The Automobile & Touring Club of the UAE (ATCUAE) on Sunday chaired a meeting of heads of major motorsport venues and organizations to chalk out a calendar for the 2010-11 season beginning October this year.
Held under the overall supervision of ATCUAE Sports Project Director Ronan Morgan, the off-road and circuit events meetings were chaired by Motorsport Director John Spiller and Motorsport Manager Matthew Norman, respectively.
Representatives from Dubai Autodrome, the Kartdrome, Yas Marina Circuit, Al Ain Raceway, Al Forsan International Sports Resort and the Emirates Motor Sports Federation presented their respective events for eventual inclusion in the final calendar for 2010-11.
Morgan, the ATCUAE Sports Project Director, said: “This is the only time of the year when representatives of all major motorsport venues and organizations are able to come together to chalk out the calendar for the next season.
“The basic purpose of this meeting is to ensure that there is no clash of dates. It is a challenge working around the various events because the possibility of resources running thin with back-to-back events is very real given that the ATCUAE oversees 140-plus events in a calendar year, including national and international championships,” Morgan added.
“This is a very important meeting,” said Motorsport Manager Norman, who oversees circuit racing, noting that with the commissioning of the Yas Marina Circuit last November the number of events have gone up citing the Australian V8s debut earlier this year as an example.
“The increase in the number of events has had a domino effect – this has fuelled the demand for more track officials to man these events, which is great for the sport overall but has also added a new dimension to the challenges we face,” Norman added.
Spiller, who oversees off-road racing, said the possibility of a national championship making a return has generated renewed interest among local rally enthusiasts but the real challenge was to attract the numbers to make the championship a viable proposition.
“Apart from rallies and bajas, motocross appears to have attracted considerable interest over the years going by the huge numbers that participated in the MX2 and Desert X championships,” Spiller added, noting that steps would have to be taken to take such events to the next level.
The formal calendar for the new season is expected to be finalized in the weeks to come.
