Five Emirati drivers are hoping to kick-start their FIA Middle East Rally Championship campaigns at this weekend’s Qatar International Rally by mirroring the all-conquering regional exploits by the UAE national football team in the Gulf Cup of Nations.
With Sheikh Khalid Al Qassimi, the 2004 regional champion, spearheading the Abu Dhabi Racing effort in the main regional series, Majed Al Shamsi and Bader Al Jabri hope to make their mark in the re-introduced Group N category, while Mohammed Al Mutawaa and Mohammed Al-Sahlawi are in action in the brand-new two-wheel drive category.
Al Jabri summed up the young drivers’ mood in the wake of the UAE’s Gulf Cup victory. “It was a fantastic achievement by our footballers, and we want to build on that with strong performances in Qatar to keep the spotlight on our country’s sporting achievements,” he said.
Products of Abu Dhabi Tourism & Culture Authority’s Junior Driver Training Programme, which was established five years ago to create opportunities for Emirati drivers to experience rallying at all levels, Al Jabri and Al Shamsi have extensive experience.
The pair contested the regional championship and select English rallies in 2008, before embarking on a three-year World Rally Championship excursion from 2009. In the inaugural 2WD WRC Ford Fiesta International Sporting Trophy (FiST) season, Al Jabri and Al Shamsi finished third and sixth, respectively.
Stepping up to more powerful 1600 cc cars in the 2010 FiST championship, Al Jabri was runner-up with Al Shamsi fourth. In 2011, they progressed to the Production Car World Rally Championship and narrowly missed out on top ten standings finishes.
Both drivers will pilot identical Subaru N15 rally cars this season. Al Shamsi will be partnered by Irish co-driver John Higgins, with Al Jabri joined by Frenchman Nicholas Clinger.
Completing the Abu Dhabi Racing line-up in Qatar, Al-Sahlawi and Al Mutawaa – who topped a pool of 13 UAE drivers in an intense, Citroën Racing-supported three-day selection programme in Abu Dhabi last December – face competitive debuts in a pair of Citroen DS3 R3 2WDs. Irish co-drivers Stephen McAuley and Alan Harrymanwill support Al Mutawaa and Al Sahlawi, respectively.
Moving into rallying after impressing in karting and circuit racing, Al Mutawaa represented the UAE in the HSBC Racing Academy in 2007, competing at circuits across Europe. In karting, he was Rookie of the Year in the 2008-09 UAE RMC and DAMC championship, while 14 sprint race wins in the Sodi World Series Karting took him to 11th in the world.
He won six out of eight races in the 2010-11 GT3/4 Corvette UAE GT Championship to become Vice Champion and in 2012 won the GT4 Class in the first-ever Gulf 12 Hour Race. Last year he became the first Arab to be accepted into the FIA Institute Young Driver Excellence Academy.
Al-Sahlawi is in his first season of competitive action after experience in karting sessions and rack days at Dubai Autodrome and Yas Marina Circuit, as well desert driving in a truck he built himself. While he is the least experienced member of the Abu Dhabi Racing team, he impressed the judges during the selection event organised by Citroën Racing, Abu Dhabi Racing and Yas Marina Circuit.
