Red Bull Shay’iMoto 2024: Cape Town Set to Host South Africa's Premier Spinning Competition

The pulse of Cape Town's motorsport scene is set to quicken as the prestigious Red Bull Shay’iMoto spinning competition zooms into the Mother City for the first time on March 16, 2024. Enthusiasts are abuzz with the return of an event that celebrates the skill, precision, and flair of spinning, a form of motorsport that has deep cultural roots in South Africa.

The Red Bull Shay'iMoto competition has become a highlight of Mzansi's spinning calendar, and this year, it is poised to be more explosive than ever. A panel of judicious selectors has culled through hundreds of video submissions to handpick fifteen of the finest spinners who will join the fray alongside defending two-time champion Sam Sam Thubane.

These sixteen gladiators of the tarmac, drawing from Johannesburg, Gqeberha, Mozambique, the Free State, North West, and dominatingly, Cape Town, will assemble at Canal Walk for a showdown of dexterity and entertainment. Intent on scorching the course with their audacious tyre-burning capabilities, they face an arena of challenge and showmanship orchestrated by legendary figures of the sport.

The course is an adrenaline-fueled masterpiece, with sections such as “the kitchen”, “the target slide”, and “the make-out corner”, all designed to test the limits of car control and driver audacity. Such intricate segments are set to offer the audience a cornucopia of unforgettable visual spectacles.

Spinning, tracing its lineage back to the heart of Soweto in the 1980s, has transcended its community origins to become a national sensation, with Cape Town now counted among its strongholds. This transition to mainstream recognition is epitomized by local talents like Eddie Rasta and Yaseen Damon, who have successfully competed at the semi-final level in past Red Bull Shay'iMoto events.

Sam Sam, eager to secure his legacy with a third consecutive win, expressed his excitement: "Every year presents a new canvas upon which we spinners paint our artistry. Cape Town presents an invigorating new backdrop that I relish competing against."

For Capetonians like Yaseen Damon, the event also represents a homecoming - an opportunity to exhibit the finesse of spinning to an uninitiated audience. Spinning, often misconceived as reckless street hooliganism, is instead an intricate sport of measured risk and method. "This competition is an invitation to the unacquainted – come and witness the intensity, the control, the strategy that spinning encompasses," Damon explained.

The night of the competition will not only hinge on the performances of the spinners but also the discerning eyes of the judges — Veejaro, Jeff James, Magesh Ndaba, Shahiem Bell, and the collective voice of the live audience, who will together anoint the deserving Red Bull Shay’iMoto 2024 champion.

Amongst those aiming at the title are standouts like Austin Kruger, the high-flying Dylan Brough, and the ever-daring Llewelyn “Loopy” Labert, who are expected to turn heads with their bold displays. Newcomers and seasoned practitioners alike, the list includes the likes of Chadwin “Boskie” Hadjie, Mckeenan Du Plessis, and Justin “Bremors” Williams, to name a few.

All in all, the Red Bull Shay'iMoto 2024 event is shaping up to be not just a competition but a cultural showcase, signaling the growth and acceptance of spinning as a bona fide motorsport discipline in South Africa’s vibrant landscape.