Qatari driver Abdullah Jawad al-Abdullah put up an impressive performance throughout the second round of the Qatar Drift Championship to seal a double glory. He defeated the two-time champion Ahmed al-Amri in the final, becoming the champion in both overall and local categories.
Al-Abdullah and al-Amri booked their place in the final showdown after defeating Mohamed al-Jundi and Riyadh al-Mabassali in their respective semis-finals. Al-Mabassali later made a comeback, defeating al-Jundi in the third-place match.
Intense competition, exciting results, and new faces on the podiums, alongside a stellar performance by local racers —were the highlights of the second round of the championship, held under the auspices of Qatar Racing Club Chairman HE Sheikh Khalid bin Hamad al-Thani.
The competition began with qualifying trials held over two sessions on Thursday.
The results crowned Ali al-Jabshah with another victory, securing the first position and repeating his success from the previous round.
Newcomer to the championship, Omani racer al-Mabassali, claimed the second position, while al-Amri secured the third position - having been the runner-up in the previous round. Kuwaiti racer Salem al -Sarraf took the fourth position, the same position he held in the trials of the previous round. Other results showed Qatari racer Abdullah Jawad al-Abdullah in the fifth position, surpassing his compatriots Saud al-Attiyah and Abdullah al-Muhtasib, a driver for the “Brothers” team.
The round also witnessed some surprises, notably the inability of the champion of the previous round, Haitham al-Hadidi, to participate in the qualifiers due to a mechanical issue.
This was also the case for Alaa Al Din Zareef and Walid Salem, who missed the qualifying trials – al-Zareef due to a mechanical problem and Salem due to an accident before the start of the trials.
In the first round of the tandem matchups, racer al-Jundi defeated his opponent Yazan al-Jabshah. Kuwaiti racer Salem al-Sarraf also advanced by defeating racer Yasser Mustafa, while al-Abdullah surpassed racer Khaled al-Shafei.
The most notable surprise was the early exit of the top qualifier Ali al-Jabshah, who lost to Ahmed al-Ghanim. The second part of the tandem matchups witnessed the victory of the second-place qualifier al-Msbassali over Mazen Nasr. Additionally, Abdullah al-Muhtasib and Ahmed al-Amri continued their journey to the second round. The former defeated Mubarak al-Dosari, while the latter triumphed over Mohamed al-Jaber.
Saud al-Attiyah, having no opponent due to the absence of his Kuwaiti competitor Mohamed Khurshid due to mechanical issues, also advanced to the second round.
In the semi-finals, Al-Jundi defeated Al-Ghanim, Abdullah overcame al-Sarraf, al-Mabassali beat al-Muhtasib, and al-Amri outclassed al-Attiyah.
Qatar Racing Club General Manager Sheikh Jabor bin Khalid al-Thani, Kuwait’s Basil Salem al-Sabah Club General Manager Saif Awad al-Mutairi, and the Kuwaiti club’s General Secretary Fahad al-Ilaj crowned the top three winners as the third round of the championship concluded on a high note. The third round is scheduled for the end of next month.
