s from corner
to corner.
As always I was glad to see Faheem Salie back in the hot seat
but sadly this didn’t last long on the day.
Jim Mc Farlane was somewhat of an underdog to me, simply because
his car wasn’t as loud as the rest, but proved to be very
dominant showing a clear skill advantage to some of the other
guys when he could get right up close and personal with some crazy
door to door action but keeping it neat and tidy at all times.
Mikey Skelton from XS Promotions, the company responsible for
bringing us the National SupaDrift Series was also having a go
in his Rockford Fosgate Nissan 350Z.
Photo whore Jean Mare was having a ball of a time as usual with
his new look BMW M3. I just loved shooting this car as it always
looked so “pretty” in pictures.
Representing the boys from abroad was Zein Raidan in his awesome
looking Nissan R33 Skyline. This car is the complete package,
it looks great, goes great and sounds great too! Brilliant driving
skills as well Zein!
My driver of the day has to be this crazy chap by the name of
Jade Bailey in his everyday ride, an JZ powered Nissan 200SX.
Jade has shown tremendous skill improvements over the last couple
of months and all his Grass Roots practice time has clearly paid
off.
But Jade had guys like Typie Khan to worry about as this 1J E30
Beemer was ripping up the track like tomorrow was Monday, because
it was!
Bronnie was back in yet another new car which showed great potential
but sadly retired early due to mechanical failures.
But this was the man we all came to see, James Deane. Piloting
Noer Asmodiens 640HP Toyota Supra it was clear to see he was going
to be the dominant force to be reckoned with on the day. Practice
and qualifying was a breeze for him executing exactly what the
judges asked for but, once again, unfortunately he retired early
due to gearbox breakage. I was so looking forward to see him battle
it out with Jason Webb.
But that left a spot open for local hero Sean February to fill
and boy did he fill Jason Webb’s bodywork with it!
First Jason tapped Sean, that’s when my brand new GoPro
decided to grow wings and fly off the car, and then Sean returned
the favour causing Jason to spin out.
Check out the video below...
A somewhat skeptical result for some, but it saw Jason Webb head
into the finals against the underdog, Jim Mc Farlane, while Sean
battled against Shane for third place.
In the end it was current SA drift chap Jason Webb who took top
honours which left Jim in second, Sean third and Shane in a well
deserved fourth place.
After some tyre smoking victory burnouts the spinner boys put
up a show for the crowds who decided to wait on the stands rather
than in the queues to get out of Killarney.
All in all it was a good day, but the change of date and some
other factors that were just not in the organizers hands could
have made for a great day. The action was good, but left me wanting
more. The time between some runs could have been cut shorter also.
But I guess being a petrol head like myself, I just can’t
always be satisfied. Bring on Wings & Wheels!
PS: Alcohol should be banned from all motorsport events! Period!
RaceMasteR J
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