FIA Middle East Rally Champioinship

After four decades of support from the Dubai Ruler's Court, the Dubai International Rally reaches a milestone next week with Mohammed Ben Sulayem pledging that the event will remain a key fixture on the UAE's expanding motor sport calendar in the future.

The traditional last round of the FIA Middle East Rally Championship celebrates its 30th anniversary next week at a time when motor sport in the Emirates is entering a new era, with Abu Dhabi joining the Formula One World Championship next year.

"Ever since the Dubai International Rally was launched in 1978, the event has enjoyed vital support from the Dubai Ruler's Court," said Sulayem, President of the Automobile and Touring Club of the UAE, the rally organisers. "Thanks to the Government of Dubai, it has set the standard for FIA Middle East Championship rallying over the years, and is now the longest running international sporting event in the UAE.

"The motor sport scene here has changed dramatically in recent years and there are so many new events and disciplines now. But the Dubai Rally is an important part of our sporting history and will always be one of our flagship events."

The last of seven rounds in this year's FIA Middle East Championship takes place from 27-29 November under the patronage of H.H.Sheikh Majed bin Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum.

While Qatar's Nasser Al Attiyah has already wrapped up the regional drivers' crown for the fourth year in a row, Sulayem says there is still plenty at stake as the season reaches its climax.

"The Dubai Rally title is one of the biggest prizes in Middle East rallying," said Sulayem, who won the event 15 times. "Winning it is a great way to round off the season, and give yourself a big boost ready for the start of another new campaign."

Following previous rounds in Qatar, Cyprus, Syria, Lebanon and Jordan, Al Attiyah clinched the Middle East title with his sixth consecutive victory in the recent Troodos Rally in Cyprus. The UAE's Sheikh Khalid Al Qassimi, winner of the event in 2005 and 2006, is seen as the biggest threat to the Qatari's bid for a second straight win in Dubai.

Meanwhile, four other drivers go into the event to battle for the two remaining championship podium places. Qatar's Misfer Al Marri currently holds second place in the series, but Lebanese driver Nick Georgiou is just a point away in third, with Oman's Nizar Al Shanfari and Cypriot Nicos Thomas also in the hunt.

After scrutineering on Thursday 27th November, the following day's first leg brings four special stages in the Madam and Hatta areas, with five more stages following on Saturday 29th November in the Filli area ahead of the finish on the corniche at Al Mamzar.

The Dubai Rally rounds off an eventful two months for Sulayem and the ATCUAE, which is the sole official representative in the UAE of the FIA, the world governing body of motor sport, and its motor bike and classic car counterparts, the FIM and FIVA.

After staging a highly successful 18th edition of the UAE Desert Challenge last month, Sulayem was named recently as Vice President of the FIA for Sport and became the first Arab to be elected to the FIA World Motor Sport Council.

When he took charge of the ATCUAE in 2006 only 90 competitors in the UAE had official licenses to compete in motor sport – most of them in rallying – and there were less than 20 official events staged per year. Today, the ATCUAE has more than 1200 licensed competitors and oversees a calendar of 140 motor sport events.