THERE was no shortage of drama at the second instalment of the 2014 Auto Trader SupaDrift Series held at Dezzi Raceway in Oslo Beach last Saturday.
There was adrenaline aplenty as the 34 drivers tore across the racetrack at high speed, pushing their tyre-shredding skills to the limit in a bid to qualify for the top 16.
The South Coast favourite Shane Gutzeit failed to qualify following a crash during practice, which opened the door for other drivers.
Perhaps Shane had his mind on his rapidly-approaching wedding.
Auto Trader CEO George Mienie said the track’s blind initiation and long first corner proved difficult, with drivers needing to up their speed to over 100km/h in order to carry through the entire corner.
There was controversy in the quarter-finals, with Jim McFarlane protesting against Jonathan Rudman for his ‘slow tactics’ during his initiation.
After knocking McFarlane out, in what was dubbed the best battle of the day, Rudman proceeded to the semi-finals.
Not even the fading afternoon light could slow him down and he subsequently took first place overall.
Jason Webb was placed second and Paulo Gouveia took third place.
A broken tie-rod end on the last corner forced last months’ winner, Speed & Sound and Border Towing driver Wade van Zummeran, to retire after his quarter-final run against KZN drifter, Paulo Gouveia.
“Part of what makes the series so exciting is that no two events are ever the same,” said Turn 1 Wheels spokesman and series sponsor, Louis Joubert.
“Today was proof of that, with drivers having to constantly push to get a good line and to get in front.” For more photos, visit our gallery.
