The Drive Championship has been suspended indefinitely due to security concerns, according to statements last week from the championship’s organiser, Haitham Elfardy.
A state of significant disruption dominated the second round for Egypt`s Drive Championship, which was held on 6 February. The result was the cancelation of the round for safety measures, according to organisers.
Mohamed Gamal El-Din, member of Automobile & Touring Club of Egypt, said the Cairo Stadium Administration halted the second round of the championship.
He added that he received approval from the official and legal authorities to launch the events of the second round for the championship, and its start date was officially announced. Some of the Arab racers were notified through the organising company, STT Race Management.
Gamal El-Din said that the club is the only authorised party to announce and organise the race. Moreover, it is the only internationally recognised party to organise such sports events. The club works on providing and organising various car races, and it is the only party allowed to extract different security permissions and approvals in order to launch these races.
Haitham Elfardy, Drive Championship race organiser in Egypt, declared that racers already entered the race with their cars to Egypt, following the approval of the club and fixing a date for the championship. However, after the start of the race and the first round, racers, the audience and organisers were surprised when Chairman of the Automobile & Touring Club of Egypt, Mohamed Mortagy, declared the cancelation of the second round for safety issues. This decision was made after the Stadium Authority ordered the suspension of the race.
General Ahmed Darwish, chairman of Cairo Stadium Authority, decided to suspend the race, according to Elfardy. In his statement, he said that the stadium and security authorities reject the continuation of the race since the club did not receive written security approval in order to launch this race. As a result, the race had to be suspended.
Elfardy however affirmed that the club indeed received security approval. Based on this, the race was organised. However, the authority completely rejected the race event.
According to Elfardy, the goal of the race is to enhance car competitions and promote tourism in Egypt. However, the cancellation threatens this kind of sport and leads to the loss of tourists participating in this sports event and following such international races.
Racers declared their resentment for what happened, describing it as a “joke” as they spent a lot of money preparing for the race, while at the end the race was cancelled because of administrative disorder. On the other hand, audience members from other provinces and Arab countries exerted a lot of effort to come and attend the race.
Elfardy previously stated to that STT Race Management announced the organisation of the Drive Championship for 2014/2015, sponsored by the Automobile & Touring Club of Egypt, adding that the championship will be held in six rounds. The first round was already held last October, where Karim Shalash, Hesham Alkhatib and Haitham Samir won the title of the game.
Elfardy said that winners will be determined according to the best four rounds for each driver. He added that the second round will be held on 2 February in the waiting square of Cairo Stadium, confirming that the Ministry of Tourism approved launching the race. They are still, however, waiting for the security authorities to issue the schedule for the rounds and their places.
Elfardy announced the tentative schedule for the coming rounds: the third round was set to be on 13 March in Ain Sokhna, the fourth round on 13 April in Hurghada, while the fifth round would be on 12 June in Alexandria. The last round should be held on 10 August, in the waiting square of Cairo Stadium.
