Saturday 04 / May / 2024
The tyres on the cars are shrieking as the drivers jerk their car sideways at nearly 90mph on the specially designed track by Red Bull Athlete and Rally Champion Abdo Feghali at the premises of Oman Automobile Association in Seeb.
Walls are closing in on either side, leaving no room for mistakes.
As the turns near, drivers pump the clutch and pull the hand brake. The rear wheels lose traction, sending the car into a power slide while unleashing a flood of smoke into the packed grandstands.
The move brings nearly 1,000 fans and spectators to their feet. This is what they came to see: Drifting. In the terrifying and smoky showdown, Ali Al Balushi was crowned Oman’s ‘King of Drift’ for the fourth consecutive year at the Red Bull Car Park Drift Oman Qualifier.
The champion drifter, after taking first place with 387 points, will go on to represent Oman in front of a home crowd at the finals hosted by the Sultanate in December.
Second place was awarded to first time competitor Haitham Al Hadidy (385 points) and third place to Tarek Al Shaihani (382 points). At just 18 years of age, Haitham Al Hadidy took second place just two points behind Ali Al Balushi.
Born on the streets of Japan in the 1970s, competitive and street car drifting is quickly becoming a must-have passenger or viewer experience. Drifting has nothing to do with racing. There’s no checkered flag. It’s more like figure skating than speed skating, with a four-judge panel awarding points based on speed, angle of attack, and style.
Drifting requires a particular set of skills, including outstanding reflexes, exceptional hand and feet coordination and the ability not to lose focus.
They take points away for going off course, running into course markers — including walls and for driving straight. The goal is to control the car as it slides sideways around turns, as if on ice, at full throttle.
The Red Bull Car Park Drift Oman Qualifier, now in its seventh year, showcased 16 of the Sultanate’s most skilful drifters as they battled it out at speed on the twists and turns of a challenging track.
For car drifting the Japanese automobile are often favourites such as Nissan, Mazda, and Toyota.
Speaking after being announced as the winner, Ali Al Balushi said: “I’m so happy to take home first place for the fourth year. I can’t wait to compete for the regional title in front of all my family, friends, and supporters in December. At the finals last year I came second, I promise this year it will be first.”
“It was an amazing experience and I feel so happy to have won second place in my very first competition,” said the young drifter Haitham Al Hadidy.
The drifter’s skills were put to the test as the judges evaluated their every move. The judges looked for an impressive exterior and smoke, how accurately the competitors followed the track, how well they continuously drifted, and much more.
Red Bull Car Park Drift is considered as the region’s greatest drifting event and a highlight of the Middle East’s motorsports calendar. It showcases the top drifters from across the region and aims to bring the public closer to the world of action sports. –[email protected]
