If the new Minister of Sports, Arts, and Culture, Gayton McKenzie, gets his way, spinning will be South Africa’s next biggest sport.
Following McKenzie’s appointment, he made a vow that, among other things, he is going to make car spinning one of the country’s major sporting events during his tenure.
“There’s one promise I’ve made: I will make spinning one of the biggest sports in this country. Spinning and stance [customising] are not crimes. Spinning is going to enter the rightful place. To all the spinners, I am here and I’ll make sure you get recognised,” said McKenzie, as quoted by BusinessDay.
“You’ve been treated like dogs. That time is over. We’re going to have massive competitions with big prize money.”
While spinning isn’t illegal, it is regulated by Motorsport SA and may only be done in controlled areas.
Few institutions support the sport at the moment, with Red Bull being one of the biggest promoters.
The energy drink company has hosted its Shay’ iMoto spinning competition in South Africa since 2019, attracting great crowds who are all there to see the biggest names in the game battle it out for prize money and bragging rights.
Credit: Tyrone Bradley/Red Bull Content Pool
A brief history of spinning
Born in the township of Soweto, Gauteng, spinning has been ingrained in South African culture for the better part of 30 years.
It started under the apartheid regime as a funeral rite for gangsters, a way for them to honour their fallen compatriates, and evolved from there into the full-blown sport we see today.
Spinning is not so much drifting in a traditional sense; it’s more like doing wild burnouts whilst sliding and gyrating around in a souped-up car while your passenger – or passengers – hang out of the window and perform daring stunts to woo the audience.
Credit: Craig Kolesky/Red Bull Content Pool
It’s not all random, either.
For instance, at Red Bull’s Shay’ iMoto event, the drivers must follow a set routine that takes them around barrels, into tight parking bays, and through other obstacles which must all be done in a specific amount of time.
If they finish before the clock runs out, they spend their final moments in the limelight doing freestyle manoeuvres to earn the crowd’s favour.
It may not always look it, but it takes incredible skill, persistence, and guts to master the dangerous art of spinning.
Credit: Craig Kolesky / Red Bull Content Pool
Fans of the sport laud it for being accessible to the masses, both as a participant and a spectator.
Unlike more traditional motorsports that are generally too expensive for the vast majority of enthusiasts to get into themselves, spinning can be performed in virtually any rear-wheel-drive car regardless of price, power, age, or condition, and on any smooth surface.
Today, it is done both legally on closed tracks and illegally in the streets; and enjoyed by all manner of fans from all backgrounds, races, and social castes.
While it is still not a mainstream sport, spinning has attracted big crowds and big money all yearning to see the death-defying stunts.
McKenzie hopes that by putting more attention on spinning, it can keep the younger fans off the streets and out of trouble, whilst providing those who have committed their entire being to the sport to reap the benefits thereof.
Headline image credit: Mpumelelo Macu/Red Bull Content Pool
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