Pioneering the Kuwaiti car-racing scene, Khaled Al-Mudhaf carries himself with an air of confidant yet completely understated elegance. Officially racing since January 2010, Khaled has always flirted with the racing scene, testing racing cars since his younger student days in Boston in 2001, and even taking up a job working at a garage to finally get a closer look at a world he perceives as mesmerizing.

Officially receiving his racing license in January 2010, a hobby turned into a profession, started as semi-professional and now is considered a fully-fledged career. He has the first professional racing license number in Kuwait (001), Khaled fully grasps the growing expectations acquired with the title. Even though he claims it is a double-edged sword, Khaled loves a challenge. When faced with the pressure to perform well, he continues to hone his racing skills, taking his cars down to Dubai, Bahrain, Qatar and various racing circuits around the world. His torrid and passionate love affair with racing has even led him to participate in the exciting Gumball 3000 Rally, also described by Vanity Fair magazine as ‘the most rock ‘n’ roll car rally ever staged’, where high profile personalities accompanied by impressive supercars take part in a notorious European tour. Besides the glamour and appeal of the Gumball Rally, Khaled was also invited to take part in a historical moment when asked to test drive the epic Nissan Sumo Power GT1 ‘T-car’ at the Losail Track in Qatar. Being the first of the two guest drivers to try the car, Khaled considers the event a career milestone, and is even more excited about his upcoming races taking place firstly in England at the renowned Silverstone race on the fifth of June, followed by another prominent circuit race in Navarra, Spain.

His aspirations for creating a racing scene and training system in the Middle East stems from the earlier hurdles he faced when he started off. “We’re still a very small community of professional racers in the Middle East, let alone Kuwait! Circuit racing in the Middle East is fairly new, and it started off in 2005 with Bahrain. As a total, the number of Middle Eastern professional racers sums up to 90 racers. Racers in Europe have been engaging in this sport since the 1950’s, yet with our community we are still getting started.” Being the first officially licensed professional Kuwaiti Racer, Khaled also looks to widen his community and engage other talented drivers, including his cousins Khalifah Al Marzoug, and the first Kuwaiti licensed female car-racer, Farah Al Sabah. “She’s brilliant!” Khaled remarks, “ Farah is engaging in a smaller series, the Suzuki cup series, and out of a hundred male drivers, she was the only female driver.” An avid promoter of racing, Khaled also trains younger children with fun go-carting trips. He laughingly states, “I’m prepping these kids, and I really want to breed a community of young racers in Kuwait!” His passion for racing will adamantly lead him to excel, as this racer has a specific destination in mind that remains undeterred. Khaled is going above and beyond in building the first premier racetrack circuit in Kuwait, raising an astounding KD 15 million in under three months for this grand plan.

Perhaps the clearest reflection of Khaled’s obsession with cars is the successful niche business venture, G-Force Autoworx. If not training for an upcoming circuit, he spends most of his time with the talented airbrushing artists and expert mechanics in the workshop, working on creating masterpieces rather than automobiles. G-Force Autoworx is specialized in servicing, repairing, tuning, and painting the most exotic and exquisite cars and motorcycles. Designed by his sister, Khaled also states that each and every dream he ever aspired to achieve could never have been realized without the help and support of his closely-knit family. His many professional successes he closely attributes to the way he chooses to live his life. “I treat my team as a family, and I believe that if they share my passion, then we will always be encouraged to go an extra couple of miles to excel. We’re like a family, and their well-being is always an important consideration of mine. It’s really all about the passion; If you don’t love what you’re doing and make sure that the people who work with you also have it, then G-Force Autoworx would not be where it is today. ” This true testament, which Khaled believes is his main mantra in life, raises the many issues he faced with his partners when starting G-Force, especially given the fact that the inception of this business venture took place amidst the instability and uncertainties presented by the economic crisis in 2008.

Beating numerous challenging odds, and an extremely dangerous crash in one of his previous races, Khaled continues to proudly persevere, standing today as a remarkable model of seasoned expertise, inspiring determination and admirable integrity.

bazaar questionnaire:

What is your idea of perfect happiness?

Off the track course, the idea of perfect happiness for me is being surrounded by my family and loved ones.

On the track course, perfect happiness means finishing a race safely with the knowledge that I deserve a position on the podium.

What is your greatest fear?

Off track, the loss of a loved one is, I think, most peoples’ greatest fear.

On track, it would have to be the danger of a fire in the racecar.

What is the trait you most deplore in yourself?

Where do I start? If I had to point out just one, it would have to be my uncontrolled obsession with detail!

What is the trait you most deplore in others?

Incompetence, especially when all that is required is a little common sense.

Which living person do you most admire?

Professionally, it has to be the one and only Michael Schumacher. No explanation necessary!

What is your greatest extravagance?

RACING!

Which words or phrases do you most overuse?

“Obsessed”, “Extreme”, “Passion”, “Knackered”

When were you happiest?

Achieving my first pole position in only my third race, amongst a lot of seasoned professional racers, has to be up there with the happiest moments of my life. I made my mark on the racing scene that day, and I will never forget it!

Which talent would you most like to have?

I have a passion for art and admire artists greatly. Unfortunately, drawing stick men is a challenge for me.

What would you consider your greatest achievement?

Realizing my life long dream of creating and operating G-Force, and when it finally became true. Building it from the ground up, literally, and seeing how far it has come today would have to be my greatest achievement.

Where would you most like to live?

Monaco, without a doubt, is the place to be for a professional racecar driver.

To find out more about Khaled, feel free to email him at kmudhaf@yahoo.com  , or visit the G-Force Autoworx website at www.gforceautoworx.com.