UMM AL QUWAIN // A passion for sport and boundless energy has taken an Emirati from a bicycle saddle in his native emirate into the cockpit of a Formula Three car in Europe.
Haytham Sultan always enjoyed car-racing computer games, but it was a bicycle that first piqued his interest in Grade 8, when he started taking part in school racing competitions.
By the age of 20, he had moved on to karting and now, at 27, he is preparing to embark on a Formula Three adventure in Europe. “At the age of 12, I used to go with my elder brother to the gym and that gave me motivation to practise sports, as he was a body builder,” says the Ministry of Interior employee. “Then I participated in a cycling competition at my school and I got fifth place among all schools in UAQ.”
Taking part in numerous cycling races led Al Arabi Sports and Cultural Club in UAQ to select him as an official team member of the club.
“At the club, I participated in many national championships and collected plenty of points that qualified me to be chosen to join the UAE team for cycling races. I finished second, nationally, for the number of points scored,” he says. “Then, I took part in a cycling championship held in Saudi Arabia in 2007 and got a bronze medal.”
Two years later, he visited the Kartdrome at Dubai Autodrome with friends to have fun – and fell in love. “I went karting when I was travelling abroad because there was no kart racing in the UAE, and I had been in love with this racing since my childhood, but I didn’t know the right path or how to pursue it,” Sultan says.
“In 2009, I went with my friends to the Kartdrome just to have fun. That day I drove three sessions for the first time and noticed from the timing record how much I had improved within the hour and a half I was there.
“The next day, I went alone to Kartdrome to start training and I met experts in karting and started learning from them. I went every day for three months, and then I registered in the Sodi World Series.”
In 2010 he took part in many local karting events and earned enough points to qualify for an international karting championship in Paris held by SWS, where he won first place among Arabs and 16th place overall in a field of 100 drivers.
A year later he became the first Emirati racing driver in Formula Gulf 1000.
“Formula Gulf was started for the first time in the UAE in 2011. In its first season, I drove in the first and second races and paid for it from my own pocket. By the third race, I got financial support from my government [UAQ],” Sultan says.
His achievements in Formula Gulf have given him a shot at F3, the first Emirati driver in the series, and Sultan is now training ahead of a move to Europe to follow his dream. He is due to join up with the Campos Team, competing from next summer onwards.
“My aim is to establish an Emirati team that has engineers in different fields to create a sports car that has a UAE trademark for formula races. I am working on the idea,” he says.
Although anyone can drive fast, not anyone can become a racing driver, Sultan says.
Motorsport “relies on patience, attention and fitness”, he says.
“Youngsters who have passion in races should not drive their cars at high speed on roads and expose their lives and other’s lives to danger.
“I advise them to go to the arenas to release their obsession, where they could become professional drivers and be supported by the government.”
roueiti@thenational.ae
