‘Spin Army’ thrills Angolan Crowd at Kilamba Motor Show

By Donna Collins
KING of spin Peter “Most Wanted” Opali and his Spin Army from Namibia en­tertained a crowd of over 10 000 screaming fans during last week­end’s annual Kilamba Motor Show held in Luanda, Angola.
The six Namibian spinners from the ‘Most Wanted’ Spin Army were invited and sponsored by the An­golan Street Racers Club (ASRC). The Namibians, who were the headlining act, entertained and showcased their skills against 15 of Angola’s best spinners at a larger modern open air arena. Accompa­nying Opali were; ‘Most Wanted’ driver, Jody, Bennett, Leroy, Ryan, and Damean. Demean drives, co-drives and also does stunts.
According to Opali, the ASRC was looking for some of the best performers in neighbouring coun­tries to help them celebrate two-day Kilamba Motor Show, which comprises a mixture of spinning, drifting, freestyle on bikes, drag races as well as a show and shine.
Opali said that this was the first time Namibian spinners have participated in such a mas­sive cross-boarder event, and that they were treated like “VIP’s”. The Namibians also created a huge impression, and went onto win trophies such as the “Best Enter­tainers of the Day”.
They transported two of their spinning cars to Angola – Opali’s ‘Die Hard’- a BMW E30 325 as well as ‘The Beast’ – a BMW 328. During the second day, one of the organisers gave Opali his BMW V10 M6 high performance to test if he could handle the powerful car – much to his surprise.
Opali also said that they brought the house down with a variety of hair-raising stunts such as the “sui­cide slide”. This is a spin where only the leg is holding onto the steering wheel whilst the entire body hangs outside the moving car.
Other antics on the menu were; the tricky anti-clockwise stunt, which requires jumping out the car on the other side, some high-speed sideways drifting as well as stand­ing on the bonnet. This includes also running across the car whilst still in motion.
“My new trademark move which I have mastered much to the de­light of the crowds, is the “the par­allel park’, which is a high speed parking manoeuvre between two stationary vehicles,” explained Opali. “This requires very skilful handling of the car, and your tim­ing must be precise because there is no room for error. It took quite some time to practise and master this move, because if you don’t have it down properly it can be quite fatal.
“I can honestly say that this was the biggest crowd I have ever per­formed to, and the people came out in their droves. It was also an exciting step in my career, and I feel performing at the internation­al level is something I see myself doing more often in the future. I will of course continue to showcase my act at local spin-shows and oth­er corporate performances along with my Spin Army.
“The Kilamba Motor Show was exceptionally well organised, and I found the Angolan people to be very welcoming and appreciative, continued Opali.”I thank the ASR Club for extending an invitation, and for offering the ‘Most Wanted Spin Army an unforgettable expe­rience of putting Namibia’s spin­ning on the map.”