DUBAI // Mohammed Ben Sulayem said the new Gulf Challenge is a crucial “investment” in the future of GCC motorsports as he announced the calendar for the inaugural season of the off-road rally series on Thursday.
A brainchild of Ben Sulayem and his former rival in Middle East rallying, Saudi Arabia’s Abdullah Bakhashab, the five-round Gulf Challenge will kick off this September in Oman and then travel to the UAE, Kuwait and Saudi Arabia before the December finale in Qatar. A Bahrain round is expected to be added to the calendar next year or in 2019.
“We all are really excited about this Gulf Challenge,” said Ben Sulayem, the president of the Automobile and Touring Club of the United Arab Emirates, who got a nod for the new series from the motorsport chiefs of the other five GCC nations after convincing them at a meeting last October.
“It is an event that we need here and it is an event that we believe in. The Gulf Challenge is our first step of investment in the promising motorsport talents in our GCC countries and it will enable us to develop these talents and sustain motorsport in the Gulf region.
“The GCC countries have a proven track record in motorsport and they possess qualified infrastructure to organise and create world class events. We have the Formula One, the FIA World Cup for Cross-Country Rallies and the FIM Cross-Country Rally World Championship. The Gulf Challenge will be an important regional addition.
“We are giving a product on demand. We are not giving a product that we think is right, no. This Gulf Challenge is being introduced because this is the demand of the countries, demand of the teams and demand of the drivers and riders themselves.
“The beauty of the Gulf Challenge is that it is affordable and it suits our terrain as well.”
The Gulf Challenge has been devised to be open for various car, motorcycle and quad classes and there will be a separate championship for each discipline. Cars running in the FIA T1, T2 and T3 categories will be eligible to take part in the series, while there will also be two local categories: T1L (modified cars) and T2L (standard cars that are not FIA homologated, but comply with T2 regulations).
There will also be two categories — B1 and B2 — in the buggy division, while the moto class will see competition in five different categories — 450, Over 450, Masters, Marathon and Quads.
“We, in the Steering Committee, met a few times and worked to finalise the calendar and the regulations, so that it will suit our region and cars that are both homologated by the FIA and also for those that are not homologated by the creation of two new groups (T1L and T2L),” said Bakhashab, who is the promoter for the series.
“I hope that we will have a successful first year and hope that this challenge will attract sponsors next year and we will have Bahrain on board soon.”
2017 Gulf Challenge Provisional Calendar
September 7-8: Oman
October 5-6: UAE
October 26-27: Kuwait
November 9-10: Saudi Arabia
December 7-8: Qatar
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