Oman International Drift Championship kicks off at Muscat Arena circuit

Seeb: The fifth edition of the Oman International Drift Championship kicked off this evening at the Muscat Arena circuit in the Oman Automobile Association in the state of Seeb, with the participation of more than 50 competitors from the most prominent drift drivers in the world, representing 20 countries: (Sultanate of Oman – UAE – Saudi Arabia – Qatar – Kuwait – Jordan – Syria – Lebanon – Iran – Malaysia – Russia – Lithuania – Latvia – Ukraine – Netherlands – Britain – Ireland – America – El Salvador – Australia).

This international championship hosted by the Sultanate of Oman represented by the Omani Automobile Association comes as the third strongest championship in the world in the sport of drifting, especially since one of the most prominent contestants participating in it is British Steve Bugsy, the title holder of the last edition, who was able to strip Irish James Dean of the title after he kept it. Throughout the first three editions of the tournament, in addition to the names that emerged in the previous edition, such as Ukrainian Timur Lapsky, Lithuanian Benkidesas Cherba and Netherlands’ Clint Van Oort.

The activities of the first day of the race included holding the first round, with the participation of 59 contestants from different countries of the world, including 9 Omani contestants, of which 32 contestants qualified for the round of 16, which will be held tomorrow, Friday. While the second round will start on the 19th and 20th of this month, and the third round will take place on the 9th and 10th of next February, while the tournament will conclude with the fourth and final round on the 16th and 17th of next February.

Fahmi bin Nasser Al Busaidi, Director of the Oman International Drift Championship, said: “This championship is held with the system of collecting points from each of the four rounds, and at the end of it, the winners of the first three places in each round will be crowned and the champion in the overall standings will be crowned.”

He added, “The arbitration in the championship is managed by a committee of veteran referees who are recognized for their competence through their management of many international drift championships. The committee is chaired by Irish referee Keren Haynes, along with Yemeni Waddah Oqba, Dutchman Vernan Zwanfeld, and Omanis Khalid Al-Munji and Saud Al-Rawahi.