Sheikh Khalid Al Qassimi is hoping to become the first Emirati since 2002 to win the Qatar International Rally. RIGHT: Saeed Al Hajri on his way to winning the 1984 Qatar Rally.
DOHA: The Middle East’s top rally drivers head to Doha this weekend to begin their preparations for next week’s QMMF Qatar International Rally, round one of the 2014 FIA Middle East Rally Championship. The event starts with a new super special stage on Doha Corniche from 6pm on Thursday, February 20.
Topping the provisional entry list is Nasser Saleh Al Attiyah, the defending regional champion and the winner of his home event in 10 of the last 11 seasons. Nasser starts as the firm favourite to seal a 51st MERC round win but competition will be fierce; regular WRC stars Yazeed Al Rajhi, Sheikh Khalid Al Qassimi and Abdulaziz Al Kuwari are likely to push the Ford Fiesta RRC driver to the limit on each of the 13 timed special stages.
Al Attiyah will continue his build up to the rally on Friday in a very different way by taking part in the Qatar Open Shotgun Championships at the Losail Shooting Complex. The Olympic bronze medallist in the men’s skeet joins over 300 shooters and 13 Olympic medallists at the prestigious event.
Saudi’s Al Rajhi is one of the most improved rally drivers in the region and followed up a convincing victory in Rally Jeddah two weeks ago by sealing fourth position in the WRC2 category in Rally Sweden last weekend. The Riyadh driver had led the category for long periods before rolling near the finish and eventually finishing fourth in his class and 14th overall.
Also at the helm of a Ford Fiesta RRC, the Saudi will be full of rally practice in readiness for his Qatar challenge; he headed straight from Sweden to Russia and will tackle this weekend’s Baja Russia Northern Forest ’14 at the helm of an Overdrive Toyota Hilux.
Emirati Al Qassimi is also a regular on the WRC scene and endured his own fair share of problems in Sweden, reaching the finish in 16th position. The Abu Dhabi Racing driver wheels out his Citroën DS3 in Qatar and would love to become the first UAE driver to win the event since 2002.
Abdulaziz Al Kuwari won the Qatar International Rally two years ago and gave the Mini S2000 its first international success. Since then, the Qatari has achieved some stunning results in the WRC2 category of the FIA World Rally Championship and will be aiming for the podium next weekend in Doha in a Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution VIII.
The event also marks the 30th anniversary of the FIA Middle East Rally Championship and the British car preparation company Prodrive that not only prepared the Mini that Al-Kuwari used to win in Doha in 2012, but also built the Group B Porsche 911 SC RS that Qatari legend Saeed Al Hajri used to win the Qatar International Rally back in 1984.
“On the 30th anniversary of the regional rally championship, we are delighted to have received a strong entry for the traditional opening round of the series here in Qatar,” enthused Nasser Khalifa Al-Attiyah, president of the Qatar Motor and Motorcycle Federation (QMMF) and FIA vice-president for sport in the Middle East. “It will be fascinating to see the leading drivers in the region taking each other on over their traditional desert-type terrain.”
Documentation will take place on Wednesday, February 19 and scrutineering of the cars will also take place at the QMMF in Doha on Thursday, February 20. The meat of the off-road action then takes centre stage on Friday, February 21 and Saturday, February 22 in the Qatar desert.
The Peninsula
doha: After a solid showing in his first ever outing in the Porsche GT3 Cup Challenge Middle East last month, Qatar racing star Nasser bin Saleh Al Attiyah, is looking to Dubai as his next hunting ground for motorsporting silverware.
Making his debut in front of thousands of local fans at Losail International Circuit in Round 4 in January, the all-round sporting hero Al Attiyah delivered an admirable performance to secure first place in the Silver Michelin category and is now hoping the UAE round will act as a springboard to further success before the end of the season.
Driving for Team QMMF (Qatar Motor & Motorcycling Federation), the previous Qatar round was the first time Al Attiyah had ever raced in the new Porsche GT3 Cup Car which his competitors have become accustomed to over the past few months. Speaking ahead of the Dubai round Al Attiyah said: “It’s been great chatting with the other drivers and I’m trying to soak up as much of their knowledge as I can since they have a definite headstart on me in terms of experience with this particular car and format. The Dubai Autodrome has a great reputation for providing excellent racing conditions and a fair amount of dramatic action so I am very much looking forward to getting out there and getting right in amongst the action.”
Round 5 of the Porsche GT3 Cup Challenge could be the most defining of the season with Al Nabooda’s Clemens Schmid 39 points ahead of his nearest rival, Zaid Ashkanani of Kuwait. Schmid has won 6 of the season’s 8 races with Ashkanani getting the better of him in Race 2 of the previous Dubai round. With drivers and team titles potentially up for grabs this weekend the racing is set to be the tightest and most tense yet, a hostile but exciting battleground for Qatar’s Al Attiyah:
“There is no doubting the experience of these guys in the Porsche GT3 Cup Challenge Middle East but I have to back my experience across different racing environments and even different sports.”
He added, “It’s only my second round in the series so I am learning and will be trying new things to get up to speed as quickly as possible. While it was fantastic to have the home support in Qatar last week I will not be able to rely on the crowds in Dubai who will be supporting their local drivers. It will be about me, the car and the track and ensuring there are steady improvements in my results.
The Porsche GT3 Cup Challenge returns on 14th and 15th February for Round 5 at the Dubai Autodrome The Peninsula
