Dubai: The Dubai International Rally, scheduled from November 28-30, promises yet another fascinating battle matching expectations for what will be the climax of the 2013 FIA Middle East Championship.
While Nasser Al Attiyah has already clinched the Middle East title, several of the Arab world’s other top rally drivers will be going all out to prevent the Qatari from rounding off the season with victory in the sixth and final round.
Al Attiyah tops the entry list of 22 drivers, which was announced on Wednesday by the Automobile and Touring Club of the UAE, the national motorsport authority and rally organisers. Among the other leading challengers will be the UAE’s Shaikh Khalid Al Qasimi, twice a winner in Dubai and this time spearheading a five-car entry by Abu Dhabi Racing.
Also looking for a big finish to the season will be Saudi Arabia’s Yazeed Al Rajhi, who has a WRC2 victory to his credit in the 2013 World Rally Championship, and Emirati driver Rashid Al Ketbi, who has also sharpened his skills on the world stage this season.
With Qatar’s 2010 Middle East champion Misfer Al Merri, the UAE’s Shaikh Abdullah Al Qasimi and Jordan’s Ala’a Rasheed also entering the fray in powerful rally cars, there is every possibility of a classic tussle. “This is a rally that everyone wants to win, so there’s a lot at stake for all the top drivers,” said Mohammad Bin Sulayem, the ACTUAE president.
For a fourth year, the event will be based at Dubai Men’s College, in the Higher Colleges of Technology campus at Academic City, Dubai, which hosts the Rally HQ and service park. The rally officially gets under way with a ceremonial start at Dubai World Trade Centre at 7.30pm on Thursday (November 28) before the main rally action unfolds along the desert trails over the next two days.
The first leg on Friday takes the competitors through Al Dhaid to the first loop of three special stages at Zubeidah, Al Falaj near Khadra village, and Showka, prior to a service regrouping. The same stages are repeated in the afternoon.
The following day’s second leg features two loops of three stages at Al Dhaid (Police College), Khadra and Mileiha, all areas that can be easily located from the Sharjah-Kalba Road or the Al Dhaid Road. The toughest of the lot are expected to reach the finish line at Dubai World Trade Centre at 4.30pm the same day.
Following previous rounds in Qatar, Kuwait, Jordan, Lebanon and Cyprus, Al Attiyah is aiming for his fifth victory of the season, and his seventh in succession in Dubai alongside co-driver Giovanni Bernacchini in a Ford Fiesta RRC.
