Dubai // The countdown to the 2008 UAE Desert Challenge was launched yesterday. To take place place from Oct 24-31, the competition is the final round of the FIA Cross Country Rally World Cup for cars and trucks, as well as the FIM Cross Country Rallies World Championship for bikes. Following the assembly of the teams here next month and the big spectator attraction of the Super Stage on Oct 26, the rally will kick off at 9.30 the following morning from the Emirates Palace hotel in Abu Dhabi.
The first competitive stage then stretches out from the capital to the Moreeb Hill, near the Liwa oasis, from where four more days of epic desert action unfolds before the Desert Challenge finishes at Mina Seyahi on Oct 31. The Automobile and Touring Club of the UAE (ATCUAE) will shortly announce a provisional entry list for the event that will reveal a line-up of drivers and riders from around the world.
Meanwhile, The World Rally Championship is to return to Australia after the Confederation of Australian Motor Sport announced that one round of the tour will be held in northern New South Wales from 2009. The region will host the event from Sept 3-6 every second year until 2017 in the deal with, New Zealand providing the venue in the alternate years. It will be the first WRC event held in Australia since it was raced in Perth in 2006 and will be the first time it has been held on the Australian east coast.
The Events NSW chief Geoff Parmenter said: "Hosting the World Rally Championship - the highest profile four-wheeled motor sport championship after Formula One - on a regular basis in Regional New South Wales will drive tourism, create jobs and deliver major economic benefits to the community." The 12-round championship for next year includes events throughout Europe, South America and Asia. * Agencies
