Dubai: The 2014-15 Emirates Desert Championship will reach its climax on Friday, with the UAE’s top drivers and riders heading into a tense last round battle to decide all the main honours in the national rally series.
Ahmad Al Fahim’s hopes of successfully defending the cars title he won in the inaugural championship last season is largely out of his hands after his friend and fellow Polaris driver Ahmad Al Maqoodi won each of the previous rounds.
While Al Fahim carries a four-point lead into the sixth round decider in the Margham desert, the fact that only five rounds count in the final analysis means that Al Maqoodi needs only a sixth-place finish to be crowned champion.
In the bikes category, Mohammad Al Beloushi is under pressure from Kuwaiti Mohammad Jaffar, but a second-place finish will be enough to give the title to the Emirati rider.
The same applies to another Emirati rider, Humaid Al Mashghouni, who also goes into final round action holding a four-point advantage, despite victories in three previous rounds by second-placed Mohammad Al Shamsi.
“We have all the ingredients for a classic event to round off what has been a record-breaking season for the championship,” said Mohammad Bin Sulayem, President of the Automobile and Touring Club of the UAE (ATCUAE) and the Emirates Motorsport Federation (EMSF), the championship organisers.
“There is everything to compete for and it will be interesting to see how the guys who are fighting it out for the cars, bikes and quads titles handle themselves. Overall, we’re delighted with the way the championship has grown in popularity, and with the quality of entries, not just the numbers.
“Together, we’re already looking ahead to next season and are very optimistic that the series will continue to go from strength to strength.”
Getting under way in the Margham desert at 9am, Friday’s short course event uses the same route that saw a record 135 drivers and riders contest the second round last October.
The entry list this time has just tipped over the 100 mark, but it will include six-time world champion Marc Coma, who competes alongside his Dubai-based KTM Factory teammate Sam Sunderland as part of their preparations for the Abu Dhabi Desert Challenge later this month.
