A local car enthusiast is out to prove that disability need not slam the brakes on a person's racing dreams. 

Rueben Mifsud was paralysed from the waist down after a motorcycle accident in February 2014 left him with a significant spinal cord injury. 

But two-and-a-half years later, he is racing a go-kart with hand adaptations and building a specially modified drifting car with the intention of racing alongside his drift racing peers. 

"The funny thing is, I was never interested in drifting before the accident," Mr Mifsud told Times of Malta. "But I started going to race meets as a spectator, and with the encouragement of various friends, the idea that I might be able to also race began to form in my mind." 

As the idea began to take shape, a friend offered him a BMW car to modify. "I can't thank Kenneth Micallef enough for that," he said. 

Mr Mifsud, who has long tinkered with cars and knew his way around an engine, got to work on the prototype. The result did not work perfectly, he said, "but it proved to me that it could be done".

The Żebbuġ man can draw inspiration from Alex Zanardi, the former Formula 1 driver who competed in the FIA World Touring Car Championship just two years after having both his legs amputated, and F1 champion Lewis Hamilton's brother Nicholas, who last year become the first disabled person to race in the British Touring Car Championship. 

Mr Mifsud has now spent the past eight months building a purposely-adapted drifting car from scratch. He is hoping the BMW E46, 3-litre turbo vehicle will be done by April of next year. 

Rueben Mifsud alongside Alessio Cascone, who modified the go-kart to allow him to race.

"We'll see if we make that target date. These modifications cost thousands, and I'm not interested in cutting corners," he said. 

Mr Mifsud is now on the lookout for sponsors to help him speed towards his dream of competing in the Malta Drift Championship, supplementing the help he has received from  Italian mechanic Alessio Cascone, whose company Cascone Autonomy develops professional driving systems for people with reduced mobility, and from his workplace.  

In the meantime, he has kept himself busy by racing a go-kart modified by Mr Cascone, winning a special side event organised by the Malta Drift Championship in Sicily last week. 

"It's easy to lose self-esteem when a disability complicates life," Mr Mifsud mused, "but there are still many things which are possible. Perhaps what I'm doing may end up inspiring others. That would be fantastic."  

To sponsor Mr Mifsud and help him modify a drifting car, email   rueben.mifsud@cctechnikmalta.com 

Rueben Mifsud (far left) with his Malta Drift Racing buddies.