Third round of the Qatar Drift Championship concluded after two days of intense competition last weekend. The championship saw the participation of top drift champions from the Gulf countries and the region.
The round was held under the sponsorship of HE Sheikh Khalid bin Hamad al-Thani, President of Qatar Racing Club (QRC), and in the presence of HE Sheikh Jabor bin Khalid al-Thani, Director of the club. The qualifying sessions saw a record-breaking participation of 27 drivers, each given two attempts on the track, with the best result for each driver being considered.
The session ended with last round’s champion, Salem al-Sarraf, topping the leaderboard with a slight lead over competitor Misyer Abu Sheba. Last round’s runner-up, Ihab Falah, finished in third, while last year’s champion in the local category, Ali Jabsha, placed fourth and first in the local category ahead of his brother Yazan, Yasser Mustafa, and Abdullah al-Muhtaseb.
According to the results of the qualifying sessions, the drivers were placed into the bracket for the tandem battles, which took place on Friday. The first round of these battles saw seven matchups instead of eight, due to the absence of competitor Saud al-Attiyah, allowing al-Sarraf to advance directly to the second round. Additionally, Mohamed Khourshid made it past the first round at the expense of competitor Abdullah al-Muhtaseb, and Yazan Jabsha overcame Mohammed al-Jaber. His brother Ali, however, was eliminated in the first round after facing Fahd al-Jad’i. On the other side of the bracket, Misyer Abu Sheba won his battle against Hamza al-Na’amneh, moving on to the second round, alongside Yasser Mustafa, who triumphed over Mazen Nasser in the same round.
Ihab Falah and Louay Abu Ayash also secured their spots in the second round after defeating Ahmed Abu Arshid and Khaled al-Shafi’i.
While the local category participants’ journey ended in the second round, Yazan Jabsha was crowned the local category champion for the third consecutive round and is now close to securing the season’s championship title. Yasser Mustafa repeated his performance from the previous round, finishing in second place, while last season’s champion, Ali Jabsha, took third place on the podium.
The second round witnessed a major matchup, described as an early final, between the winner of the previous round, Salem al-Sarraf, and the third-place finisher in that round, Mohamed Khourshid.
Al-Sarraf won the battle and continued on his path to the semi-finals. Following in his footsteps, Fahd al-Jad’i triumphed over local category leader Yazan Jabsha. Also, Misyer Abu Sheba and Ihab Falah made it to the first semi-final after defeating Yasser Mustafa, and the second semi-final after a heavyweight battle against Louay Abu Ayash. Moving on to the semi-final battles, al-Sarraf defeated his opponent Fahd al-Jad’i, who could not complete the battle due to a car issue. The match between Ihab Falah and Misyer Abu Sheba ended with Falah winning after a collision between the two, which affected Abu Sheba’s car and prevented him from continuing the third-place battle. This allowed al-Jad’i to claim third place for this round.
The final match, which saw Salem al-Sarraf face off against Ihab Falah for the second consecutive round, ended in a victory for al-Sarraf, marking his second win of the season. Falah secured his second podium finish in the championship.
The fourth round will be held from December 19-20.