JEDDAH, 2 April 2008 — Sayeed Al-Moori won the final round of Chevrolet Speed Star competition held at Durat Al Arous in north Jeddah over the weekend.
In his V6 BMW Z3 car, he led the podium winners clocking the best time of 00:48:656 on the second day.
Al-Moori, a phenomenon in motor sport, charged through the grueling qualification process and emerged winner on the first day and stayed on the top in the round.
Not only Al-Moori kept his place, Eyad Al Najjar came second clocking 00:52:473 driving his red standard 8 cylinder Lumina SS. Bandar Al Sylami came third on his standard 6 cylinder Lumina SS clocking 00:53:026.
“I anticipated my win and am excited about it. I look forward to future challenges,” Al-Moori said.
Drifting is a high skill, high powered motor sport that calls for drivers to control a car while it slides at high speeds through a marked course. It is similar to rally racing, but is done on a closed paved course. It is judged on execution and style rather than just who finishes the course the fastest, similar to skateboarding and freestyle motocross. The sport caters well to spectators and is exciting to watch. The event, organized by Abdullah Bakhshab Est. for motor sport development, drew a large number of car racing enthusiasts kingdomwide who pitted skills in a nonstop endurance battle as each tried to score the maximum under the new awarding system.
Held for two days, the races were attended by enthusiastic spectators including women and children who enjoyed the high-speed action by all drivers. The race was very interesting, especially among those who used their modified cars.
The race began after grouping the participants according to their vehicles into four classes based on the capacity of the engine, its power and its production year. The vehicles were standard six cylinders, modified six cylinders, modified eight cylinders and standard eight cylinders. After the technical test on the first day, every participant had to make a free tour through the track. The drivers then had two trials to collect the best time.
This was the first year of the Chevrolet Speed Star series, the first national championship series in the Kingdom. In each round, participants will displayed their drifting-style technique in a twisting track of 1.50 km specifically designed for the championship. The races were judged on time and drivers will accumulate points from each round with the title awarded to the driver with the most points. The official car was Lumina SS for its great power and high flexibility on the track. As with other Chevrolet Motor sport 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. The results were through collecting points overall — 20 points for 1st position, 15 for the 2nd, 12 for the 3rd, 10 for the 4th, 8 for the 5th, 6 for the 6th, 4 for the 7th and 2 for the 8th.
There were cash awards for the winners — SR10,000 for the 1st, 6,000 for the 2nd and 3,000 for the 3rd.
