Joey Govender performs brilliantly at Red Bull Car Park Drift
The competition, which makes stops at countries around the globe, acts as a qualifier with the winner gaining the honour of flying the South African flag high in Saudi Arabia, later this year, at the Red Bull Drift World Finals, as they battle against the best drifters in the world.
Chatsworth resident, Joey Govender competed in the Red Bull Car Park Drift competition, representing the community in style as he walked away with a fourth place finish, recently.
The competition, which makes stops at countries around the globe, acts as a qualifier with the winner gaining the honour of flying the South African flag high in Saudi Arabia, later this year, at the Red Bull Drift World Finals, as they battle against the best drifters in the world.
Govender, a veteran of the sport, put on a show for his home crowd, becoming the only KwaZulu-Natal driver to make it to the final four, despite the dreadful weather and niggling belt issues with his custom Nissan 200SX.
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“Qualifying was a trial that made me a bit uneasy as the obstacles, a ball and two flippers, were only placed after the practice runs, resulting in a first qualifying run of disappointment as I missed the ball and one flipper. The pressure was on for the second run as I had to make this one count in order to compete in the main event on Saturday, to represent my city,” explained Govender.
In qualifying, the ‘Pretty Indian’ would place an impressive fifth, lining him up perfectly for Saturday’s event.
“For the main event on Saturday, the track was flooded, but we had to go on with the competition regardless, to compete for the top eight. This was the most emotional experience for me as all the fans and drivers congratulated me on my great driving, but I believed that I might come short and get knocked out, because we only had one run and it was not perfect. However, when my name was announced in third position along with the drivers in the pits and fans all started cheering for me, I was elated, and it brought tears to my eyes. We got to battle again for the top four, and I knew this was not easy as a second spiral was added to the course. We gave it our best shot and to my surprise, I made it into the finals. I began to get nervy though and pushed too hard on my last run, missing the ball and missing one paddle. Part of the reason is also the fact that the track began to dry up as the rain subsided, leaving patches of wet and dry, making it tricky to do exactly what you need to in the car. Overall, however, I am happy with the progress we made and the place that we took. Thank you to all the fans and drivers, who had faith in me and kept cheering me on,” said the proud Shallcross resident.
