The UAE will have a strong presence at the two-day annual meeting of the FIA Confederation of African Countries getting under way in Botswana on Thursday (29 August).
FIA President Jean Todt will be among senior officials in attendance when Dr Mohammed Ben Sulayem, President of the Automobile and Touring Club of the UAE, outlines his role as chairman of the new task force set up to build a ten-year plan for motor sport’s global development.
Delegates will later attend a full-day’s training program delivered by the ATCUAE’s training and education arm, the Motorsport Knowledge Institute, with the aim of developing and improving African motor sport.
The MKI is one of five national motor sport authorities entrusted to provide training to its counterparts on behalf of the FIA.
The training program in Gaborone, Botswana’s capital, is being co-funded by the FIA Institute whose President, Gérard Saillant, will also be attending.
It will focus on methods to reinforce event organization within the FIA African Rally Championship and on route planning to ensure highly competitive but safe events.
The training program is being delivered at the special request of FIA Vice-President Surinder Thatti of Kenya, Sulayem’s counterpart in the African zone.
Sulayem was named last month as chairman of the Motor Sport Development Task Force, initiated by the FIA to define the sport’s future.