For the third of four back-to-back events held across Europe and the Middle East, the Federal Tyres King of Desert series made its first appearance in Jordan to host the first ever tandem drift event to be held in the region.
Drivers travelled from as far as Japan, Ireland and the UK to participate in the unique Exhibition match which would see them face some of the best drivers in the Middle East, such as the reigning King of Desert Champion, Ahmad Daham.
Despite ‘Senshi’, Daham’s Nissan Silvia which won him the King of Desert title currently unavailable, it didn’t stop him pushing as hard as he could as he once again occupied the top spot during qualification in the BMW E36 he would use for the event.
Saeed Almouri occupied second place in qualifying, just two points behind Daham, driving an incredible V8-powered Toyota GT86, which is yet another extremely exciting addition to the series.
Two drivers returning to the series from Kuwait, Ali Makhseed and Saudi, Abdulhadi AlQuahtani, earned themselves the third and fourth spots respectively, with both drivers once again showing impressive driving throughout.
For the International guests, it would be the only female competitor, Ireland’s Danielle Murphy who would take 12th place, with Japan’s Toni Arakaki in 18th. Due to unfortunate car issues, Julian Smith was unable to place a qualifying lap, rendering him unable to continue in the competition.
With 11 Pro2 competitors also taking part in the event, they would run single runs in a qualification-style format to decide the winner. It would eventually be an entirely Saudi podium as Turki Alzeer took the top spot, with Talal Al Asmi in second and Abdulaziz Bamaas in third.
As the fans packed themselves into the arena to witness the first ever tandem drift battles the country has ever seen, it would be Irish competitor Danielle Murphy who would become the first casualty of the weekend. Despite a clear 7-3 advantage in her lead run, an engine failure during her chase run would end her weekend prematurely, but not before receiving a huge applause from the crowd. Unfortunately for Japanese visitor Toni Arakaki, this would also seal his fate for the weekend with both drivers sharing the E30.
Top qualifier Ahmad Daham would be the next victim, as he too went 7-3 up in his battle against Falah Ajarba, much to the delight of the home crowd. Sadly, once again a mechanical issue would see the local hero and top qualifier take an early exit from the competition.
As we advanced to the Top 4, Abdulhadi AlQahtani’s fine form continued as his Mustang would seal his place in the final after winning both runs against fellow Saudi driver Falah Aljarba.
Ali Makhseed would take an early advantage over Othman Al Takreete, but an unfortunate mistake in his chase run would see him drive off-track, handing the win and a spot in the final to Al Takreete.
With Falah Aljarba’s Camaro taking its place on the start line for the small final, Ali Makhseed’s Supra would be unable to fight for the third spot on the podium, guaranteeing Aljarba the spot.
In an exciting final, it would see Saudi Mustang driver Abdulhadi AlQahtani go up against local driver Othman Al Takreete’s 2JZ BMW E46. With both drivers navigating the track with pinpoint precision, much to the entertainment for the home crowd, it would go to a one-more-time battle.
As AlQuahtani took the 7-3 advantage in the first run, Al Takreete would have to pull something impressive out of the bag to take the win.
With yet another solid run from Al Takreete, and an unfortunate mistake from AlQhatani, the podium was decided.
It would see the local driver Al Takreete take the top spot, much to the delight of the thousands of local fans, with Saudi drivers Abdulhadi AlQahtani and Falah Aljarba occupying second and third.
Official event video to be released shortly
Click here for the full event photo gallery
After yet another incredible round in the desert, we now return to Europe this weekend for the highly anticipated round at yet another brand new circuit to the King of Europe Championship – Oschersleben, Germany. With the series closer than ever and the final guest appearance of the Drift King, Keiichi Tsuchiya from Japan for the 2016 series, this is definitely not a round to be missed!
