The UAE Marlboro Desert Challenge will take its first steps later this year towards securing a place for the Middle East in a new-look World Championship of cross country rallying.

Mohammad Bin Sulayem, chairman of the organising committee, announced yesterday that the spectacular event will expand from four to five days of competition when it is staged for the 14th time in October.

The move is in line with plans by the FIA, motorsport's world governing body, to upgrade the existing World Cup for Cross Country Rallies and create a calendar of World Championship super events.

Taking place from October 11-15, the 2004 UAE Marlboro Desert Challenge will be held under the patronage of His Highness Shaikh Khalifa Bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi and Deputy Supreme Commander of the UAE Armed Forces, and General Shaikh Mohammad Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Crown Prince of Dubai and UAE Minister of Defence.

While no blueprint for a new World Championship has yet been finalised, the likelihood is that each round would be required to stretch to a minimum of six days of rallying.

The major manufacturers' teams, such as Mitsubishi, Nissan, Ford and Volkswagen, are expected to have discussions on the format when they gather in Dubai before the start of the UAE Marlboro Desert Challenge.

Their support for the proposed new World Championship is vital, and the FIA wants to establish greater consistency between events to ensure the major powers of off-road rallying are all on board.

"We're taking steps, one at a time, to ensure the Desert Challenge retains its place in the sport's top flight," said Sulayem, driving force behind the Marlboro-backed event from its inception in 1991.

"In general, the current World Cup events must grow to keep pace with the demands of the new championship being planned, or be left behind."

Added Sulayem: "At present there's a big gap between the shorter, three-day events and the Dakar Rally which stretches over three weeks, is run outside the World Cup, but is seen by the manufacturers as the ultimate test.

That gap must close to make the proposed World Championship attractive to the manufacturers and possibly allow for the inclusion of the Dakar Rally."

The Prologue will be held in Dubai on October 10.