KUWAIT: In front of 2,500 spectators, Fahad Al Jedei, managed to secure the 2019 Kuwait King of Drift title in an outstanding manner. Second place went to Abdulhadi Hjailan, followed by Saad Al Foudari who rounded the podium.

In celebration of elevens years since the first ever Red Bull Car Park Drift event in Lebanon, drifters competed to clinch the crown. Having had hosted a successful adrenaline-filled Series Final in 2017, Kuwait was, no doubt, in the position to impress thousands of drifting and motorsport fans alike.

Red Bull Car Park Drift wasorganized by Basel Salem AlSabah Motor Racing Club and sponsored by Falken Tyres, Motul, Al Sayer Engineering, Platinum Gym, KTM and Acqua Eva. The day started with motorsport spectators lining up to witness the high adrenaline spectacle and thrown-thirsty drifters going head to head for the coveted title.

The drifters then began the first heat consisting of 14 drifters on a challenging track concocted by Abdo Feghali, previous Guinness World Book Record holder for the longest drift. In an expected turn of events, Ali Makhseed was unable to qualify to the 2nd round due to an unfortunate technical failure. The top 8 who broke through to round 2 were Fahad AlJedei, Abdulhadi Hjailan, Saad Al Foudari, Mohammed Abdulrazzaq, Saad Al Mutayri, Dari Al Shammari, Mohammed Al Sabah and Ali Mussawi. This time, only four would make it to the next round.

Spectators and drifters anxiously awaited the final round and action to resume, to ultimately crown the winner. The final four from round 2, Fahad Al Jedei, Abdulhadi Hjailan, Saad Al Foudari, and Mohammed Abdulrazzaq all went head to head, with one aim; to be crowned the 2019 Kuwait King of Drift.

Consisting of top motorsport and drifting experts and athletes, the judging panel was assigned the task of evaluating the competitors. This year's judging panel table was rounded up by Fouad Abu Arja, experienced motorsports organizer, Mishari Al Sabti, International Relations manager at BMRC, and Issam Al Najadi, rally veteran.

This year the drifters' performance was determined based on car look &design (40 points), drifting skills (120 points), boxes (50 points), spiral (20 points), gate (20 points), flipper (60 points), pendulum (50 points), car sound (20 points), and tire smoke (20 points).

Ultimately, Fahad Al Jadei, edged past the competition and clinched the title with a jaw-dropping performance collecting an impressive 270 points. He was beaming with pride as he held the trophy. Al Jadei will go on to represent Kuwait at the Series Final in September.

Al Jadei will face a fierce challenge for the King of Drift title, competing against drifters from eleven other countries that have participated in the series. The 2019 series kicked off in Kuwait on February1 and the competition will continue with qualifiers in Egypt, United Arab Emirates, Oman, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, Lebanon, Algeria, Mauritius, Tunisia, Morocco, Turkey, Georgia, and Jordan.

With only one drifter from each participating country, Turkey will welcome the 2019 Kuwait King of Drift at the Series Final this September 1 where he will compete to claim the Series Final thrown.

The competition, first hosted by Red Bull in Lebanon, provides 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 Kuwait qualifier witnessed an exciting turnout with Ali Makhseed claiming Kuwait's King of Drift title and continuing to the Series Final in Lebanon. Lebanese competitor, Oliver El Kik, secured the 2019King of Drift crown after a stellar performance, at the Series Final, hosted in Lebanon.

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.