Mohammed Kukhen hopes to retain Jordan Drift Championship title

AMMAN — The first round of Jordan Drift Championship kicks off on Friday with the participation of 47 drivers at the Service Park of the Dead Sea area.

Jordan Motorsport CEO Othman Naseef told The Jordan Times that the first round, of four rounds this season, is always special.

“We have all the enthusiasm and challenge mixed in the first round. That is why we believe it will carry a lot of signs on the coming events regarding level of competition and seriousness of drivers,” he said.

 “The event will consist of three rounds with the third dedicated for the best 13 results of drivers. Drivers will have to own a special drift driving licence and they will be judged by a committee of experienced drivers,” he added.

Last year’s champion Mohammed Kukhen will be defending his title against his brother Omar, Munir Hattar, Rafat Haroun and others.

Kukhen clocked 1m 27.55s in his BMW A46 and collected 519 points followed by his brother Omar Kukhen (1m 29.45s, 506 points) in his BMW A36 and Othman Takriti (1m 22.58s, 490 points) in his BMW A30.

“We have an impressive list of drivers who will give the event a strong sense of competition. We hope that the event on Friday will attract fans of this popular sport. Last year, only 31 drivers took part in the first round while today, we have 47,” he said.

“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.

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