South African car-spinning and drifting champion Katlego Mokgoshi, popularly known as King Katra, has arrived in Uganda for the three-day East Africa Smoke and Steel Championship at Banana Resort Beach in Njeru. The championship has attracted more than 20 drivers from Uganda, Kenya and South Sudan, with Katra joining the regional competitors as the event seeks to promote spinning and drifting as organised motorsport rather than street racing.
Katra, 26, will compete in a BMW E30 and face Uganda’s spinning and drifting champion Markson Joseph Kawesa, popularly known as Manjoe. Katra started spinning at the age of 14 and has spent the past 12 years developing his skills in the sport.
His performances and behind-the-scenes content shared on social media have earned him more than 400,000 followers across various platforms. He said he was impressed by the efforts of Uganda’s motorsport community to develop spinning and drifting and viewed the championship as an opportunity to help professionalise the sport in the region.
Katra said the growth of organised competitions could create a lasting motorsport culture for young people rather than leaving spinning associated mainly with street racing.
He said his team had studied Uganda’s spinning scene and was looking forward to competing against local drivers.
Katra’s arrival adds an international dimension to a sport that has been gaining popularity in Uganda after years of informal street racing, particularly in Kampala and other major towns.
His main local challenger will be Manjoe, who won Uganda’s inaugural spinning and drifting championship last year after defeating Jin Lu.
Manjoe, a professional mechanic and motorsport spare-parts dealer, developed an interest in modifying cars for spinning from an early age, having grown up in a family involved in the motor vehicle business.
He later spent several years in South Africa, where he interacted with professional spinning drivers and gained experience in a country where the sport has developed into a major motorsport entertainment discipline.
After returning to Uganda, Manjoe combined his mechanical skills, spare-parts business and experience in spinning to promote the sport locally.
He described Katra as an important challenger who could help demonstrate how far Uganda’s spinning and drifting scene has developed.
The East Africa Smoke and Steel Championship is being organised by the Federation of Motorsport Uganda (FMU) in partnership with the Eastern Motor Club (EMC).
The organisers are seeking to establish spinning and drifting as part of Uganda’s organised motorsport calendar while encouraging enthusiasts to abandon street racing and participate in controlled competitions.
The organisers say the event will also emphasize safety, with professional stewards and police deployed at the venue to manage the competition and protect spectators and participants.
The three-day championship at Banana Resort Beach in Njeru is expected to bring together drivers and motorsport enthusiasts from across the region, with organizer’s hoping the event will contribute to the continued development and professionalization of spinning all-URN. Give us feedback on this story through our email: kamwokyatimes@gmail.com
