Drifting
Red Bull Car Park Drift Back to Kuwait for the Qualifier!
Only a couple months since welcoming elite drifters competing for the 2017 King of Drift crown at the Red Bull Car Park Drift Final, Kuwait is ready to rev-up its engines for the 2018 qualifier.
Red Bull Car Park Drift is organized by Basel Salem AlSabah Motor Racing Club and is sponsored by Total, Falken Tyres, Drag 965, and Acqua Eva. Media partner, Kuwait Times will cover this popular event.
Over 2,500 spectators will visit SIRBB Circuit on Friday, March 9, to witness thrown-thirsty drifters go head to head for the coveted title. With only one drifter from each participating country, Lebanon will welcome the 2018 Kuwait King of Drift at the Series Final this September 22 where he will compete to claim the Series Final thrown.
Kuwait’s drifter will face a fierce challenge for the King of Drift title, competing against drifters from ten other countries that have participated in the series. The 2018 series kicked off in Oman on January 26 and the competition has continued since then with qualifiers in UAE and Egypt. Qualifiers will continue in Qatar, Tunisia, Turkey, Morocco, Algeria, Jordan, Mauritius, and Lebanon.
The competition, first hosted by Red Bull in Lebanon, is back providing drifting amateurs and professionals with the opportunity to highlight their skills and compete for the crown, while capturing the crowd’s attention. Last year’s final in Kuwait witnessed an exciting turnout, with Kuwaiti drifter, Ali Makhseed, claiming the King of Smoke by Falken Tyres title. Omani competitor, Refaat Al Yahyai, secured the King of Drift crown after a stellar performance.
Lebanon hosted the first ever Red Bull Car Park Drift event in 2008 making it possible for all underground drifters to put their skills to the test, and placed the spotlight on rally champion Abdo Feghali, making him a drifting legend.
On a global level, the story of drifting goes back to the 1960s on winding Japanese mountain roads. A bunch of likeminded racers set out to beat their A to B times by exceeding the grip limit of their tires when taking sharp corners. It did not do much to help their racing times but instead evolved into an entirely different discipline. Drifting was born, and a Red Bull manager discovered the sport in 2005 and decided to spark a fire in the Middle East, a fire that still burns to this very day.