The UAE's Mohammed bin Sulayem, a 14-time Middle East rally champion, is featured in the Colin McRae Dirt 2 racing game.
The UAE's Mohammed bin Sulayem, a 14-time Middle East rally champion, is featured in the Colin McRae Dirt 2 racing game.
The UAE's Mohammed bin Sulayem, a 14-time Middle East rally champion, is featured in the Colin McRae Dirt 2 racing game.
The UAE's Mohammed bin Sulayem, a 14-time Middle East rally champion, is featured in the Colin McRae Dirt 2 racing game.

Rally champion is first Arab featured in sports video game


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The UAE's professional racing drivers are hoping to benefit by being caught in the Formula One slipstream. With fewer than 30 days to go to the inaugural Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, the drivers expect a surge in interest in their sport, and the number of fans in their stands. When the national racing season kicks off later this month, more than 30 racing teams will be battling it out in one of four categories: the touring car championship; GT championship; UAE Sports Bike Championship; and Gulf Sport Radical Cup. "Motor sports such as rallying, have been in the region for years but actual track racing is relatively new," said Khalid al Mutawaa, 25, from Dubai. The driver who has raced single-seater Renaults in France and now manages other Emirati drivers in Europe said the Grand Prix on Yas Island could eventually lead to a national getting behind the wheel of an F1 car. "It is one of my ambitions to get an Emiraiti driver in an F1 car within 20 years," he said. Local drivers with F1 ambitions will be watching the upcoming race closely, he said. "Once somebody gets around a track as fast as possible, they want to get around it faster and faster and even through bends as fast as possible," Mr al Mutawaa said. "We love our cars here in the Gulf but it is the educating people on how to drive them properly on a track," he added, that is important. One aspiring F1 driver, Ramez Azzam, 18, a Canadian who grew up in Dubai, said he could barely imagine the thrill of driving in front of his friends in an F1 car someday in the UAE. "Everybody dreams about driving a F1 car, but it is better to be seen on TV driving one," he joked. Mr Azzam, who has also raced single seater cars in France, started driving karts when he was 14. "When I heard about the Grand Prix coming to the UAE, I didn't think I'd be driving one by then but did think I'd be racing and how good it would be for us here," said Mr Azzam, who races for France-based SG Formula. Carl Rolaston, the chief executive of racing team AUH Motorsports, expects not only a massive interest from locals but also for the Grand Prix to boost motorsport tourism. His company intends to rent out racing cars to drivers and train them on the Yas Island track. "In the UK, it costs £300 to get to London from the North of England to drive the same car on a track. Instead they could buy a flight to the UAE for the same money. He'll be driving on the track while the wife will be at the spa and the the children can be at a theme park. The grandmother could also come along and go to the Louvre Museum," he said. The Abu Dhabi Grand Prix takes place on November 1. eharnan@thenational.ae

Name: Brendalle Belaza

From: Crossing Rubber, Philippines

Arrived in the UAE: 2007

Favourite place in Abu Dhabi: NYUAD campus

Favourite photography style: Street photography

Favourite book: Harry Potter

Milestones on the road to union

1970

October 26: Bahrain withdraws from a proposal to create a federation of nine with the seven Trucial States and Qatar. 

December: Ahmed Al Suwaidi visits New York to discuss potential UN membership.

1971

March 1:  Alex Douglas Hume, Conservative foreign secretary confirms that Britain will leave the Gulf and “strongly supports” the creation of a Union of Arab Emirates.

July 12: Historic meeting at which Sheikh Zayed and Sheikh Rashid make a binding agreement to create what will become the UAE.

July 18: It is announced that the UAE will be formed from six emirates, with a proposed constitution signed. RAK is not yet part of the agreement.

August 6:  The fifth anniversary of Sheikh Zayed becoming Ruler of Abu Dhabi, with official celebrations deferred until later in the year.

August 15: Bahrain becomes independent.

September 3: Qatar becomes independent.

November 23-25: Meeting with Sheikh Zayed and Sheikh Rashid and senior British officials to fix December 2 as date of creation of the UAE.

November 29:  At 5.30pm Iranian forces seize the Greater and Lesser Tunbs by force.

November 30: Despite  a power sharing agreement, Tehran takes full control of Abu Musa. 

November 31: UK officials visit all six participating Emirates to formally end the Trucial States treaties

December 2: 11am, Dubai. New Supreme Council formally elects Sheikh Zayed as President. Treaty of Friendship signed with the UK. 11.30am. Flag raising ceremony at Union House and Al Manhal Palace in Abu Dhabi witnessed by Sheikh Khalifa, then Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi.

December 6: Arab League formally admits the UAE. The first British Ambassador presents his credentials to Sheikh Zayed.

December 9: UAE joins the United Nations.

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UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
Dust and sand storms compared

Sand storm

  • Particle size: Larger, heavier sand grains
  • Visibility: Often dramatic with thick "walls" of sand
  • Duration: Short-lived, typically localised
  • Travel distance: Limited 
  • Source: Open desert areas with strong winds

Dust storm

  • Particle size: Much finer, lightweight particles
  • Visibility: Hazy skies but less intense
  • Duration: Can linger for days
  • Travel distance: Long-range, up to thousands of kilometres
  • Source: Can be carried from distant regions