The first Gymkhana Drifting Championship-SGC was recently held in Jeddah, with the eye popping, ear shattering and heart stopping roar of a 400BHP Subaru WRX. The event took place on the grounds of the RC Take off club, next to the Aviation Club in front of Red Sea Mall. All drivers were required to wear Fire retardant racing suits and have roll cages in their cars. The spectators were also well protected by three different walls and fences. The Subaru WRX was testing its might against an equally loud Mitsubishi Lancer EvoX; the challenge? Finish the elaborate track of twirling twists and hairpin turns in the fastest time possible. The awards? A Ford Mustang V6 for 1st, SR20,000 for 2nd and SR10,000 for the 3rd place. The Saudi Gymkhana Championship- affiliated with the official Gymkhana Grid – is being organized by Abdul Hadi AlQathani, the driver of the AlJazira Motors Racing team. It's in no way an easy feat to accomplish, bringing together in one place nearly 20,000 BHP, 3 dozen cars, 3000 liters of petrol and not to forget about 300 hot-blooded tweens with enough testosterone to turn a 2 year old into the Hulk. ALQathani said the purpose of SGC was to bring “together drivers and enthusiasts from all over KSA to a safe environment where they could freely and legally, experience their passion. It was the very purpose of this event, by providing a safe venue for the youths to spend their energies instead of it causing problems on the roads.” This was the perfect opportunity for new drivers or amateurs to come and refine their skills so they can compete at bigger contests international and hopefully bring pride to their country, he added. He said next year AlJazirah Motors is planning for an even larger event and they are hoping that the prizes set this time would encourage more people to take part in this event. There were two different categories: the RWD (rear wheel drive) and the AWD (all-wheel drive) category. From the qualifying rounds held in Riyadh and Dammam where there were up to 60 cars per category, the grueling knockout stage was left with only 8 in each category. What was perhaps even more interesting was that anyone with a RWD or AWD sports car could take part in the competition. The SGC would provide basic initial training in order to ensure that these drivers would act responsibly on and off the track, and not take part in illegal street racing. After which the drivers were free to take part in the races. One of the most spectacular performances was put on by the Hyundai team, in a pale blue Genesis. It performed some of the most fluid and well-practiced slides and turns, the car did not stop for a second the entire time it was on track, sliding gracefully from one corner to the next, amazing the crowd and eliciting huge cheers. — By Jawad Fazal
