Sandouk crowned Lagos Autofest king of drift

Antonio Sadouk, Stingray pointman, has emerged as king of drift at the just concluded Lagos Autofest, organised by BMW Club Nigeria and Work and Play Motorsport Group.

Sandouk, who returned to active racing after a short break, said he was elated by the exponential growth of the motorsports community in Nigeria.

“I think we have great drifters here today and I foresee stiffer challenge in every category in the future. There are very young and talented racers coming on these days and that is a great sign of growth,” he said

Argo Raak, multiple race champion in the past, returned second-best drifter at the event, which held at the Tafawa Balewa Square, while Captain Awwal secured the third spot.

Sandouk also won N500,000 while Raak got N200,000 for coming second.

The one-day event also included time-attack with outstanding parades from other motorsports groups across the country.

Diekola Alabi won the time-attack to get N200,000 while Femi Dada got N100,000 after coming second.

Adeoye Ojuoko, president of Work and Play, said the event redefined possibilities in the motorsports community with collaboration between his group and BMW Club Nigeria.

“For us, we would join forces with more willing stakeholders to drive down the values of the sport and expand the industry for more people to benefit from,” Ojuoko said.

He, however, blamed the less capacity crowd on the COVID-19 realities, saying that organisers resolved to align with the Lagos state government on the observance of the health protocols.

On his part, Kennedy Njideoffor, president of BMW Nigeria, said: “All the clubs here dream to raise awareness for the sport and bring together car enthusiasts for common good. Despite the pandemic ravaged economy, we are very positive that the synergy formed through Autofest here will endure to drive the sport well into the future.”

The 2020 Autofest was supported by BetKing, Fearless Energy Drink, Autochek, Heineken, Motul, AMC, Infinity Tires Ace of Spades, Grandcru, Beat 99.9 FM, Coscharis Motors, JB Autos, SMT Volvo, Toyota and Elizade.