Abdullah al-Qahtani emerged winner in the third round of the Freestyle Drifting Championship, which commenced after a break of over three and a half months under the generous sponsorship of HE Sheikh Khalid bin Hamad al-Thani, Chairman of Qatar Racing Club (QRC).
Registration and technical inspections saw widespread participation from the freestyle champions, with over 50 competitors joining, although the organising committee had set a maximum number of 40 participants for this round.
However, in the interest of fostering strong competition, all were allowed to register. It is worth noting that the organising committee had established several criteria and conditions that all competitors must meet, including vehicle-related requirements such as the installation of a roll cage, securing the car battery properly, among other points.
There were also requirements for the competitors themselves, focusing on safety elements such as sportswear, helmets, and effective seatbelts.An informational meeting for competitors with the organisers and the judging committee took place before the competition began, during which several important technical aspects were clarified before the race started. According to the competition structure, each participant is given one opportunity to enter the track and perform five manoeuvres: drifting, reverse driving, knot move, and reverse spin.
These are to be completed within a total time of four minutes. The quicker the competitor completes these manoeuvres, the more points they earn. Additionally, there is a specific scoring for style, based on how the competitor performs the overall show and the specific manoeuvres. The competition, which lasted for over four hours, resulted in al-Qahtani winning first place, marking his second consecutive victory and his third podium appearance, having previously finished third in the opening round. Mohammed al-Muhannadi repeated his results from the past two rounds by finishing in second place. The third place in this round went to Mohammed al-Farhan, marking his first podium finish of the season.
Abdulrahman al-Shammari finished in fourth place, ahead of the opening round winner, Rashid al-Banna, who concluded the competition in fifth place. At the end of the competition, Sheikh Jabor bin Khalid al-Thani, General Director of QRC, awarded the top three winners on the podium, thus concluding the third round of the championship and marking the beginning of preparations for the fourth round, scheduled to take place on April 24 and 25.