Seventeen-year-old Emirati drifter Khalifa Alfalasi has become one of the names to watch on the Gulf drift scene, mixing it with the region’s best professionals before even turning 18.
Third against 42 pros at Liwa
At round 1 of the Emirates Drift Championship, held as part of the Liwa Drift Race at the Liwa International Festival 2026, Alfalasi finished third in the Pro class against 42 professional drivers, making him the top-ranked Emirati of the day.
- Nasser Alharbali (El Salvador)
- Ali Makseed (Kuwait)
- Khalifa Alfalasi (UAE)
The Liwa event drew its largest international entry since 2018, in front of more than 10,000 spectators in the desert.
Top five in Oman
Alfalasi carried that form to the Oman International Drift Championship (OIDC) in Muscat, where he finished fifth overall with 147 points and second in the MENA section standings behind Egypt’s Karim Rashed.
A new generation
His rise is part of a wider wave of young talent in regional drifting. In Lebanon, 14-year-old Lucas Dabbaneh topped the D4 class at an ATCL drift round in 2024 at the wheel of a Nissan 350Z.
Source: Gulf News, Oman Observer