The volunteers of the UAE Motorsports Marshals club can today look back proudly on having safely and efficiently delivered the 2011 Formula One Etihad Airways Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, at the Yas Marina Circuit last Sunday evening.
Over 600 volunteer motorsport officials from the club, which is run by the Automobile & Touring Club of the UAE (ATCUAE), were involved in the event which ran from Thursday afternoon to Sunday night, with many proving their dedication by taking time off work, and even flying in from abroad, to take part.
This past Friday, the UAE Marshals Club could finally celebrate their achievement, when they were the guests of the ATCUAE and Yas Marina Circuit at a private BBQ held at the circuit’s racing school. The marshals were able to enjoy a variety of motorsport related entertainment, including karting, hot laps with the race instructors around the Formula One circuit, and even a pitstop challenge, to see if there was any potential F1 mechanics among the crowd, with prizes given out for those that set the fastest times.
The UAE Motorsport Marshals Club is a truly multinational organisation, with members from over 60 countries worldwide all working together to ensure that all spectators, competitors, and officials make it through the event safely. Although it is not just the expatriate population that is involved, as 2011 was also a record year for local participation, as more Emirati nationals volunteered than ever before.
The ATCUAE, the governing body of all motorsport in the UAE, has a contract with Abu Dhabi Motorsport Manangement, the owners of the Yas Marina Circuit and promoters of the Formula One race, to manage the sporting side of the event, and all the on track activity comes under their jurisdiction.
Ronan Morgan, ATCUAE Sporting Director and Clerk of the Course for the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, said of the volunteers, “The ATCUAE has been training these volunteers for several months now and they really proved their credentials over the weekend. This was the first year that the event required no outside assistance from abroad, and we have now shown the world that we can host and run an event that can rival the best.”
Mohammed Ben Sulayem, President of the ATCUAE and Vice-President of the FIA, added, “It gave me great pride when Charlie Whiting (FIA Formula One Race Director) came to me and said that the event was brilliantly run and managed, and he was particularly impressed by the quality of our officials. This is the man who knows Formula One better than anyone else on the planet, so that is a huge achievement for the UAE Motorsport Marshals Club. I was also delighted to get the chance to meet personally with many of our volunteers, and all have my sincere gratitude for the time and effort that they put in.”
It won’t be long before the UAE Motorsport Marshals club gets their next taste of international motorsport, albeit of a slightly different variety, when the 2011 Dubai International Rally, the final round of the FIA Middle East Rally Championship, is staged across the Emirate over the national day weekend in early December.
