Dubai: The Dubai International Baja, powered by Nissan and AW Rostamani, will see World Cup crosscountry rallying return to the UAE next month (March 8-10) with a powerful assembly of top drivers and riders battling for honours across the Al Qudra desert terrain.
Setting the stage for two days of gripping action, the Automobile and Touring Club for the UAE (ATCUAE), the national motor sport authority and rally organisers, announced a new agreement on Saturday with the event’s joint title sponsors.
The agreement was signed by Kalyana Sivagnanam, president, Nissan Middle East, and regional vice-president Africa, Middle East and India region; Khalid Al Rostamani, vice-chairman of AW Rostamani Group, the sole distributor for the Nissan brand in Dubai and the Northern Emirates through its flagship company, Arabian Automobiles; and Mohammad Bin Sulayem, president of the ATCUAE and Emirates Motor Sport Federation, and vice-president for sport at the Federation Internationale de l’Automobile (FIA).
The Nissan Patrol is hence the official car for the 548-km event. Nissan Patrols will be used by an experienced ATCUAE team to plot a new rally route through Al Qudra desert, and will serve as official on-site vehicles for the organisers and FIA and FIM officials. The rally is the first of two big World Cup dates for the ATCUAE next month, with the 28th edition of the Abu Dhabi Desert Challenge being held from March 24 to 29.
