Sulayem spearheads UAE's clean sweep

The UAE's Mohammed bin Sulayem completed his 10th straight win in Dubai as he led two other racers for a clean sweep by UAE in the final round of the 2002 FIA Middle East Championship yesterday.

Sulayem, who was initially not scheduled to participate in the Dubai round, finished ahead of Sharjah's Sheikh Abdullah Al Qasimi and his brother Sheikh Khalid Al Qasimi, who also went on to take the Group N title.

Sulayem, who had opened up a lead of 1.33 minutes at the end of the second day on Thursday, thus rounded off the 2002 FIA Middle East Championship with a fifth victory of the season in his Ford Focus World Rally Car as also his 60th career success in the Middle East series while winning by 3 minutes and 59 seconds from Sheikh Abdullah's Ford Focus WRC.

"It's a great feeling to win on home ground for a record 10 years in-a-row," Sulayem said after he climbed out of Ford Focus WRC in front of the Al Bustan Rotana Hotel, late yesterday.

"It feels so good because there was so much pressure after my sponsors - Ford and Red Bull - decided that we should participate at the last moment," the Middle East champion added.

For Sulayem, it was a unique record as he rounded off the Middle East Championship with a fifth victory of the season and his 60th career success in the Middle East series.

Sulayem, who had wrapped up his 14th Middle East drivers' crown with victory in Jordan in September, was in control from start to finish in the Dubai International Rally, sponsored for a fifth year by the Ports, Customs and Free Zone Authority. His win also confirmed Ford as Middle East manufacturers champions for a sixth time.

"Abdullah (Al Qasimi) pushed hard and it was good to have that competition. But I was fastest on all but one of the stages and I'm very pleased to win the Middle East manufacturers' championship for Ford again."

"We had some problems as we went along," said Sheikh Abdullah after finishing nearly 13 minutes ahead of his younger brother. "But it's a good feeling to be the second best driver in the Middle East," he added.

Taking third place overall, Sheikh Khalid, also headed the production class to claim the Middle East Group N championship from Qatar's Misfer Al Marri, who had suffered major mechanical problems on Thursday.

Also celebrating a Middle East title win was the UAE-based Ron Oakeley, partnered by co-driver wife Julie, who squeezed into the top 10 in his Subaru Impreza to land the super 1600 championship. The 1992 Group N champion is only the second driver to win regional titles in two categories.

Organised by the Automobile and Touring Club for the UAE (ATCUAE), the event was co-sponsored by the Al Bustan Rotana Hotel, GTS Recovery, official suppliers of towing services, and Alpha Data, official IT suppliers.

Provisional results:
1. M Bin Sulayem/J Spiller (UAE/GB) Ford Focus WRC (A) 1 hour, 58.33 seconds; 2. A Al Qasimi/K Zakaria (UAE/HKJ) Ford Focus WRC (A) 2:02.32; 3. K Al Qasimi/T Al Warshaw (UAE/UAE) Mitsubishi Lancer Evo VI (N) 2:15.48; 4. R Baker N Ahmadi (UAE/UAE) Toyota Celica GT4 (A) 2:22.51; 5. S Fadhel/I Naban (UAE/UAE) Mitsubishi Lancer Evo 5 (N) 2:30.05; 6. AR Ghuloom/E Ghuloom (BH/BH) Mitsubishi Lancer Evo (N) 2:33.11; 7. H Al Sadadi/TBA (BH) Subaru Impreza WRC (N) 2:35.30; 8. M Al Marri/A Hussain (QA/QA) Mitsubishi Lancer Evo VII (N) 2:50:41; 9. R Oakeley/J Oakeley (UAE/UAE) Subaru Impreza (N) 3:00.59; 10. C Johnson/D McDowall (UAE/UAE) Subaru Impreza (N) 3:16.20.

FIA Middle East Rally Championship Standings: 1. Mohammed Bin Sulayem (UAE) 56pts (champion); 2. Abdullah Al Qasimi (UAE) 24pts; 3. Khalid Al Qasimi (UAE) 14pts; 4. Misfer Al Marri (Qat) 13pts; 5. Abdullah Bakhashab (KSA) 12pts; 6. Andreas Peratikos (Cy) 10pts; 7. Chris Armeftis (Cy); Hamed Al Sowaidi (Qat) 6pts.

Group N Championship: 1. Khalid Al Qasimi (UAE) 40pts (champion); 2. Misfer Al Marri (Qat) 34pts; 3. Abdullah Al Kuwari (Qat) 16pts; 4. Abdulrahman Ghuloom (Bah); Mohammed Al Sarraf (Kwt); Ahmad Al Sabban (KSA); Andreas Peratikos (Cy) 10pts; 8. Sadeq Fadhal (UAE); Nizar Shanfari (Om); Mubarak Al Hajri (Qat); Chris Armeftis (Cy) 6pts.

Manufacturers' championship: 1. Ford 50pts (champions); 2. Mitsubishi 40pts; 3. Subaru 24pts; 4. Toyota 18pts; 5. Peugeot 11pts.

Super 1600 Championship: 1. Ron Oakeley (UAE) 40pts (champion); 2. Ziad Karanouh (Leb) 28pts; 3. Nearchos Nearchou (Cy) 6pts.