EVENT: DRIFT AFRICA DRIVER SEARCH FALKEN TYRE CHALLENGE
25 August 2012| Photos: RaceMasteR J | Words: Jody Powell | Location: Killarney Race Track, Cape Town.

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After many years of anticipation, Cape Town finally has its own local Drifting series in the form of Drift Africa Driver Search! The inaugural event took place on the 25th of August 2012 at Killarney Raceway but not without the greetings of Mother Nature in the form of rain. But, Drift Africa is an All Weather Company and they were adamant that nothing would get in their way of hosting Round 1 of the Driver Search. Surprisingly 10 drivers pitched up for the challenge and made for an interesting afternoon of fun and excitement as there was a 50/50 split between experienced and inexperienced drivers.


The field was split accordingly into Groups of A & B and regardless to the amount of talent or experience, they must of set a new record for the most amount of 360 spins in one afternoon because as the saying goes, slippery when wet! The days format started off with free practice for all followed by the usually tense qualifying session which included one warm up lap and two single solo runs, from which the judges recorded the best score.


The best scoring top 4 drivers from the qualifying session would then go into the very exciting tandems session while the remaining field would have a repeat of qualifying for overall position. Normally there would be a top 16, but in this case it was understandably adjusted according to the size of the field.


Qualifying Results:

1. Jacques Lemmer - BMW E36 V8.
2. Gianni “Ching” Crowster - Toyota Supra.
3. Shane Green - BMW E30.
4. Derric Engelbreght - BMW E36 Turbo.
5. Jade Bailey – Nissan 200SX.
6. Daniel Blaser – Nissan 200SX.
7. Typie Khan – BMW E30 Turbo.
8. Jonty Ekermans – Ford Escort.
9. Raymond Hearn – Nissan 350Z.
10. Dylan Cothill – DNF – Nissan Sylvia S14.


Well done to all the drivers who qualified as grip level conditions were made a bit more than difficult due to a stream of water running across the Fontini corner. The bottom six drivers battled it out for the final position with Jonty and Typie being very close but in the end it was Typie in his powerful turbocharged BMW who made a mistake which settled that result. It was equally close between the 200SX duo of Jade and Daniel. On Jade’s final run it started to rain and most of us would assume this would naturally be a problem, but in this case it actually helped Jade to link the entire course winning him the title as the best new comer.


The first tandem battle was between Ching and Shane. It was a very evenly matched run with both drivers making multiple mistakes but it was Ching who came out on top and progressed to the final. The second battle was between Jacques and Derrick. Two E36 BMW’s one with a V8 engine and the other with a Turbo BMW engine. Jacques took the win fairly easy as Derrick was unfortunately struggling with low boost issues.


This meant that Derrick and Shane would battle for 3rd place while Jacques and Ching would battle for 1st and 2nd. The battle for 3rd place raised the question of who would make the least amount of mistakes, but ultimately Shane managed to do a better job of mirroring the lead car which gave him the win.


Ching was Mister Consistent all afternoon but when one gets to any final whether it’s big or small pressure becomes a game changer. Jacques kept it cool as his experience from previous competitions showed and he did not make a single mistake. Sadly, Ching’s first mistake of the evening cost him first place.


Results:

1. Jacques Lemmer – 15 points
2. Gianni “Ching” Crowster – 12 points
3. Shane Green – 10 points
4. Derric Engelbreght – 8 points
5. Jade Bailey – 6 points
6. Daniel Blaser – 4 points
7. Jonty Ekermans – 2 points
8. Typie Khan – 0 points
9. Raymond Hearn – 0 points
10. Dylan Cothill DNF – 0 points

We have to thank all our sponsors for making this possible! Falken Tyres, Liqui Moly, Monster Energy Drink, Speed and Sound, The Daily Voice, Raceweb.co.za Online Magazine, Cell u City and 32 International.


September the 1st is the next open practice session for all drivers from 6PM at Killarney Raceway. The next Drift Africa Driver’s Search Round 2 event is on the 8th of September at Killarney in conjunction with the Ford and Friends event.
Hope to see you all there!

Check out the rest of the pics below.