Sport | Motorsport
Bin Sulayem issues a ‘rallying' call
Urges UAE motorsports talent to lend support to FIA Middle East Championship in Doha
- Staff Report
- Published: 00:00 January 28, 2012
- Image Credit: Supplied picture
- Mohammad Bin Sulayem
Dubai: FIA vice-president Mohammad Bin Sulayem has warned that UAE drivers risk undermining efforts to revive rallying in the region if they do not support the FIA Middle East Championship.
Bin Sulayem said he was shocked on discovering that the entry list for the Qatar International Rally, which launches the 2012 FIA Middle East series, does not bear the name of a single Emirati driver.
"I was so surprised and disappointed," said the 14-times former FIA Middle East champion, whose record-breaking career included nine victories in Qatar between 1988 and his last season in competitive rallying in 2002.
"It's the first time I can ever remember this happening, and it shocked and upset me. The Qatar Rally was one of the events which gave birth to motorsport in this part of the world, and the organisers do so much to help visiting drivers by offering generous assistance packages."
Personal support
Bin Sulayem flew to Doha to lend his support to the Qatar Motor and Motor Cycle Federation (QMMF) at the start of the 28th FIA Middle East Rally Championship, and he urged UAE drivers, and competitors from across the region, to embrace the series so that its importance is not forgotten.
"Rallying was the start of motorsport in this part of the world back in the 1970s," he said. "For 25 years or more there was nothing else. It has been the pillar of motorsport here for so long. It's part of our culture, and we have to protect it.
Fast development
"Motorsport has developed tremendously in recent years. We now have a vast range of events, from Formula One down, and rallying has fallen behind. But rallying is where it all began and the Middle East Championship has played such an important part in growing the sport's popularity.
"It needs and deserves the support of rally drivers from the UAE, and across the region. It's a fantastic championship with a great history. It's something that today's drivers should embrace and do what they can to attract the next generation of rally drivers in the Middle East."
Bin Sulayem picked out Qatar's current FIA Middle East champion Nasser Saleh Al Attiyah, the top seed for the FIA Middle East Championship, as an inspiration for young Arab drivers. "Nasser learnt his trade in the Middle East Championship and went on to win the Dakar Rally last year to prove himself to be one of the world's best," he said. "Young Arab drivers must be encouraged to follow the same path."
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