HRH Prince Sultan Bin Bandar Al-Faisal, President of the Saudi Arabian Motor Federation, crowned the driver Hatim Natto as the drift champion of the Riyadh Round of Red Bull Car Park Drift amidst a huge crowd that exceeded seven thousand spectators. This round of the Red Bull Car Park Drift Championship, which was held for the first time in the Kingdom under the patronage of the Saudi Arabian Motor Federation, was concluded after very exciting shows and strong competition that went on to the last minute when Natto was finally declared the winner at Al-Malaz Sports stadium.
On this occasion, HRH Prince Sultan Bin Bandar Al-Faisal, said: “First of all, I would like to thank Red Bull for organizing this event which aims to discover new motorsports talents as well as to promote Saudi youth’s awareness of practicing this sport in a legal way. On the side of Cars and Motorcycle Federation, we have welcomed holding and sponsoring this championship and we will not hesitate to hold similar events in other regions of the Kingdom; this is just the beginning. I am also happy at the enormous public attendance of this competition that shows interest of this sport.”[singlepic id=277 w=320 h=240 float=right]
As a matter of fact, the crowd of 7,000 spectators who attended the event has ignited the spirit of competition among the participating drivers and encouraged them which was translated in their excellent performance and amazing skills which put the jury in a difficult situation as the drivers were almost of equal level until the end of this qualifier when driver Hatim Natto took the leading position and secured for himself the seat for participating in the closing session which will be held in Beirut on 16 July, 2011.
The winning driver was quoted as saying : “ It is a great honor for me to be crowned as champion by president of the Saudi Arabian Motor Federation HRH Prince Sultan Bin Bandar Al-Faisal and I extend my heartfelt thanks to HRH for his valuable support. Thanks also to Red Bull for availing the Saudi youth the opportunity of participating in such an important championship which eventually contributes to discovering distinctive drivers in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and other Arab countries as well. I would like also to express my gratitude to the huge crowds of fans that watched and supported Saudi drivers from the start to the end and raised the level of excitement in the fierce competition which lasted to the last minute. I also thank the Jury members, Lebanese rally champion & Middle East speed champion, Red Bull Champion Abdo Faghali, Mr. Elie Samaan of the Saudi Arabian Motor Federation and Jo Otaik Head of Al Faisal Racing for granting me the top position.”
[singlepic id=279 w=320 h=240 float=left]It is worth mentioning that Red Bull Car Park Drift, which is organized by Red Bull, consists of 18 Qualifiers to be held in a number of Arab and GCC cities 3 of which are held in Saudi Arabia. The first round was concluded at Riyadh yesterday, the second at Khobar on 26 current May and the third round will be held in Jeddah on the 9th of coming June. Winners of the first position in these three rounds will be automatically nominated for participating in the final competition that will be held in the Lebanese city of Beirut on July 22, 2011 when one winner out of 18 competitors will be awarded the Red Bull Park Drift Championship title.
By:
Red Bull Middle East
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