MUSCAT, FEB 12
Lithuania’s Benekditas Cirba overcame the challenge of Jordan’s Ahmad Daham to emerge champion of the Oman International Drift Championship Round 2 at the Muscat Drift Arena on Friday night.
Cirba, who emerged second in the OIDC Round 1 on January 21-22, was clinical in his performance to clinch the top honours of Round 2.
Daham grabbed the top spot in the Mena section followed by Kuwait’s Ali Maksheed and Oman’s Haitham al Hadidi.
Drifting fans flocked to the Oman Automobile Association’s (OAA) Drift Arena to enjoy the international drifting action, thanks to the latest decision of the Supreme Committee to allow 70 per cent capacity at the sports events.
OAA Vice-Chairman Jamal al Tae was enthused after watching the top drifters battle it out for top honours.
“This event is turning out to be a truly international class with the presence of professional drifters. The standard is going up in every edition of the championship. It is exciting to watch,” Al Tae told Oman Observer.
OAA Managing Director Suleiman al Rawahi said it was heartening to note that the fans immediately took advantage of the Supreme Committee decision.
“The fans were desperate to watch the action at the Drift Arena and we allowed them following the full protocol requirements suggested by the authorities on Covid-19,” Al Rawahi said.
Former racer Shaikh Nisar bin Saud al Shanfari, special guest for the night, gave away the prizes to the top winners in presence of Jamal al Tae.
BAGGSY FINISHES THIRD
United Kingdom’s Steve Baggsy repeated his performance in OIDC Round 1 to claim the third position after a thrilling contest with Ali Maksheed in the play-off.
Maksheed had to retire due to a technical problem in the second run.
In the semifinals, Daham prevailed over Baggsy and Cirba got the better of Maksheed in contests that enthralled the audience.
OIDC Round 1 winner Clint Oort of the Netherlands progressed to the last 16 as did last season runner-up Sebastian Fontijn. But both the Dutch drifters’ challenge ended in the last 16 as Oort lost to Tymur Lypski of Ukraine and Fontijn missed out to Daham.
Oman’s Haitham al Hadidi made it to the quarterfinals but missed out on the last four along with another Omani drifter Tariq al Shaihani.
Haitham couldn’t go past Serhii Kremets of Ukraine in the last 8 duel.
However, Haitham finished top in the Oman national section, followed by Tariq al Shaihani and Riyadh al Mabsali.
The third and final round of Oman International Drift Championship 2022 will be held on February 17 and 18 at the OAA Drift Arena.
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