ABU DHABI // Car enthusiasts wandered past Hummers adorned with diamantes and souped-up four-wheel drives, and skateboarders showed off their stunts nearby as two festivals opened side by side in the capital yesterday.
Adrenaline Sports Live, an extreme sports event, and Barbican Turbo, a custom car meet, will continue through the weekend at Abu Dhabi National Exhibition Centre.
There were fewer visitors than expected yesterday, but organisers were optimistic that attendance would pick up today and tomorrow.
For Hisham Ibrahim, a Jordanian, the draw was the cars. He entered his four-wheel drive Nissan Patrol, boosted from 270 to 1,010 horsepower - more powerful than a Formula One car - in the custom cars competition.
Adding the "wow factor" is more than a hobby for Mr Ibrahim, who has a workshop in Musaffah. A lot of people want extra power for their four wheel drives, he said. "Everybody likes his horse to be strong. Fast cars make you feel free."
Mr Ibrahim brought his own car and seven others from his workshop to display at the festival. He described one as "the fastest truck in the world".
"We've not heard about another truck with this power. I'm sure it's the fastest."
With 2,600 horsepower, he said, the pickup can accelerate from 0 to 100 kph in less than two seconds.
Ten customised Ford Mustangs, a Volkswagen Beetle and a bright orange Cadillac Escalade with remote-controlled suspension and neon wheels that cost Dh14,000 (US$3,815) each were among the cars in the main hall.
"It's about the people who have a real passion for modifying," said Daniel Anslow, who works for CMPi, the show's organiser. "When other people are down at the beach, these guys would be at home fitting new wheels and buffing up their cars to make them perfect."
Outside the exhibition centre, Team Orange, one of world's top drifting teams, cut dark rubber swirls into the pavement. Drifting is a technique in which drivers intentionally skid their rear tyres through turns at high speeds and keep their cars under control.
Sergey Nushtayev, 21, a Russian who lives in Abu Dhabi, came especially for the drifting.
"I really love cars. The showy cars are cool but the drifting cars and the drag-racing cars are what I really like," he said.
At the extreme sports festival, skateboarding, wakeboarding and dragon-boat competitions will be held today and tomorrow.
Barbora Furskog, from the Czech Republic, has been wakeboarding for six and a half years and plans to enter the competition. She says it is a rare chance in the region.
"The UAE is the perfect place to wakeboard, but unfortunately there's not much opportunity to compete," she said after practising her tricks.
The festival also gives novices the chance to try out something new. Rabih Zein, 24, a Lebanese financial analyst, has tried bungee jumping and skydiving but wants to improve his watersport skills. "We've been waiting for an event like this for such a long time here in Abu Dhabi. Even in Lebanon they still don't have such an event," he said.
Visitors can try out 15 action sports.
Today, the festival will bring the ancient Chinese tradition of dragon-boat racing to the Emirates for the first time. More than 40 teams will compete in the National Dragon Boating Cup, which will conclude tomorrow.
lmorris@thenational.ae
Killing of Qassem Suleimani
Business Insights
- Canada and Mexico are significant energy suppliers to the US, providing the majority of oil and natural gas imports
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- US domestic suppliers might benefit from higher prices, but overall oil consumption is expected to decrease due to elevated costs
Iran's dirty tricks to dodge sanctions
There’s increased scrutiny on the tricks being used to keep commodities flowing to and from blacklisted countries. Here’s a description of how some work.
1 Going Dark
A common method to transport Iranian oil with stealth is to turn off the Automatic Identification System, an electronic device that pinpoints a ship’s location. Known as going dark, a vessel flicks the switch before berthing and typically reappears days later, masking the location of its load or discharge port.
2. Ship-to-Ship Transfers
A first vessel will take its clandestine cargo away from the country in question before transferring it to a waiting ship, all of this happening out of sight. The vessels will then sail in different directions. For about a third of Iranian exports, more than one tanker typically handles a load before it’s delivered to its final destination, analysts say.
3. Fake Destinations
Signaling the wrong destination to load or unload is another technique. Ships that intend to take cargo from Iran may indicate their loading ports in sanction-free places like Iraq. Ships can keep changing their destinations and end up not berthing at any of them.
4. Rebranded Barrels
Iranian barrels can also be rebranded as oil from a nation free from sanctions such as Iraq. The countries share fields along their border and the crude has similar characteristics. Oil from these deposits can be trucked out to another port and documents forged to hide Iran as the origin.
* Bloomberg
Four-day collections of TOH
Day Indian Rs (Dh)
Thursday 500.75 million (25.23m)
Friday 280.25m (14.12m)
Saturday 220.75m (11.21m)
Sunday 170.25m (8.58m)
Total 1.19bn (59.15m)
(Figures in millions, approximate)
FIXTURES (all times UAE)
Sunday
Brescia v Lazio (3.30pm)
SPAL v Verona (6pm)
Genoa v Sassuolo (9pm)
AS Roma v Torino (11.45pm)
Monday
Bologna v Fiorentina (3.30pm)
AC Milan v Sampdoria (6pm)
Juventus v Cagliari (6pm)
Atalanta v Parma (6pm)
Lecce v Udinese (9pm)
Napoli v Inter Milan (11.45pm)
Schedule:
Friday, January 12: Six fourball matches
Saturday, January 13: Six foursome (alternate shot) matches
Sunday, January 14: 12 singles
Winners
Best Men's Player of the Year: Kylian Mbappe (PSG)
Maradona Award for Best Goal Scorer of the Year: Robert Lewandowski (Bayern Munich)
TikTok Fans’ Player of the Year: Robert Lewandowski
Top Goal Scorer of All Time: Cristiano Ronaldo (Manchester United)
Best Women's Player of the Year: Alexia Putellas (Barcelona)
Best Men's Club of the Year: Chelsea
Best Women's Club of the Year: Barcelona
Best Defender of the Year: Leonardo Bonucci (Juventus/Italy)
Best Goalkeeper of the Year: Gianluigi Donnarumma (PSG/Italy)
Best Coach of the Year: Roberto Mancini (Italy)
Best National Team of the Year: Italy
Best Agent of the Year: Federico Pastorello
Best Sporting Director of the Year: Txiki Begiristain (Manchester City)
Player Career Award: Ronaldinho
Ticket prices
- Golden circle - Dh995
- Floor Standing - Dh495
- Lower Bowl Platinum - Dh95
- Lower Bowl premium - Dh795
- Lower Bowl Plus - Dh695
- Lower Bowl Standard- Dh595
- Upper Bowl Premium - Dh395
- Upper Bowl standard - Dh295
if you go
The flights
Emirates offer flights to Buenos Aires from Dubai, via Rio De Janeiro from around Dh6,300. emirates.com
Seeing the games
Tangol sell experiences across South America and generally have good access to tickets for most of the big teams in Buenos Aires: Boca Juniors, River Plate, and Independiente. Prices from Dh550 and include pick up and drop off from your hotel in the city. tangol.com
Staying there
Tangol will pick up tourists from any hotel in Buenos Aires, but after the intensity of the game, the Faena makes for tranquil, upmarket accommodation. Doubles from Dh1,110. faena.com
How to protect yourself when air quality drops
Install an air filter in your home.
Close your windows and turn on the AC.
Shower or bath after being outside.
Wear a face mask.
Stay indoors when conditions are particularly poor.
If driving, turn your engine off when stationary.
