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Ahead of the start of the 2017 season of Red Bull Car Park Drift competition in Kuwait, the local qualifier drifters have been preparing and rehearsing intensively while equipping their cars with the needed tools in preparation for the competition vying national championship title. What will motorsports lovers witness at Sirbb Circuit during the weekend? What are the secrets for a successful drift that will allow the car driver to represent Kuwait at the Regional Final in Qatar later this year?

Only sixteen participants managed to make it through the qualifier of Red Bull Car Park Drift competition yesterday in Kuwait, and thus earned the chance to drift on Friday during the National Final. The final is organized by Basel Salem Al- Sabah Motorsport Club and is held under the sponsorship of the Public Authority for Sports, and in partnership with Drag 965, GoPro, Acqua Eva, Al-Anbaa Newspaper, Kuwait Times Newspaper, Falken, Shop & Ship and Total. As a first necessity for participation, the car should be a rear-wheel drive not a front-wheel drive; it should have a sports seat and shall meet the safety conditions which were set out by the organizers and which include the driver’s outfit, the helmet, safety belt, etc.

The engine’s power and the tires’ quality play undoubtedly a key role along with the car’s body, equipment and shape. These elements affect, at a certain percentage, the final point that will be given to the participants. Turning to the drifting techniques, and in order for the driver to drift, he should start driving and then steer the wheel quickly to the maximum in the direction of the specified turn on the track, before steering it in the opposite direction to prevent the car’s rotation around itself. It is important to balance the speed to get the mission done and brace for entering the next turn which, before entering, he should steer the wheel again in the opposite direction to straighten the car. The balance game will be essential for drivers who have to follow the specified track with the front of their cars while the rear should be moving in right and left sides according to the drawn destination.

The driver should lose speed as he enters the turn and therefore, he must be ready to press again on the accelerator and maintain the drift movement of the rear of the car. He should also bear in mind that the tires’ friction with asphalt slows down the drift and torque, which brings us back to the key issue of balance between the movement of the steering wheel and the pressure on the accelerator so that the car doesn’t get out of track nor rotate around itself.

The total points given by the referees are 400: 160 points for drift skills, 40 for each of the engine’s roar, the smoke produced by the tires’ friction with the track ground and the car’s rotation around itself in a narrow box within the track, in addition to 60 points for each of the car’s look and the ability to get as close as possible to the cones that delimit the track without colliding with them. It is worth noting that the track, designed by Abdo Feghali, a rally champion and one of the top drift experts in the world, will constitute a main test for those who aspire to win Red Bull Car Park Drift competition. There is no doubt that the details based on which the track was designed as well as the special stages that were added to it, will play a crucial role in determining the identity of the ‘King of Drift’.

Electrifying BMX and Motorbike Shows

The National Final of Red Bull Car Park Drift will feature a side act by the famous Pro Stunt Biker Shadi Al-Dhaheri and a show by BMX Red Bull champion, Mansour Al Safran who presents professional bike shows. His debut was back in 2006 in Red Bull Street Style Championship and one of his remarkable sports achievements was during his participation at the Asian free style tournament in Malaysia 2013 when he won the 3rd place. The Saudi motorsports champion, Shadi Al-Dhaheri, is visiting Kuwait to show his extraordinary skills as part of Red Bull Car Park Drift National Final, including his ability to stand on the bike seat while driving it. Al- Dhaheri started his motorbike shows in 2005 and since then, he developed his talent and skills to become in 2007 the first professional biker to perform in KSA. Shadi will start off his engine today so as to overwhelm the audience with a special round of brilliant shows. Stay tuned to see how he ‘tames’ his motorbike.