Is it motorsport? Is it art? Is it theatre?
Whatever you call it, Spinning will set the skies of Cape Town smokin’ this month, as the Red Bull Shay' iMoto comes to Cape Town – for the first time ever! – on March 16, 2024
Billed as South Africa’s premier spinning competition, the event will see the country’s best Spinning drivers take to the tarmac of Century City in a spinning, smoking, free-styling extravaganza.
The sport traces its history back to the townships of Soweto, outside Johannesburg, and is said to have begun as a ritual at funerals during the Apartheid era. Two decades later and spinning has become one of Africa’s most popular motorsports.
Unlike drifting, which adheres to a strict set of rules, ‘spinning’ is all about personal expression, explains Vic Pardal, Sportive Director of Red Bull Shay' iMoto: ‘Spinning is the art of controlling chaos while creating entertainment, just like theatre.’
At Red Bull Shay’ iMoto drivers lock their car into a spin and have two minutes and 30 seconds to complete a course of five obstacles, sliding around obstacles, completing 360-dgree turns in a tight box, spinning close to – but never touching – a wall, and power-sliding along barrels. Close calls, squealing tyres and plenty of smoke comes standard
If the spinner completes the obstacles before their time is up they can show off their freestyle skills, including stunts that see the drivers hang precariously out of the car while it spins in a cloud of smoke. Nervous drivers need not apply! The finale is the tyre pop, but that’s where the driver’s skill comes into play: their round is over once the tyres pop, so timing is everything!
Tickets, via Computicket, are selling fast.
If you love spinning, maybe take a turn past Comic-Con Cape Town.