As the 2016 Federal Tyres King of Nations Drift Championship continues, it would see the competition head to Europe for the first time as we commenced the first of four Exhibition matches which will take place across the World throughout the season.
The local drivers once again turned up in their numbers to have the opportunity to go up against drivers who attended from as far as Dubai for the event. Some of the most well-known drivers from the Federal Tyres King of Europe series also took the opportunity to test and assure that their cars were fully prepared for the European season, which starts in just over two weeks’ time in Poland.
It’s been a year of great weather throughout the King of Nations events, and this round was to be no exception. As the fans enjoyed the sun whilst filling out the main grandstand, the drivers would line up to see who would rank where during qualification.
Francesco Conti would send out an early reminder that he undoubtedly means business this year, pulling off a fantastic qualifying run in his VR38DETT powered Nissan S13 which saw him secure top position on the leaderboard with 91 points. Local driver Joan Caballer was on typically fantastic form and achieved 89 points and handed him 2nd place, with Amerigo Monteverde and Jonathan Hernandez both taking 86 points to achieve 3rd and 4th positions. Samer Khadra, who had attended from Dubai after participating in Round 1 in Fujairah, was unfortunate to have last-minute problems with his car which meant a loss of third gear, but still managed a respectable 15th place.
As the battles got underway, Jordanian driver Samer Khadra would face the local Champion who has often impressed during the King of Europe series, Joan Caballer. After a mistake from Samer in the first run, Joan Caballer would advance to the Top 8.
As we entered the Top 8, Amerigo Monteverde, who took first place during King of Europe last year in Valencia would make a mistake in the first run, giving a 10-0 advantage to Vitor Mota. Despite managing to win the next battle 6-4, it would mean an unlikely early exit. Francesco Conti would continue the fine form he had shown throughout the weekend, which would place him in the Top 4 together with Jonathan Hernandez, Vitor Mota and Joan Caballer.
As Francesco Conti went up against Hernandez, it would be a mistake from Hernandez which would hand Conti a 10-0 first run, Hernandez took a 7-3 win in the second battle but his early mistake cost him the chance to head to the final. Joan Caballer would make a rare mistake which would see him off-track and get 0 points, followed by Vitor Mota again winning the second battle 7-3 to face Francesco Conti in the Final.
As we headed to the small final, it wasn’t to be Joan Caballer’s weekend as he once again left the track, handing a 10-0 advantage to Hernandez. He put up a great fight for the second run, achieving an 8-2 score, but the 2 points would prove valuable to hand Hernandez the podium spot.
In the final which everyone had been waiting for, Francesco Conti would face local driver Vitor Mota, both drivers who had been on fantastic form throughout the weekend. Both drivers would give it their all, but it would appear that the pressure got the best of Vitor Mota after a mistake on both runs would cost him the top spot.
There’s absolutely no doubt that Francesco Conti was the worthy winner throughout the event, taking first place in both qualifying and overall. As we prepare to kick off the 2016 King of Europe season at Kielce, Poland two weeks’ time, Conti will undoubtedly be looking to continue his fantastic form shown this weekend!
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