Just 28 days on the heels of the first, the second round of the Egyptian Autocross began on 29 August, with nearly 80 racers shipping themselves, as well as their brutal weapons, to the North Coast to meet judgement day before an audience of almost 3,000 fans. To get the show started, race organiser, Mohamed Al-Sawy, launched the mandatory ritual of any race, which is the briefing to all racers about the race rules and track layout. Compared to the second and third heats, the first heat is always likely to be offbeat, as it gathers amateur racers whose driving skills cannot yet impress. While the first heat was a warm up for the target racers, it was also an elimination slicing for at least 30 other racers. From the first glance of the track layout, this round of the Autocross appeared challenging for all the racers. Race manager, Shady Ossama, explained. “Yes, the clipping barrel is a poky, but I had nothing to do with the addition of it. Eng. Mohamed Al-Sawy is responsible for adding it,” he said. The clipping barrel order was something new to the Autocross, borrowed from drifting events. It is basically a barrel standing in any corner of the track that the driver should hit with any part of his car while still running fast to get the points of the order. Apart from the technical issues, this round luckily brought back two vintage drivers who added a unique spice to the dish: Ayman Marzouk, who came back after four years away from racing, and Hamada Zalat, who has been racing since 1989. “Since I quit racing, I have felt that something is missing in my life. That's why I am back in business,” Zalat said. As the first heat wrapped up, racers' heartbeats accelerated, spreading adrenaline everywhere at the venue. Fans raised their chants to a perfect peak for the real show to kick off. The contenders were Ahmed Zidan, who as three-time champion in the past years showed eagerness to win the race as he was not satisfied with his 8th position last round. Moataz Atef was also a strong challenger to win the race. An ironic twist of events saw Marzouk asking Zidan to share his front tyres. Zidan generously accepted and Marzouk took his car keys in order to swap the tyres between the two cars twice a heat. Fast forward, Zidan was in good form hitting a track record in the second heat, boosting his chances of winning the race. Young Omar Nasser, who finished third overall in the first round, impressed the fans with great driving. Brave lady driver, Irene Youssef, not only had the guts to compete among the male drivers, but drove quite well to qualify to the third heat single-handed. Reaching the third and final track, everyone anticipated the awaited track from Zidan that would keep him on the top for winning the race, as Tamer Bashat, the ranked number one, was out of form this round. There was a sudden silence, after which came the shocking announcement: “Marzouk lost Zidan's car keys.” Without hesitation, all the drivers went out searching for the keys including Marzouk. Approximately ten minutes later, the keys were found, and the drivers went out with Zidan to ask Al-Sawy to let him do his run. Atef, the first contender after Zidan, tried to convince the drivers that Zidan would be breaking the regulations if they helped him to take his run. Being a regulations advocate is all good and well, but Atef was a perfect example of how a racing driver should exert efforts outside the track as much as on it. At the end, Zidan was eliminated and Atef won the overall rank with his AWD Evo. The young talent, Nasser, with his 1.3 FWD came second and, finishing third, came the hard worker, Moody, with his 1.6 FWD. As for the teams, Oil Libya came on top, Evo Club second and Wave Riders third. The third and final round of the Egyptian Auto-Cross 2014 Championship is soon to arrive.
