BRIDGESTONE Middle East and Africa (BSMEA) announced its partnership with Red Bull for this year's Red Bull Car Park Drift. As official sponsors of the drift tournament, they will supply Red Bull athlete Abdo Feghali with Bridgestone tires during his races and demonstrations. “We are really excited to be sponsoring the Red Bull Car Park Drift as it was one of the best platforms to connect with consumers in thrilling environment,” said Daisuke Hotta, General Manager – Consumer Tire Marketing, Bridgestone MEA. “The sponsorship couldn't have come at a better time, as we recently witnessed Abdo Feghali obliterate the world record for longest vehicle drift using Bridgestone tires. We would also like to wish all the qualifiers the best of luck as they take to the tracks to battle it out in true drift style, and look forward to meeting the next drift king.” Feghali doubled the previous Guinness World Record by continuously drifting 11,180 meters, which took 14 minutes and 18 seconds to drift 43 laps around a custom track at YAS Marina Circuit in Abu Dhabi. The 2013 series will start with two qualifiers and a final in the UAE will kick off the series. Then, six qualifiers and a final in Saudi Arabia along with events in Bahrain, Kuwait, Jordan, Lebanon, Egypt, and Oman will determine which drifters are worthy of competing in the energy-intense regional final and represent their nations in a quest to discover the next King of Drift. And for the first time ever to increase the competition, the Red Bull Car Park Drift regional final will feature a Double Drift Nations Cup. To top it up, judging will take on a whole new level with a state-of-the-art app to mark each drifter's performance in speed traps, clipping points, car appearance, crowd reaction, and tire smoke. The sponsorship also follows Bridgestone recent announcement as the Official Tire of Dubai International Motor Show 2013 on Nov. 5-9 at the Dubai World Trade Centre. — SG
