DUBAI // Mohammed Ben Sulayem, president of the Automobile and Touring Club of the UAE (ATCUAE), is confident Dubai will join Abu Dhabi on the FIA World Cup for Cross Country Rallies calendar for next year, but he will not be leaving anything to chance as the emirate hosts a candidate event this Friday.
A part of the Middle East Rally Championship since their inception in 1984, the Dubai International Rally has decided to change course and take the Cross Country route this year to attract more participation after years of dwindling interest in the regional championship.
The FIA will be assessing Friday’s Dubai International Rally and if the event ticks all the boxes, it will find a place on the FIA World Cup for Cross Country Rallies and the FIM Baja World Cup calendar for 2017, joining the Abu Dhabi Desert Challenge on the schedule.
“I believe it is time for the Dubai International Rally to evolve into a world event,” said Ben Sulayem. “I am confident that, given our history and what we have done with the Desert Challenge, it is time for us to aim higher. The terrain is right [for Cross Country rallies] and the cars are more affordable.
“We are a candidate event this year and the FIA will be observing us, seeing what we are doing. The assessment will be important for us to promote the rally on a global level, after it was a part of the FIA MERC for so many years. As organisers we have a huge responsibility to sustain the event and continuously promote it to new levels.
“I am confident we will pass the assessment, but I don’t want to relax because when you feel relaxed, you can make mistakes.”
The decision to leave the Middle East Rally Championships was taken due to the dwindling numbers of cars on the starting grid and high cost of staging the event. Only 15 cars took the starting flag at last year’s Dubai International Rally, while this year’s rally, in its cross country avatar, has attracted more than 75 participants.
“We cannot justify the budget for the Dubai Rally when you have only 14 or 15 cars taking the starting flag and only six of them finishing it,” said Ben Sulayem. “I am sorry, but this is not the championship our fans would be interested in, or even you the media. I have always said, we need the numbers to sustain our sport.
“Of course, this does not mean we have shut the doors on, for example, the Middle East Rally Championship. If anybody in the organisation or a promoter wants to have a round of the MERC here, I will be more than happy to work with them.”
With Abu Dhabi and Qatar both on the World Cup for Cross Country Rallies schedule, Ben Sulayem believes Dubai will be a perfect addition to the calendar, provisionally scheduled for some time in March, before the Abu Dhabi and Qatar events.
“I tell you what we can do,” said Ben Sulayem. “If we have two World Cup of Cross Country Rallies event in the UAE, we can store the equipment for the teams here. Logistically, this will be important for the teams because the cost of shipping equipment around is a lot. We have also done a MoU with Qatar.
“So what we have said is, the teams come here, finish Dubai and we store their cars. Then they come back and do Abu Dhabi, and after that we can ship the equipment to Qatar. It will be very cost-effective for the teams, and we will be doing all this in this great weather here, when Europe is still cold.
“So I am very optimistic. It means a lot of work, but I am confident. I am confident you will see the real competition in March. We have already been contacted by teams who will be taking part in the Abu Dhabi Desert Challenge, teams from Qatar and Saudi Arabia, and also Europe.”
Jiu-Jitsu
The UAE national jiu-jitsu team flew out from Dubai International Airport for the inaugural Asian Championship in Ashgabat, Turkmenistan, taking place from December 9-11.
Up for grabs are eight gold medals in the men’s division with each of the 22 participating countries eligible to enter two in each of the seven weight categories and the absolute division.
The nine member UAE team: The UAE squad: Zayed Saif Al Mansoori (62kg), Ibrahim Al Hosani (69), Taleb Al Kirbi (69), Mohammed Al Qubaisi (77), Saoud Al Hammadi (85), Khalfan Belhol (85), Faosal Al Ketbi (94), Zayed Al Kaabi (94), Yahia Mansour Al Hammadi (+94), Roberto Lima (coach).
Powerboats
Nineteen drivers from 12 nations begin qualifying Thursday for this year’s Grand Prix of Abu Dhabi, the penultimate round of the UIM F1H2O World Championship.
Staged at the Abu Dhabi Breakwater, the race will feature Team Abu Dhabi’s Thani Al-Qamzi and Alex Carella. Frenchman Philippe Chiappe of the CTIC F1 Shenzhen China Team leads the F1 H2O Drivers’ Championship by 13 points from the Victory Team’s Shaun Torrente. Finland’s Sami Selio is third and Carella is fourth.
Rashed Al-Qamzi and Mohammed Al-Mehairbi will represent Abu Dhabi in a pair of UIM F4-S Trophy races, with Al-Qamzi closing in on his first UIM F4-S title.
After Thursday morning’s time trials, the first of two F4-S races starts at 2pm, followed by BRM pole position qualifying at 3.30pm.
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