With the immense popularity of spinning and drifting, how could I say no to an opportunity graciously offered to CAR by Tracktion Driving Experiences for a two-hour drifting experience. Even with 18 years of experience as a motoring journalist, getting a car sideways is not something that comes naturally to me.
The author and the two Nissan 350Zs of Tracktion Driving Experiences on the Killarney Spinning Pitch.
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The offer was especially tantalizing given that through my experience so far racing in the 2025 GR Cup season with Toyota Gazoo Racing South Africa, the next challenge is to learn to understand the concept of rotation and how important that is on circuits to keep the racecar moving (with the steering wheel straight) as fast as possible.
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I’m a dab hand at a few PlayStation titles like Dirt Rally 2.0 and various Need for Speed games, let me start by saying that I knew absolutely nothing about drifting or spinning. The closest I’ve come to the action has been to attend a few events in and around Cape Town as a spectator many years ago. My eager anticipation was paired with a healthy dose of nerves early one morning when I got to the spinning pitch at Killarney International Raceway.Tracktion’s Faizal Jacobs and Ernest Page would be the instructors for me and my driving partner, fellow racer and Wiele2Wiele presenter Jeanette Kritzinger. Our tools for the day were two Nissan 350Zs, with the only modifications being locked differentials, free-flowing exhaust, and driver aids permanently disabled.
Paired up with Faizal, my first exercise was rotating the car 90 degrees. This is relatively straightforward. Coming up wide of one of the two cones laid out on the pitch, it was right hand down on the steering wheel and throttle pedal flat to the floor. The 350Z’s abundance of torque is ample for the simple exercise and was the easiest of the three. Interestingly, the car stops immediately after lifting off the throttle. Because my instinct is to turn into from the oversteer, just a few degrees of opposite lock is something I couldn’t shy away from.
Trying to drift from one cone to another
With the first box ticked quite quickly, the next exercise appeared fairly soon. Faizal next demonstrated perfect circles around one of the cones on the pitch. The setup is similar to the first exercise, but this time the throttle input varied depending on how far from the cone I was. This is where I discovered how counter-intuitive sliding around corners is – or at least the intention of sliding around things. You have to let go of the steering wheel when you feel the rotation, then turn in, and lastly counter based on what you’re feeling. Easier said than done, and something you have to feel through the bottom of the car.
The next step would be to try and chain the two cones together, though the exercise would be broken up by treating the two objects as separate exercises – cruising up to the one, spinning around it, and then cruising up to the next one and spinning around it in the opposite direction. Towards the end of this step, the desire to chain them together in a continuous drift was strong, though object fixation had set in. By looking at the cones, I naturally turned in toward them, and by getting too close, I messed up the setup for the next one. Swapping instructors, Ernest had me practising the first exercise by “concentrating on the 90” which opens up the angle of attack for the next cone.
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This clean, continuous slide is what the aim was by the end of the two-hour session, and Jeanette and I had completed the exercises above leaving almost an hour to try and get the last one right. Again, I had to fight my natural instinct by aiming for the walls of the pitch – which is essentially getting The 90 right, and then pulling hard on the steering and jabbing the throttle to slide into the next cone, letting go of the wheel, catching it, jabbing the throttle more, letting go of the wheel and catching it while sliding around the second cone. This is all about feel, and using the inertia to tell you what to do next.
Strapping in with Faizal Jacobs of Tracktion Driving Experiences.
By the end of the session, I’d completed a few neat 8s, but still felt that I could have been smoother. Perhaps a follow-up session is needed. But the day’s exercises did open my eyes to the difficulty of spinning and drifting. Basically, getting a car out of control and controlling the situation by keeping the car out of control. The sessions will set you back R3 850 per person if you use one of the Tracktion 350Zs, but if you want to use your own rear-wheel drive vehicle, it only costs R2 200.
Tracktion also offers high-performance driving courses around Killarney if drifting is not your thing, so get in contact with them here or Facebook or Instagram if you want to find out more.
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The post Back To School: Drifting with Tracktion Driving Experiences appeared first on CAR Magazine.
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