Al Amri and Al Jabir top third round of Qatar Drift C’ship
IN a splendid Ramadan evening, where the sounds of engines rose and the heat of competition ignited, the competitions of the third round of the Qatar Drift Championship were held.
This championship is held under the generous sponsorship of His Excellency Sheikh Khalid bin Hamad Al Thani, Chairman of Qatar Racing Club. The round witnessed the participation of a wide elite of champions in this sport, some of whom recorded their first participation in the championship while others had competed in the previous two rounds.
In preparation for this round, the track was opened for testing by the drifters one day before the start of the round. The first day, as usual, was dedicated to qualifying trials, which were held over two sessions. The results ultimately saw racer Ahmed Al Amri score the highest points, marking his first time leading the qualifying trials this season. Ali Al Jabsheh, the leader of the trials in the previous two rounds and a driver for the “Brothers” team, settled for second place in this round.
Following him was Salem Al Sarraf in third place, ahead of Saud Al Attiya. Al Jabsheh’s teammate, Abdullah Al Muhtasib, took fifth place, while Riyadh Al Mabasli claimed sixth place, leaving the seventh and eighth places to Alaa Al Din Zareef and Khalid Al Shafi’i, respectively.
The round saw the participation of 21 racers competing for the sixteen seats qualifying for the elimination rounds, which began on the second day. These rounds witnessed strong confrontations, allowing 8 racers to advance to the second round, which included four head-to-head matchups.
The first match-up was between Ahmed Al Amiri and Yazan Al Jabsheh, ending in favour of the former, who then progressed to the semi-finals to face Mohammed Al Jabir, who had surpassed Abdulhadi Al Hjailan in the same round.
The remaining two matches in the other half of the schedule were highly thrilling and resulted in Ali Al Jabsheh and Salem Al Sarraf advancing to the first semi-final round after defeating Mubarak Al Dousari and Mesiar Abu Shiba, respectively.
After intense competitions in the semi-final round, some of which were replayed due to ties, Al Amri and Al Sarraf made it to the final, where Al Amri was absent due to mechanical issues, allowing Al Sarraf to be crowned champion of this round, while Al Amri settled for second place.
In the match to determine the third and fourth places, racer Mohammed Al Jabir managed to surpass Ali Al Jabsheh after the latter faced some issues, thus securing third place. He won the local championship title, while the second and third places in this category went to Ali Al Jabsheh and with his brother Yazan Al Jabsheh, respectively, on the podium.
At the conclusion of the competitions, His Excellency Sheikh Jabor bin Khalid Al Thani, the Director of Qatar Racing Club, crowned the top three winners on the podium. Additionally, the winners of the top three positions in the local category were also honoured with prizes totaling up to QR100,000 for the champions in both categories, amidst a distinguished presence of the media.
The stage now marks the beginning of preparations for the fourth round, which will take place on Thursday and Friday (March 28 and 29).
Roll Race, 4x4 Freestyle Drifting, and Auto-X
This week would be one of the busiest weeks with racing events at Qatar Racing Club, where the club hosts the Roll Race event immediately after the conclusion of the third round of the Qatar Drift Championship on the following day. Additionally, fans of 4x4 freestyle drifting are in for a treat tonight with the Open Day competitions, following the great success of the Open Track Day hosted by the club last Tuesday. On Monday, the club is scheduled to host the AutoX event for the first time this season on the drift track, featuring a group of sports cars, before the start of the fourth and penultimate round of the Qatar Drift Championship on Wednesday.