UAE motor sport marshals have been the best in the world for the last two years, and training is under way to maintain standards in the countdown to November’s fifth edition of the F1 Etihad Airways Abu Dhabi Grand Prix.
Around half of the 700 marshals who will work at Yas Marina Cuircuit during the F1 weekend took part in the first in a series of intensive training sessions that will be conducted by the Automobile and Touring Club for UAE.
They included 60 Emirati volunteers, who made up 15% of the total number of marshals who helped ensure the safe and smooth running of last year’s Abu Dhabi Grand Prix.
“We’ve worked hard on the training of our marshals over the last few years and it’s been very rewarding for everyone involved to see that they have reached such a high standard,” said ATCUAE President Dr. Mohammed Ben Sulayem, the FIA Vice President for Sport.
“But this is something that cannot stop. The sport is constantly developing with the use of new technology, and we have to keep pace with it.”
Added Sulayem: “We have volunteers from more than 60 nationalities, and there’s a great team spirit between them all. I’m particularly pleased to see a growing contingent of Emirati marshals.
“The government has made a major investment in motor sport and we have to have strong local interest and support to make the sport sustainable.”
The first major marshals training session at Yas Marina Circuit on Friday was conducted by a team from the ATCUAE’s training division, the Motorsport Knowledge Institute.
The UAE’s success in training motor sport marshals to operate at the top level was underlined when UAE national Mohammed Al Shatri was named by the FIA, the sport’s governing body, as the worldwide Volunteer of the Year for 2012. It was the second year in succession that the FIA award was won by a UAE volunteer.
