February 1st -Kuwait City, Kuwait: Professional drifting has come a long way over the past 10 years, growing from being a new and unseen before form of motorsport, to one of the most widely known and acclaimed ones on the planet. With continuous efforts made by multiple organizations around the world, and especially by King of Europe, the sport has overcome many boundaries, and has attracted professional drivers and fans all around the globe.
For the first time ever, King of Europe has launched a World Drift Championship, entitled King of Nations, with support coming from professional drifting entities all over the world, and also from the founding father of the sport, Keiichi Tsuchiya from Japan. As the Middle East has become a thriving area for drifting in recent years, with active drivers in almost each and every country in the region, the location for round 1 was set for the United Arab Emirates, not far from the ever so popular city of Dubai.
More than 1000 kilometers away, in Kuwait City, professional drifter Mubarak Al Rumaidhi knew he could not miss out on the opportunity of competing in the event, in his freshly rebuilt Auto1 Motorsports Nissan 350Z, the same machine that had previously crowned him champion of Kuwait. As standards in the world of drifting have risen considerably, the original V6 unit was swapped out in favor of a larger, more capable Chevrolet V8 engine, capable of sending 420 horsepower to the rear wheels. With a T56 transmission also being fitted to the car, these would be the first steps towards bringing the car to a seriously competitive level, while passing through an initial R&D phase at first.
The event attracted more than 40 top level pro drifters coming from 13 different countries around the world, and with a ultra fast and technical layout, some very difficult battles were about to be fought throughout the two days of competition. The first day of competition was reserved for practice and qualifying, and Mubarak knew he’d have to do the best he could in order to secure his spot in the Top32 battles on Friday.
“I think the track is really amazing, it’s very fast and technical at the same time, with 6 inner clipping points. This is the first competitive outing for the new setup on the car and I was happy to see that even the gearing worked just fine with the layout. With Tsuchiya-san working as the main judge for the race, I went into qualifying aiming to do the best I could! Even though some mechanical problems came into play, as I could feel that the engine was loosing power, we still managed to secure a spot for the Top32 battles on Friday, by taking 27th place overall.” said Mubarak just after the qualifying results were announced.
As day one came to an end, all of the drivers still in the race were starting to already focus on day two and the ensuing battles. With the main event taking place on a Friday, thousands and thousands of fans showed up to the Sheikh Palace Square in Fujairah, anxiously waiting to see the race unfold in front of their eyes. The tension was at an all-time high as Mubarak Al Rumaidhi tried to get as much tsuiso practice as possible throughout the day, leading to his Top32 battle against Ali Albalushi and his high power Nissan RPS13. But as always with a newly built car, unexpected things can happen, especially after two days of continuous, competitive driving: ” I probably had about 2 hours of solid tsuiso practice just before the battles and I was feeling great, and it seemed like the car was all right as well.
But just as I left the start line for my first run against Ali, I experienced sudden engine issues, and was unable to go on with the race. We came to Round 1 of King of Nations to make our first steps on the international drifting scene, to learn the new setup and to at least qualify for the Top32 battles. While the competitive part of me would have wanted to advance at least to the Top16, I am still somewhat content with the outcome of the race, and I will surely be back with newly found strength for the next race” said Mubarak.
Furthermore, looking forward to remaining calendar of events for 2016, Mubarak said: ” I would like to thank all of my sponsors for their support, and for trusting in my passion and devotion towards this sport. The road towards achieving great results is never easy, but I believe that with consistency and determination everything is possible”
- AUTO1: https://www.instagram.com/auto1kuwait/
- GoodRide Tires: http://www.goodridetire.com/
- Full Boost Q8 Workshop: https://i.instagram.com/fullboost_q8/
- Kuwait Motoring Company: https://www.instagram.com/kmckuwait/
- V-KOOL: http://www.vkoolkuwait.com/
Photo’s By: 9EPIC