Gymkhana Grid hits Wembley

You’re probably thinking is ‘what in the name of holy horsepower is Gymkhana Grid?’. You might also be wondering how you say ‘gymkhana’.

Pronounced ‘jim-karn-ah’, this latest form of motorsport – conceived in 2013 – is all about speed and precision. It sees drivers negotiate a square 100 metre by 100 metre course (hence the ‘grid’ part) as fast as possible using a pre-determined sequence of drifts, figure-eights, donuts and slaloms.

Aside from physical driving skills, Gymkhana Grid also demands intense mental training. Drivers need to be able to memorise the quick and crazy course if they are to stand any chance of setting the quickest time.

Whoever said that cars can’t be gymnasts never told this lot. It’s rapid, rowdy, a little bit dirty and when it came to north-west London on the weekend of 16th and 17th July, we went along with a camera to catch all the action. With Saturday’s proceedings closed to the public for practice and qualifying, all of these shots are from Sunday.

This qualifier, pitched in the shadow of Wembley Stadium’s famous arches, would see the winner of the rear-wheel drive class and the top three from the all-wheel drive category secure a spot in the 2016 Gymkhana GRiD European Gauntlet Finals, which will be held in Athens at the end of October.

By the end of the day, those drivers were Adam Elder, with Matt Miller, Yordan Andreev, and Jonathan Buck comprising the all-wheel drive top three.

Gymkhana Grid is open to any driver who thinks they have what it takes to get round the course in the quickest time – because competitors have to fine-tune their cars to have any hope of success, the event is flush with highly modified cars.

It isn’t all about winning though, plenty of drivers – not to mention riders – just want to put on a show.

Gymkhana was brought to the world stage by Ken Block with his insane YouTube clips which have amassed over 270 million YouTube views. One clip – which sees him blitzing around the streets of San Francisco – has pulled in more than 85 million views alone.

Few more shots from the event:

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