Fahad Abdul Latheef was around 5 years old and busy racing around on his little bicycle near his home in Kerala, India when he experienced something exhilarating. He was leaning sideways to take an abrupt 90-degree turn on his two-wheeler when the rear wheel lost traction sending him and bike skidding sideways.
Rather than being frightened by the sudden loss of control, all little Fahad felt was a surge of excitement as he steadied himself. From then on, every ride included trying to replicate the thrill of his very first experience of drifting.
‘I would keep trying to repeat that mistake again and again,’ says the 33-year-old Emirates Drift Championship 2023 winner in an interview with Friday. That eureka moment steered Fahad into drift racing, a global motor sport in which a driver continually oversteers his or her car to manouvre it through a racing course that has stretches and curves in quick succession. Points are awarded not for coming first, but for the driver’s speed, agility, control and style as he throws his or her vehicle sideways to slide around the curves. Think screeching rubber on asphalt, with dust, dirt or sand rising in its wake and you have a picture of drift racing. ‘It’s the fastest growing motor sport today, although compared to F1 racing, it’s still very new… just 30 plus years or so,’ says Fahad.
The sport is hugely popular in Japan – where it originated – Europe and the US with the Middle East catching on. In comparison, Fahad’s home country India is yet to show interest, with Fahad being possibly one of the few Indians who drift race professionally at a national and international level.
A self-made drifter
From curiosity to passion, Fahad grew his hobby more or less single-handedly. Initially it was through bicycle races in his hometown of Kochi. That stopped when he moved to Dubai with his parents as a 15-year-old.
‘I would watch videos, learnt drift theory, followed it up by playing Collin McRae racing games on a PC, understanding the basics, and then moving on to more advanced CarX drift games on a smart phone.’
Once he earned his driver’s licence at 18, he tried to practise in his father’s Toyota Corolla. ‘But for drifting you need a 4-wheel drive vehicle,’ he explains.
Fahad’s first 4WD was a Toyota Cressida that he bought while still 22. By then he had been working for a couple of years, completing his degree in commerce alongside. ‘I could now put all the theories into practice on the stock Cressida,’ Fahad says.
His family – father Abdul Latheef, mother Umaivan Latheef, and his siblings – and a close-knit circle of friends form the spine of his support network. ‘It is not like I come from a family with a lot of experience in racing or any motorsport for that matter. My elder brother, Banoof Latheef, is very interested in motocross races. My parents are just two regular people tired of dealing with two petrolhead sons.’ Fahad has an older sister Fabeena.
Even so, his dad is his role model, as also professional Indian motocross champion Jinan CD. ‘I have always regarded Jinan CD as a role model, who made me believe it was possible to achieve my goals,’ Fahad says.
As a first step towards his ambitions, Fahad participated in his first Emirates Drift Championship in 2018 in Liwa, Abu Dhabi. ‘I didn’t even qualify,’ he remarks. ‘But I kept trying – didn’t miss any competition. In 2022, I was runner up and finally this year I won the championship!’
Held at Abu Dhabi’s Yas Marina Circuit, the event brought together 50 competitors. Qualifiers competed in four rounds, with Fahad remaining the last man standing. Or drifting, so to speak.
Drift racing protocol
A drift racing track is relatively short, and drive speeds usually under 100kph. The competition format is of two types: the solo run – where each driver is given a chance to display their skill on the tarmac – and twin-drift contests.
At the outset, judges brief drivers on what are called clipping points. These are marks made on the tarmac that the driver will have to touch with either their front or rear wheels, depending on whether it’s a front clipping zone or a rear one.
Points are awarded for maintaining the line (all the clipping points) and the style and speed with which the driver completes the course.
In the twin-drift format, two drivers attempt the course at the same time, with one of them acting as the lead car responsible for adhering to the line set by judges, with the chase car in close proximity emulating the first car’s manouvres. The drivers then swap roles and re-attempt the course.
‘Judges will compare the scores – lead to lead and chase to chase … to see who did a better lead and who did a better chase,’ Fahad explains. ‘Often the gap between cars could be a mere 5 inches!’
As a drifter Fahad is most known ‘for my style – always my style – a bit aggressive in some places.’
Burning up tyres
Drifting is an expensive sport. ‘A practice session alone can use up at least six tyres per run,’ said Fahad. ‘For competitions we use up to 12-13 tyres at a time.’
A lot of time, effort and funds are also needed to modify a car and make it drift-worthy. ‘You can do anything with your car,’ says Fahad. To reduce the weight of the vehicle, everything not strictly essential is taken out. So, among other things, out go airbags, air conditioning, heat protection around the chassis and sound deadening material.
‘To distribute the weight evenly, we shift the radiator, make it a little bigger so it’s better at cooling the engine. The fuel tank is smaller – about 20 litres – since we don’t need a 50-litre tank for the two runs we take at a time, before returning to our pit stop.’
The lack of air-conditioning makes driving conditions tough in UAE’s summer months. ‘If it’s 40 degrees outside, then it’s about 70 inside the car, with all the engine heat, etc!’ said Fahad. ‘That’s why we usually practise only in winter.’
To date Fahad has self-financed his hobby. He keeps his expenses as low as possible by carrying out most of his car modifications and repair work by himself along with help from his crew of close friends.
He drives a Nissan Silvia these days. ‘I’m not a trained mechanic. I learnt by doing. It’s a better way. Only if it’s very technical do I call in the garage guys,’ he says.
Being a motor sport, the danger of crashing is understandably high. While every country has its own federation that regulates the sport, all of them come under the FIA (Federation Internationale de l’Automobile). Drift racers adhere to its international safety regulations with respect to the vehicle – features such the roll cage, fire safety systems – and a driver’s racing overalls and gear.
A six-point seat belt that locks a driver into place is a must. A driver’s racing gear also includes FIA specified helmets, balaclava, gloves and inner wear.
‘Before the race, a federation official comes and checks everything – the roll cage, the bucket seats and the seat belts,’ says Fahad.
The car’s safety systems together with a driver’s safety gear, with fire retardant properties, give the driver those vital few seconds to exit in an emergency.
‘The protocol is always the same,’ says Fahad. ‘Turn off the engine, pull the trigger for the fire suppression system; there’s a cut-off switch for all the electric circuits … we switch this off and exit. If you can’t get out then there will be people around to take you out as quickly as possible.’
What the future holds
For the past six years, Fahad has been working for Hotpack Global as a sales executive. ‘[My employers] have been extremely supportive all these years,’ he says.
Fahad has also worked as a drift instructor that brought him projects such as British singer and songwriter Rita Ora’s shoot for her song New Look that featured daring car manouvres near Dubai landmarks. The 2022 Malayalam movie, Thallumaala, was another project where Fahad executed a drift scene for a song introducing its heroine Kalyani. Two more projects are in the pipeline.
With the Emirates Drift Championship in the bag, Fahad is now getting himself and his car ready for the Oman International Drift Championship. ‘I will also compete in pro competitions around the GCC,’ he says.
And where does he see himself five years down the line? ‘It would be great to see myself back in India involved in drifting, competing in the UAE as well as participating in international competitions.’
