government support powers
dubai rally – sulayem
Mohammed Ben Sulayem said today that government support has seen the Dubai International Rally set the Middle East Championship pace through three decades as the 2007 series headed for its grand finale in the Emirate this weekend.
“The Dubai Government has provided vital support since the early 1980s to make this consistently the best rally in the championship over the years,” said Sulayem, President of the Automobile and Touring Club (ATC).
“Dubai Police have been our close partners in staging the event since the beginning, as they are today. We also receive crucial support from the Roads and Transport Authority, Dubai Municipality, as well as the immigration, ambulance and customs and ports authorities.”
Added Sulayem: “With this kind of backing we can build it into an even bigger and better rally in the years ahead.”
The 2007 Dubai Rally is held under the patronage of H.H.Sheikh Mayed bin Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum who will officially start the event at 10 am on Friday from the new headquarters of the ATC in Al Mamzar. The event has attracted an entry of 36 Middle East and overseas drivers, including two young guns and a couple of old hands who will be fighting their own battles as the regional title race goes down to the wire.
While Sheikh Khalid Al Qassimi and Nasser Saleh Al-Attiyah go head to head to decide the Middle East drivers’ crown, Nicolai Georgiou, Sultan Al Ameri, Ron Oakeley and Simon Nutter each have their own points to prove.
Dubai Rally 2
Oman-based Georgiou wants to finish ahead of Qatar’s Misfer Al-Marri and pip him for sixth place in the regional championship. It would be a sound achievement considering he entered his first international rally just over 12 months ago.
Partnered by Joseph Matar in a Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution IX, Georgiou has a good deal of experience to call on. His team manager is his father, Tony, who is remembered for his Middle East rallying exploits in the 1980s and 90s and whose spectacular crash in Jordan in 1986 still makes fascinating viewing today on YouTube.
After a ninth place in Dubai last year Nicolai is aiming higher, especially following a fine fourth position in the penultimate round in Lebanon. “The aim is to drive clean with no mistakes and improve on last year,” he said. “It’s important for us to continue being competitive as I’m in a tight battle for sixth place with Misfer who is one point ahead.”
No-one knows what it is like to drive in the shadows of Sheikh Khalid Al Qassimi better than Sultan Al Ameri, the junior driver in Team Abu Dhabi who hopes the experience can pay off. After finishing eighth in Oman this year and ninth in Syria, he now pursues his best international finish in Dubai in partnership with Alan Harryman in Subaru WRX-STI.
If anyone can compete with Tony Georgiou for spectacular crashes it is Ron Oakeley who will be hoping to avoid a third bad accident in Dubai.
His most dramatic, back in 1991, ended with him climbing out through the driver’s side window as his car lay in a heap. It earned him a big ovation later that evening when the rally highlights were shown at the prize giving.
Oakeley, one of the most colourful characters in Middle East rallying, has a place in the history books. In 2002 he clinched the 1600cc crown to become only the second driver to have won regional titles in two categories, and the first to do it with his wife as co-driver.
Dubai Rally 3
Julie Oakeley has since handed over the co-driver’s role to Mark Turner and husband Ron must forget another big roll in Dubai two years ago as he tries to see off fellow British drivers Simon Nutter and David Scialom.
“They’re my big rivals because they’ve got similar budgets,” says Oakeley, who would particularly like to finish ahead of close pal Nutter, the two times-former Middle East Formula Two champion with whom he has an ongoing friendly rivalry.
Among the drivers arriving from overseas is Austrian Andreas Wimmer who is looking to build on his seventh place in Dubai last year in a Subaru Impreza.
After Friday’s six special stages in the Hatta area another eight special stages in the Al Dhaid area on Saturday lead to a 4.30pm finish on the Al Mamzar Corniche as motor enthusiasts from across the UAE take part in a unique event staged to mark the 36th Anniversary of the formation of the UAE.
Organised by the ATC in conjunction with the Ministry of Culture, Youth & Community Development Innovation 36 features a parade of customised vehicles linked to a beach carnival of family activities in Al Mamzar.
