All photos by Ray Toh

Hundreds of mostly young men turned up at the Qatar Racing Club (QRC) track on Friday to compete and cheer on their friends during the second round of the Ramadan Freestyle Drift 2014 competition.

The racetrack, which is located in the Industrial Area, opened at 8pm, and by the end of the competition, the stands appeared to be almost full, says photographer Ray Toh.

The crowd largely consisted of men, most of them in thoubs, and some children – though a handful of women were present.

The sound of revving engines, smell of burning rubber and sight of drifting cars viewed through a haze of smoke made for a memorable experience, Toh added.

Event details

The first round of the tournament was held on July 4, and the next and last round will be on July 18. Tickets start at QR20/person for public seating, and cost QR200/person for VIP and QR500/person for VVIP seats.

The winners will take home prize money of up to QR8,000.

QRC has long been working to take racing off of Qatar’s streets, with events such as the annual “Qatar Mile,” during which amateur drivers push their cars to the limit to speed down the Al Khor Airstrip, and hosting the Arabian Drag Racing League.

For those interested in watching this month’s tournament online, it is being streamed live on QRC’s YouTube channel. View the July 4th round here and July 11th round here.

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