sheikh mayed is patron of dubai rally
Middle East title race set for grand finale as
Al Qassimi fights of Al Attiyah’s challenge
The Dubai International Rally, which could again decide the drivers title race in the FIA Middle East Championship, will be held under the patronage of H.H.Sheikh Mayed bin Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum.
Taking place from 30th November to 1st December, the eighth and final round of the 2007 FIA regional series will be based at the new headquarters of the Emirates Automobile and Touring Club (EATC), the rally organisers, in the city’s Al Mumzar area.
Sheikh Mayed, son of H.H.Sheikh Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai, has taken a close personal interest in the EATC’s activities since performing the official ground-breaking ceremony to start work on the new club premises back in February.
He presented trophies at the official prize giving for last week’s UAE Desert Challenge, and has told EATC President Mohammed Ben Sulayem that he wants the Dubai International Rally to underline its status as one of the top events in the FIA Middle East Championship in the years ahead.
The EATC will shortly complete its move into the new premises which have been built on a 30,000 sq ft plot allocated by Sheikh Mohammed, the Club’s patron.
The Club is officially the sole nominated representative in the Emirates of both the FIA, motor sport’s world governing body, and its motor cycling counterpart, the FIM.
Dubai Rally 2
On their behalf it supervises all organised motor sport events in the UAE for cars and bikes, and the plush new headquarters will reflect the important and expanding role the EATC is to play in overseeing all motor sport activities in the Emirates.
The Dubai International Rally climaxes a Middle East Championship series which has already seen rounds in Qatar, Oman, Cyprus (twice), Jordan and Syria, with the penultimate event, the Rally of Lebanon, taking place next week.
The UAE’s Sheikh Khalid Al-Qassimi goes into action in Lebanon holding a nine-point lead over reigning Middle East champion Nasser Saleh Al-Attiyah, but the Qatari is aiming to make sure the title battle goes down to the wire in Dubai.
“Regardless of what happens in Lebanon, we’re looking forward to a very competitive event to round off the championship in style here in Dubai,” said Sulayem, winner of 14 Middle East Championship crowns.
“This is one of the longest established and best known international rallies in the Middle East, and because of that it’s always a great prize for the winner.”
Documentation for the Dubai International Rally will be held at the new EATC headquarters on 29th November, while scrutineering takes place the same day at the Emarat Petrol Station near Al Mulla Plaza on Beirut Street.
The rally be given a ceremonial start at the Club the following day to launch Leg One, with the second leg starting and finishing there on 1st December
