He should have won long ago but somehow it wasn't ever enough. Seven years of Car Park Drift and there was always that one driver who every year managed to outfox him. From Rami Serri who dominated the first three editions of the championship, to Ahmed Tarek who clinched the title in 2014 with his famous Toyota Supra which had fans jumping off their seats, to Haitham Samir who spread his talent to every corner of the track, to Ahmed Dessouki, Maged Abu Selim, Ahmed Hamada and many others. But it was Hisham Al-Khateeb who always seemed to have the winning cards in his pocket but never found the right hands to bring them out on the table. However, Al-Khateeb finally made it to this year's Middle East finals being held in Beirut in September. Held this year in the parking lot of Cairo Festival City in the Fifth Settlement, Red Bull CPD maintained the high rev for the eighth year as the number one drift competition in Egypt. With the right dose of adrenaline, music and other forms of entertainment, the arena was ready for the show. The top drivers gave their best and a big question mark hovered over the cars until the last stages. With 17 drifters qualifying on Thursday to face the wild crowd on Friday, surprises knocked on the door early, with Moataz Atef failing to qualify. The ground gave all its love to overpowered cars and had none for those less fit. With Al-Khateeb taking over Serri's Mazda RX7 with its 600+ hp 2jz, all signs pointed to him reaching the final heat of four drivers. Al-Khateeb There was only one way Al-Khateeb would pass up the opportunity -- if the car broke down. He suffered no lapse in concentration which had hurt him in past editions. And with Abu Selim and Hamada taking an early shower, and Samir's car letting him down as usual, Al-Khateeb gained the most points to win first place ahead of the entertaining Mohamed Zordok and the talented Dessouki. It will be the first time Al-Khateeb represents Egypt in the regional finals which, if he wins, will take him to the world championship. With Al-Khateeb's character and self-confidence, he can pull off a big surprise but only if he gets the right mix.
