TSHWANE – In late September New Zealand drifting racer ‘Mad’ Mike Whiddett thrilled fans when he travelled to Cape Town and Johannesburg to feature as the main attraction at the ‘Wheels of Fury ‘and ‘Supadrift’ events.
He was also in the country to film his latest drift project, a short film entitled ‘Conquer the Cape’.
“The drive itself was just crazy,” Whiddett said. “I can compare it a bit to ‘Conquer the Crown’ – a very successful project we did back in New Zealand that was a game-changer for drifting because of the credibility the sport got for the precision driving (which has amounted over 5 million views on YouTube to date). The scenery is very similar, but this road was far more raw, with massive cliff-drops and not much run-off. Not much space for error.”
The Mazda, which travelled directly from the UK to South African shores, is one of five cars in Whiddett’s stable and pushes some 800 horsepower to its tyres. “You know it is one thing with drifting to have heaps of power, but we actually have to have that much power to overcome the amount of grip,” Whiddett explains. “As much as drifting looks like it’s all about just having heaps of power and no grip, it’s actually quite the opposite.”
– African News Agency
