Mohammad Al Mansouri’s Nissan Silvia S13 put on a memorable show to claim the crown at the Red Bull Car Park Drift UAE qualifier and earn a spot in the final in Kuwait.
The 27-year-old from X-Unit Racing Team improved his total in each of the three heats to earn the top spot on the podium, while team-mate and UAE drifter Mahmoud Al Kamali took second and Jordan’s Jawad Tuffaha finished third.
In total, 44 drivers put their drifting skills on display at Dubai City Walk’s Green Planet on Friday, with the challengers taking on a course that included boxes, gates, the pendulum and a new obstacle, ‘The Buzzer Gate’.
“There were many drifters there, driving carefully and had a lot of power in their cars,” Al Mansouri said.
“There were a lot of drifters who were capable, it was a very good challenge.”
Red Bull champion and legendary drifter Abdo Feghali was also on hand to dazzle the crowd as the event returned to Dubai after taking place in Ajman last year.
The drifters were judged based on their performance on the obstacles, while style points were awarded for the look and design of the car, tire smoke and car sound.
The judging panel included motoring expert Abdulla Jaafari, local auto designer Anthony Jannarelly, Sport360° editor Hasan Draz and Issa Al Sahmsi, who represented the Emirates Motor Sports
Federation.
After feeling out the course in the first heat and netting a modest 277 points, Al Mansouri applied his newfound familiarity with the course by completing nearly flawless runs in the second and third heat, earning 355 and 364 points respectively.
The top three finishers celebrate on the podium.
“In the first heat, the track was very small. In heat two, we learned how to do it,” Al Mansouri said.
“After doing it, you listen carefully and know how to do it. That’s why in heat two we were very careful.”
Team-mate Al Kamali similarly peaked towards the end, manoeuvring the course and avoiding the barriers by just inches to come a hair short of first place.
With the UAE holding the last qualifier before the final in Kuwait on December 8, the list of top drifters is assembled to battle it out for the title of ‘King of Drift’.
Al Mansouri knows the competition for the ultimate prize will be stiff, but is looking forward to representing his home country and showing out in three weeks’ time.
“We will repair the engine in the car next week. We will check all of the car,” he said. “There will be many champions there and I’ll try to challenge them.”
