JEDDAH, 18 May 2007 — Chevrolet Motorsport announced the launch of a new drifting-style championship at the Jeddah Race Way on Wednesday night.
The Chevrolet Speed Star Championship will conduct its first leg in Jeddah from June 20 to 21 and will move on to Hail and Alkhobar later this year.
"It is my pleasure to announce the launch of the Chevrolet Speed Star Championship, which will bring a controlled and formalized structure to what is popularly known as ‘drifting,’" David Venticich, marketing director, General Motors Middle East, told a press conference.
"As you all know, drifting has come in for a lot of criticism in Saudi Arabia – and rightly so. Exciting as it may be, this is not the kind of driving we encourage on public roads, hence our involvement in transforming it into an organized motor sport discipline. Saudi drivers who are undoubtedly skilled in drifting technique can now find an outlet for their talents on the race-track, and not the highway,” said Venticich told a press conference at the official launch of the championship. Our role is to ensure that safety reigns supreme, and under the auspices of Chevrolet Motorsport, we are confident that the Chevrolet Speed Star Championship will be every bit as exciting as drifting has always been, but with the added advantage of being as safe as it can possibly be,” he added.
Abdullah Bakhashab, the championship promoter and Saudi motor sports champion, explained the details of the new championship and the judging criteria. In all 20 drivers will be selected to participate in the championship, he said, adding that he also expected a large turnout of spectators.
The championship will consist of three rounds. The first will take place in Jeddah, June 21-22; the second in Alkhobar, August 29-30; and the third in Hail, December 5-6. In each round participants will display their drifting-style technique in a twisting track specifically designed for the championship. The races will be judged on time, and drivers will accumulate points from each round with the title awarded to the driver with the most points. As with other Chevrolet Motorsport events in the region, accessibility to the competition is a major focus; to enter the Speed Star Championship a rear wheel or all wheel drive car and the desire to compete are the only requirements.
Over the past year, Chevrolet Motorsport has demonstrated its commitment to developing grassroots motor sports in the region, by sponsoring competitions in drag racing, drifting, Tat’ees, and track racing. With the new Chevrolet Speed Star Championship, Motorsport has successfully implemented the vision articulated last year, and has elevated local motor sports in the region to higher degrees of safety and excitement.
When we launched Chevrolet Motorsport last year, our goal was to identify and support local talent while increasing the accessibility of motor sports. We believe that the Kingdom will play a leading role in shaping the future identity of motor sports in the Middle East-Gulf region, especially since many of our regional motor sport icons ere brought up and trained here, such as Abdullah Bakhashab, Mamdouh Khayat and many others,” Venticich said.
