Dubai: Drivers in this weekend’s prestigious Dunlop 24 Hours of Dubai should view the threat of rain as a challenge rather than a reason to be fearful, according to UAE motorsport legend Mohammad Bin Sulayem.
The ninth edition of the annual race — which has this year attracted a bumper field of 80 teams from all over the world — was officially launched amid torrential rain in Motor City on Tuesday, with organisers forced to hastily move the media conference indoors. While the forecast for the race itself, which runs from 2pm Friday to 2pm Saturday, is better, the downpour served as a reminder to how crucial conditions will be.
The 300-plus drivers taking part will be aware how differently their cars will behave when the track is wet, and multiple Middle East rally champion and current FIA vice-president Bin Sulayem believes that how they handle that challenge could well decide the race.
“People ask me how the track will drive in the wet, but in my experience as a driver the conditions are not only for you — you won’t only have that spot of rain and the rest of the people are dry. Everybody will have that, so you just deal with it,” the 52-year-old said ahead of the key event on Dubai’s motorsport calendar.
“That’s when you have a good team and a good way of thinking — you choose your own suspension, your own tyres, but above all you choose your own strategy. I know as a driver that whatever strategy you make [before the race], once you get to the flag all plans are gone. You have to do your own plan from the start.”
Dubai Autodrome spokesman Paul Velasco added: “It’s part of racing. These teams are mainly from Europe, so they are used to wet conditions — I’m sure it rains at some point during every endurance race in Europe. I don’t think it’s too much of a concern, although we don’t want it to rain because we want people to come and watch the race.
“A 24-hour race brings up a lot of challenges — hot conditions, dusty conditions, rain. And even if it doesn’t rain, in Dubai, at about midnight, there’s a dew that falls that’s very slippery. So, rain or shine, 24 Hours brings you a huge challenge in terms of the conditions.”
The local challenge will once again be led by Khalid Al Qubaisi in Team Abu by Black Falcon, who have taken overall honours in each of the last two years. While they bid to make it a hat-trick of titles in their Mercedes SLS AMG GT3, there promises to be plenty of action in all 14 classes across the weekend.
“This event, I call it historical,” Bin Sulayem said. “We are now having the ninth edition and the interest has grown — it has become an important event in the international calendar. For Dubai, UAE and the whole area here, I believe it is a very sociable event. You have got the involvement of a lot of areas of society and that’s what sport in general should be about.
“We see the quantity and quality of teams growing. We have 80 this year and you see the local teams are good. There is no way you can hope to become one of the best sports in the country unless you have your own team.”
Entry to the race — which is being held under the patronage of Shaikh Hamdan Bin Mohammad Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Crown Prince of Dubai and Chairman of the Dubai Sports Council — is free all weekend.
“We’ve got a very strong international contingent and, I’m pleased to say, a very potent local contingent who could possibly win their class,” Velasco said. “It’s free of charge, there’s a lot of entertainment in the paddock and the start is phenomenal for any form of racing. We’re expecting quite a lot of people to come down.”
