Jordan Drift Championship kicks off on Friday

AMMAN — The first round of Jordan Drift Championship kicks off on Friday with the participation of more than 45 drivers at the Arena racetrack in Madaba.

Jordan Motorsport CEO Othman Naseef told The Jordan Times that drifting popularity is picking up fast.

“Last year, we have seen excellent response from both fans and drivers and people really enjoyed watching drivers expressing their skills in their turns and drifting capabilities and based on the success of last year we are starting this season with the first round this Friday,” he said.

“Drifting used to be held at SOFEX but because it is being rehabilitated according to international standards of the FIA we are moving drifting to Arena racetrack in Madaba,” he added. 

Drifting was introduced for the first time in a controlled environment in 2014 and found positive response from all auto fans. 

“The event consists of three rounds with the last round hosting best 13 drifters. Drivers will have to own special drift driving licence and they will be judged by a committee of experienced drivers,” he said.

“These judges have the right combination of experience and knowledge needed to judge such events and we hope that everyone will just enjoy this event,” he added.

Drivers will be judged according to speed, angle and perfect track line (90 points), showmanship (5 points) and smoking tyres (5 points).

“Drifting is a kind of driving technique used by drivers through oversteering and causing a loss of traction whether in the rear wheels or all tyres while controlling a certain entry to exit of a corner,” he said.

Last year, four drifting events were held with Ahmad Daham winning the championship with 85 points followed by Mohammad Al Kukhun (82 points) and Rafat Haron ( 78 points).