On a breathtaking day that signaled the start of the summer season, Ahmed Tarek was crowned Egypt's new King of Drift on May 16th. Imagine you are a motor nut perched on top of a high mountain, surrounded by a panoramic Red Sea view, while on the other side right in front of you, you're being entertained by stunning drifting machines from the 600bhp+ club, driven by a professional bunch of itchy maniacs. This is precisely the magical spot where the CPD organisers chose for this year's event to take place. To add to the creative touch, spectators were required to climb nearly two kilometres up a hill to reach the venue. Fans willingly braved the hike, knowing they would be rewarded with a special performance from their champions. They were luckily right, as the most popular car racing event on the Egyptian calendar turned out to be chock full of wild action right from the start. Sixteen drivers got ready in the parc fermé, where the cars were lined up. Each driver had just proven his ability to battle for the title after qualifying Thursday evening, reaching the second day of the Egyptian Final qualifiers. Tamer Bashat and Ahmed El-Wakeel were missed, as they could not make it to this stage due to out-of-hand failures. The two great drivers along with their great cars, went out early in the competition. Other title favourites stayed on in the competition, such as last year's title holder Haitham Samir, alongside his runner-up Moataz Atef, two-time champion Rami Serry, and the two cursed drivers, Ahmed Tarek and Ahmed El-Kabany. Even with the other skilled drivers out there, no one doubted that those fantastic five had an excellent chance of winning. The final qualification consisted of three heats. The first one had 16 drivers competing, the second one only the best ten, while the third was a battle of five towards the podium. The drivers were judged by Lebanese Rally Champion Abdo Fghali, along with the two Egyptian car-racing icons, Nasser Abouheif and Adham Mostafa. As the first heat jumped off, every driver was keen to distinguish himself from the others. Ultimately, they were the drivers with the wider experience who knew how not to go off limit. The young driver, Hossam Soliman, crashed the right rear end of his car against the concrete while drifting down the hill. Soliman, like many others, attempted something unique, which did not end very well. No surprises occurred in the first heat and the fantastic five continued to deliver eye-opening performances all around, reaching the second heat. Still in the second heat, many drivers shined, such as Amin Elewa with his and Adel Sekha. Alas, their efforts fell short of taking them much further. By the time the competition reached the final heat, people in the stands were praying for Tarek and Kabani, who both experienced mechanical failures in past years as they were close to lifting the trophy. On the other hand, Samir and Atef backstage hoped their car will hold out till the end. "Atef and I are one team. There were problems with his car, so he shared mine. It did actually affect my performance negatively as I was cautious with the car to withstand the pressure," said Samir. Serry got into the track in the last heat, appearing sloppy with the orders and losing enough points to keep him out of the race. "I was really tense when I got into the track. The reason was the words Fghali told me during the briefing, openly saying that I have no chance to win because of my car, so he said the only way to win is to get the full points of the clipping orders with no other mistakes, which was hard to do with the tools at hand,” said Serry. Close to the end, silence suddenly struck the battlefield, when Kabany's car died in the middle of his last run. "I needed a bigger track. My car is 817 bhp wheel, which is more than 1,000 on the engine. I was screwed," said Kabany with frustration. Moving to Samir and Atef, who both showed responsibility and unique style till the end. As it stood, only one of the best five drivers went for his final run. Fans and judges anticipated it would be Ahmed Tarek. Then the red smoke started spraying into the air, along with loud chants from the nearly 4,000 fans present, who were thrilled with Tarek's performance, hoping he could finish his run safely with every order he passes through. The most dramatic part came when Tarek finished his box order and came to the end, stepped out of his car, saluted fans and ran to hug his father in the stands. "Thanks God for everything and thanks to my father who supported me a lot. I didn't see that coming to be honest. Starting from now, I am looking to grab the Middle East champion in Dubai to prove I am the best," he said. Samir came in second and Atef third. Tarek and Samir are now allowed to go to the Middle East Finals. The writer is a freelance journalist.
