Dubai: Mohammad Bin Sulayem, President, Automobile and Touring Club of the UAE (ATCUAE), led the tributes for Ukrainian rally driver Vadym Nesterchuk, who reportedly died of dehydration while training in the UAE’s Liwa desert earlier this week.
The popular Nesterchuk was a regular competitor in the Abu Dhabi Desert Challenge and finished fourth in the 2012 FIA World Cup for Cross Country Rallies in the T2 category.
The Ukrainian was training in the Empty Quarter near Abu Dhabi to prepare for Russia’s Silkway Rally when his vehicle got stuck in deep sand.
After failing to extract the car, Nesterchuk is said to have tried to walk to the nearest village in the area, but when a rescue team located him via GPS coordinates, they found him unconscious.
Bin Sulayem, founder of the Abu Dhabi Desert Challenge, said the tragedy underlined the need for all precautions to be taken to provide competitor safety in desert events and guard against the threat of dehydration.
“Vadym was a very popular competitor and we are deeply saddened by this tragic news. He will be sadly missed, and our thoughts are with his family and friends,” Bin Sulayem said.
Nesterchuk was 42 years old, and is survived by his wife and two children.
He competed in the Abu Dhabi Desert Challenge six times, most recently in April this year. He was also the founder and pilot of Sixt Ukraine – the first Ukranian team entered into the prestigious Dakar Rally.
“As organisers of the Abu Dhabi Desert Challenge, which takes place in some very remote desert areas, we go to great lengths to ensure the safety of competitors, volunteers, officials and all others involved.”
Last year, the ATCUAE commissioned a report on hydration in an attempt to assist organisers of motor sport events to give better protection for marshals, competitors and officials.
The findings of the ATCUAE’s hydration study was based on research conducted last year in the UAE during the Abu Dhabi Desert Challenge in April, the 2012 F1 Etihad Airways Abu Dhabi Grand Prix in November, and the Dubai International Rally in December.
Presented in February 2013, the study found that up to 86 per cent of marshals at the Desert Challenge, 61 per cent of those working on the F1 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix and 54 per cent of the volunteers for the Dubai Rally, were shown to be suffering from dehydration.
Ironically, the ATCUAE had been unaware that Nesterchuk was training in the country. Listed as a Priority A driver by the FIA, under regulations laid down by motor sport’s world governing body, he should have informed the ATCUAE of his plans.
