With the deluge of max-power car films continuing to scream out of America, Saudi’s Westernised kids are taking inspiration
The smell of burning clutch plates is all too common in the humid air of a Thursday night in Jeddah. On King Abdul Azziz Road, youths line the streets – some in traditional thobes, others in Lacoste polo shirts and $300 jeans – looking over the roundabouts and intersections where swirls of rubber are caked on to the tarmac in a huge automotive abstract art piece. It is all incriminating evidence of “drifting”, the dangerous practice of slamming your car at high speed into a controlled skid. Street racing is becoming a huge deal in Saudi Arabia; as the desert kingdom finds itself increasingly awash in Western cultural influences, and with a new generation with the cash to indulge in them to the fullest, the idle hands of Saudi’s youth are finding new ways to make mischief. If you’re devoid of female company, this is just about the most fun you can have.
It’s just after midnight, and Suleiman al-Shuloukhi, 29, a member of Jeddah’s Subaru Fan Club is getting warmed up. He revs his engine for a growing crowd of admiring friends, pointing out recent modifications to his blue Impreza – new intakes, a tweak or two to his valves. “I’ve spent more than 15,000 Riyals ($4,000) on my car alone,” he says, proudly. “With the internet, all sorts of modifications that were previously unavailable to us became available.”
At 3:30am, the crew moves from a mall parking lot where they meet up and cruise, often at 130kph on surface streets, to their “secret spot”, a secluded straightaway of desert highway in a sparsely populated area on the outskirts of Jeddah. It’s pitch black – no street lights have been put in here yet, and Suleiman sips on a cup of American coffee he purchased from a 24 hour drive-through café inaptly named “French Roast”.
“Fahd is crazy, you’ll see,” Suleiman says, getting back to the matter at hand and pointing to two cars that have lined up at the far entrance of their secluded strip. “Out of all of us, he takes the most risks.” The 17-year-old Fahd and another member called Mohammad deliver a cascade of revving engines, until they both shut off their headlights, leaving only the running lights on. The tyres begin to peel. The sound of their engines draws closer and in the darkness the sudden urge to run away grips the spectators. Fahd’s supercharged Legacy and Mohammed’s tricked out Impreza scream closer with their headlights off, and those famous YouTube clips of Saudi drifters wiping out entire sections of spectators in horrifying accidents are suddenly recalled. The fear is real – and, if we’re frank, part of the attraction.
Each member of the group claims that they observe a strict set of safety rules at all times, but it’s tough to imagine what they could possibly be referring to. But nothing happens, apart from a sudden rush of wind. Fahd’s Legacy has won and is doing celebratory donuts at the end of the road. “Crazy,” repeats Suleiman.
Drifting, though, has been a part of Saudi society for more than 30 years. But after a number of high-profile incidents and increasingly horrifying accidents – ones that killed drivers as well as spectators – began to grab national attention, it is now highly illegal. Many of Saudi’s “drifters” come from impoverished rural backgrounds, and usually begin drifting when they arrived in Saudi’s larger cities where their parents had come to try and scratch out a better living. Their illustrious ranks are even rumoured to include Yousef al-Ayyeri, who founded al-Qaida in the Arabian Peninsula, and was killed during an operation by Saudi Security forces in 2003.
At around 5:30am, the racing slows, and the individual drivers congregate with their hoods open. Mohammed’s Impreza has a cooling issue, which he is trying to solve and Suleiman’s engine doesn’t seem to sound so good. “I’ll have to go to my mechanic when he opens on Saturday so I can get to the raceway that night,” he says. Until then, says Suleiman, he plans to watch Death Race, which he just got on a bootleg DVD. We just hope that’s not the next trend on the streets of Jeddah.
For the full article, see NOX33.
