Spinning Sensation at Spring Spin Festival

The Spring Spin Festival was definitely an event you didn’t want to miss.

Hosted by Global Entertainment and Raw Aces Windhoek, the festival, which took place last weekend, had all the ingredients to cook up a petrol-head’s perfect day.

With the smell of burnt rubber in the air, music blasting, engines rumbling, tyres screeching and of course all the death-defying acts happening in the notorious box-shaped BMWs.

The event took place at Cash Carry in Windhoek’s northern industrial area, where spin lovers gathered to see the BMWs – or as they’re affectionately known, the gusheshes – in action.

The South African and Namibian drivers not only pleased with their drifting abilities, but had a variety of stunts up their sleeves that were performed to the entertainment of the fans. In certain tricks, the passengers riding with the drivers would jump out of the vehicle or run around in the arena while the car was spinning.

Other drivers had their ‘stuntmen’ ride on the bonnets or on the roof of the car, or sit in a chair in a ring of fire while the car was spinning around him. All of these may have seemed insane at first, but as the show went on, you realised these weren’t amateurs and the stunts were carried out professionally.

Occasionally a tyre would pop, but that did not deter the drivers and the sparks flying from the metal hitting the concrete just added a little more ‘spark’ to the moment.

Although the spin festival wasn’t a competition and rather for the enjoyment of the crowd, one could sense the rivalries among the drivers, as some of them entered the arena two or three at a time to try and out play the others’ efforts. With the cars coming inches from hitting each other, this could arguably have been the most dangerous of all the performances, but the fans really enjoyed it.

Santangelo Talliaard, one of the onlookers, said this part was his favourite, and described the show as just being awesome as it was his first time attending. Another of the fans, Ieuan van Kent, named the South Africans his favourites and said they were by far the better performers.