Johannes Hountondji, Red Bull athlete and half of the famous European duo — the Driftbrothers, was impressed by what Jamaica had to offer when he made his first visit to the island for the 2022 Red Bull Car Park Drift Competition.

“I’m so impressed by the Jamaican automotive scene. I arrived at the airport. Taxi picked me up, style. Next thing I see, style, rims, low, stance, everything. You guys have so much style here in your automotive scene. You have so much enthusiasm, and then the level of driving really surprised me,” Hountondji told the Jamaica Observer‘s weekly Auto magazine.

The event was held on Saturday, October 1 at the Catherine Hall Sports Complex, Montego Bay and was the national qualifier for the world championship scheduled for Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, in December.

“Looking at the cars, I was in love already because you guys have stuff we just don’t see that often. Lovely cars. And the driving level really, really impressed me. Not only technically clean, because we’ve seen two or three close to perfect, no mistake runs tonight, which is very rare to happen,” he continued.

Hountondji’s role was to provide support and advise the competitors, while putting on a show for the fans in between rounds.

“I’m super impressed and I cannot wait to see how Jamaica gets along in the world finals,” he said.

A German national, with an African father, Hountondji credits his love for the sport of drifting to winter driving with his uncle who had a Ford Capri at a young age. As a teenager he would drive in the hills around his home, until he rekindled his affection for getting a car sideways. He and his younger brother Elias were able to form a partnership with BMW and its M Division last year to produce drift competition versions of the M4 coupé.

“It’s a lifelong dream that came true last year for us. We got to join forces with BMW M, and built two brand new G82 M4s, with the S58 engine in them pushing around 1100, 1200 horsepower with 1300Nm of torque. And they’re taking the punishment.”

Hountondji defined drifting as keeping a car in the bandwidth between grip and traction to maintain a sideways angle. He explains the appeal beyond that of just speed and technical ability, to that of an art as it’s the only motorsport judged on style.

“Basically drifting is all about car control, and then you add the driving style. There’s no other motorsport on four wheels where driving style is a judging criteria. Drifting is very special, very unique, you don’t have to be a motorsports person to like it,” he said.

So enamoured with the display put on by Jamaica, Hountondji hopes to make it to Jeddah for the world finals to see, cheer on, and possibly assist local winner Nicholas Barnes.