Dubai International Rally (UAE) - 30 Nov - 2 Dec 05

Posted: December 5, 2005 11:55 AM

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UAE'S AL-QASSIMI PRODUCES FAULTLESS DRIVE TO TAKE SUPERB WIN IN DUBAI RALLY
Second place for Jordan's Faris Bustami;
Middle East 1600 title for Kuwait's Al-Nejad

The UAE's Sheikh Khalid Al-Qassimi and British co-driver Nicky Beech completed one of the most one-sided victories in the history of the Dubai International Rally, when they steered their Subaru Impreza WRX STi to an emphatic 14m 54s triumph, today (Friday).

The event was held under the patronage of His Highness Sheikh Ahmed Bin Saeed Al-Maktoum, President of the Dubai Civil Aviation Department, and featured 13 timed special stages over two days. Second place eventually fell to Jordan's Faris Bustami and Imad Juma'a and the UAE driver Yahya Al-Amri and British co-driver Craig Parry were third overall. Kuwait's Mufeed Mubarak was fourth and did enough to clinch a similar position in the FIA Driver's Championship.

Al-Qassimi began the final day with a 6m 23s lead over his nearest rival Michel Saleh. It meant that he could lose one minute per stage and still win the rally, but the 2004 FIA regional champion was taking everything in his stride. "I had no plans to think about glory or the podium, just to concentrate on driving fast and not making a mistake."

"I had a strategy to beat Nasser on Thursday and I think that was the start of a fantastic weekend for me," said Al-Qassimi. "Today I just tried to focus on taking it carefully, but keeping on a pace which was consistent. I needed to keep my lines tidy and not risk collecting punctures.

"I had one flat tyre and made some adjustments to the suspension, but nothing serious. I have a great feeling, almost like winning the championship. It is fantastic for me to follow Mohammed (Ben Sulayem) as a winner of the Dubai Rally and this makes up for all the bad luck we had earlier in the season."

Of the 28 cars that left the start on Thursday morning, a mere 12 completed all of the opening day's stages and another nine restarted on Friday under the new SupeRally ruling. The fascinating battle over the closing stages should have been between Saleh and Bustami for second place.

The Lebanese driver began the day 37 seconds ahead of the Jordanian, but both drivers had planned a full attack over two loops of three gravel stages in the area around Hatta and Seih Madam. The contest was shortlived: Saleh wrecked his rear suspension in the Masout stage and Bustami - the four-times Jordan national champion - eased his pace to record his best ever finish in the UAE.

The Kuwaiti duo of Mufeed Mubarak and Meshari Al-Thafiri had begun the final morning in fifth and sixth places, after time penalties imposed on the UAE's Yahya Al-Amri were dropped and he moved back to fourth in his Subaru Impreza. Al-Thafiri crashed heavily into a large hole in the Masfout stage and was forced to retire with car damage, but Al-Amri persevered to hold off Mubarak until he lost time with mechanical problems in the 10th stage and slipped back. But he passed the Kuwaiti near the finish after a superb drive.

Jordan's Amjad Farrah had been second overall shortly after the start of the event and was the leading SupeRally runner in seventh at the start of the final day. He needed to earn a solitary point in Dubai to confirm outright fourth place in the Driver's Championship and began a charge through the field on Friday. Several top times lifted him into contention for the podium and the Jordanian was closing in on second place when he was forced out of the rally in the 11th stage with a broken engine.

Britain's David Scialom and Simon Nutter were closely matched for much of the event in sixth and ninth places and Syrian Bashar Abu Khoura was fifth overall. The UAE's Sadiq Fadhel and a resurgent Bahraini Hassan Al-Sadadi were seventh and eighth and Austrian Andreas Wimmer recovered from first day navigational problems on the sandy stages around Jebel Ali to finish 10th in his Stohl Racing Subaru Impreza.

The two-way fight for the FIA 1600 Cup between Kuwait's Meshal Al-Nejadi and Shaker Al-Raeis ended in favour of the former champion Al-Nejadi. Both drivers could have restarted on Friday morning under the SupeRally ruling, with Al-Nejadi already having a six-point advantage in the championship. He only needed to reach the finish to claim the 1600 or two-wheel drive championship title, but that became immaterial when Al-Raeis failed to leave parc ferme.

The UAE's Ron Oakeley and co-driver Jamie Turner were involved in a high-speed crash on the last stage of the opening leg and Turner was taken to hospital for observation after sustaining a minor head injury. He was later released, but Oakeley's challenge for honours in his new Outox-backed car was over. Qatar's Nasser Al-Attiyah, the UAE's Chris Cargill and Jordan's Mohammed Juma were also unable to restart with terminal car damage.

The Dubai International Rally attracted further support from Emirates Petroleum Production Company (Tasjeel), the Rehab Rotana Hotel and Al-Jumeira Rotana Hotel, Gulf Commercial Group, Emirates Computers, Sky Electronics, AMD and GTS, the recovery and towing company.

Next year's FIA Middle East Rally Championship gets underway with the ADNOC Distribution UAE International Rally in Al-Ain on January 25th-27th.

1. Sheikh Khalid Al-Qassimi (UAE)/Nicky Beech (GB) Subaru Impreza WRX STi Spec-C 2h 25m 46s
2. Faris Bustami (HKJ)/Imad Juma'a (HKJ) Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution 8 2h 40m 40s
3. Yahya Al-Amri (UAE)/Craig Parry (GB) Subaru Impreza WRX STi 2h 41m 57s
4. Mufeed Mubarak (KWT)/Saad Al-Melaifi (KWT) Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution 8 2h 43m 19s
5. Bashar Abu Khoura (SYR)/Omar Al-Haithem (SYR) Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution 6 2h 52m 19s
6. David Scialom (GB)/Andy Tatham (GB) Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution 5 2h 52m 24s
7. Sadiq Fadhel (UAE)/Imad Nabhan (UAE) Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution 8 2h 54m 26s
8. Hassan Al-Sadadi (BAH)/Keith Wake (GB) Subaru Impreza WRX 2h 54m 59s
9. Simon Nutter (GB)/Sean Kukula (GB) Subaru Impreza WRX STi 2h 55m 52s
10. Andreas Wimmer (A)/Michael Kolbach (D) Subaru Impreza WRX STi 3h 02m 24s

Dubai Rally

• 2005 FIA Middle East Rally Championship

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PRE EVENT NEWS

• NEWLY-CROWNED JORDAN CHAMPION BUSTAMI PREPARES FOR DUBAI RALLY
  Abu Khoura to fly the Syrian flag in Dubai Rally;
  Two Italian teams in official starting line-up
• OUTGOING CHAMPION AL-QASSIMI VOWS TO END HIS REIGN IN STYLE
  UAE's Sheikh Abdullah suffers injury blow;
  Hassan Al-Sadadi to represent Bahrain in Dubai
• QATAR'S NASSER SALEH AL-ATTIYAH BIDS TO ENTER THE RECORD BOOKS.
• EUROPEAN ENTRIES ADD FLAVOUR TO DUBAI INTERNATIONAL RALLY
• Qatar's Al-Attiyah bids to enter the history books in Dubai Rally

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29/11/05
NEWLY-CROWNED JORDAN CHAMPION BUSTAMI PREPARES FOR DUBAI RALLY
Abu Khoura to fly the Syrian flag in Dubai Rally;
Two Italian teams in official starting line-up

The recently-crowned Jordan National Rally Champion Faris Bustami is eagerly awaiting the start of this weekend's Dubai International Rallly, behind held under the patronage of His Highness Sheikh Ahmed Bin Saeed Al-Maktoum, President of the Dubai Civil Aviation Department.

Bustami clinched his national title for a fourth time in an event in Jordan on November 18th and is confident that he and co-driver Imad Juma'a can push for a podium finish on Thursday and Friday in Dubai. With support from Damas, Bustami has continued to make progress this season as a rally driver and fended off a fierce local challenge from Amjad Farrah to win the Jordanian national title.

"It was fantastic for me to win my national title again," said Bustami. "It was a tough fight with Amjad and several other local drivers and I want to build upon that this weekend."

Bustami has now won the championship in four of the last seven seasons - the Jordanian won for the first time in 1999 and repeating the feat in 2000, 2003 and this year. Other recent Jordan champions include Marouf Abu Samra in 1996 and 2001, Ahmed Al-Daoud in 1998 and Farrah himself in 2004.
The Jordanian national series has royal connections as well - His Majesty King Abdullah bin Hussein of Jordan won the title in 1986 and 1988.

Meanwhile, Bashar Abu Khoura and Omar Al-Haitham are the sole Syrian representatives on the entry list for this weekend's two-day Dubai desert event, running across 13 timed special stages in the Ghantoot, Margham and Hatta areas of the Dubai emirate.

The Syria International Rally entered the series for the first time in 2001 after running as an FIA candidate event the previous season. Since then several Syrian drivers have competed in select rounds of the championship and the Syrian event in September has become one of the most popular rounds of the series with its sequence of testing gravel stages in the hills north of Damascus.

This year's Dubai International Rally has also attracted two Italian teams and one Austrian pairing. Subaru Impreza drivers Lorenzo Ontano and Domenico Caldarola will represent Italy, while Austrians Andreas Wimmer and Michel Kolbach will run a Stohl Racing Subaru.

Each of the teams have spent the last two days making low-speed passes through the special stages to ensure that they have noted all the potentially dangerous and tricky sections in their notes. Events such as the Dubai and UAE international rallies differ from events such as the UAE Desert Challenge and last weekend's Qatar Baja, as the routes for each day of the longer cross-country events are kept secret from competitors until the evening before the actual competition.

Tomorrow (Wednesday) will mark the official pre-event press conference for officials and leading teams at the Al Bustan Rotana Hotel in Dubai. Cars will be checked to ensure they comply fully with FIA technical regulations at the Tasjeel garage in Sharjah on Wednesday morning.

This weekend's Dubai International Rally will start at 09.30 hrs from the Al Bustan Rotana Hotel on Thursday morning. It has attracted further support from Emirates Petroleum Production Company (Tasjeel), the Rehab Rotana Hotel and Al-Jumeira Rotana Hotel, Gulf Commercial Group, Emirates Computers, Sky Electronics, AMD and GTS, the recovery and towing company.

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28/11/05
OUTGOING CHAMPION AL-QASSIMI VOWS TO END HIS REIGN IN STYLE
UAE's Sheikh Abdullah suffers injury blow;
Hassan Al-Sadadi to represent Bahrain in Dubai

Last year's FIA Middle East rally champion Sheikh Khalid Al-Qassimi has pledged to push as hard as he can on this weekend's Dubai International Rally in a bid to end his one-year reign as regional champion in winning style. The two-day event is being held under the patronage of His Highness Sheikh Ahmed Bin Saeed Al-Maktoum, President of the Dubai Civil Aviation Department.

Sheikh Khalid clinched the series in Dubai last December with Ulster co-driver Michael Orr after a season-long battle with Qatar's Nasser Saleh Al-Attiyah. He won events outright in Bahrain and Syria on his way to a maiden title, but Al-Attiyah has benefited from Al-Qassimi's misfortune on several events this year to sweep to a second title in three seasons in record time.

Al-Qassimi is not phased by his rival's recent record. "The organisers have made some changes to the route and I think that they are very positive," said Sheikh Khalid. "I am looking forward to the event. It will be quite a a battle out there, but I am ready for it. My recent record in the Dubai Rally has not been good. I have taken part four times and only finished twice and one of those retirements was a bad crash. Maybe I am cursed on this rally."

While Sheikh Khalid and his British co-driver Nicky Beech prepare for their second event together this season - they finished second overall in Syria in September on their first rally - Khalid's brother Sheikh Abdullah Al-Qassimi lost his battle against time to be fit for the official start at the Al-Bustan Rotana Hotel on Thursday morning.

"I carried out quite a bit of testing last week to get ready for the rally and I damaged a chest muscle and shoulder," said Al-Qassimi, speaking from the hospital. "It has been very painful and I have been taking medical advice. I decided to wait before making a final decision on whether to start, but my doctor advised rest and that means no rally. It is very disappointing, because we had totally rebuilt the car and I was looking forward to having a really good push on Thursday."

Sheikh Abdullah is a multiple Group N regional champion and returned to the series in Syria to take a fine third overall with his retuned Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution. "We proved in Syria that we are back on the pace," added Sheikh Abdullah, who suffered several mechanical failures on earlier rounds of the series and lost his chance of taking a maiden overall title.

Hassan Al-Sadadi will be under pressure to reach the finish as the sole entrant from the Kingdom of Bahrain. Al-Sadadi has been a regular on rounds of the series for several seasons and has achieved several notable performances in his under-funded Subaru Impreza WRX STi.

The Kingdom will not host a round of the FIA Middle East Rally Championship in 2006, as the Bahrain Motor Federation and Bahrain International Circuit concentrate their resources on the opening round of the FIA Formula One World Championship. But Al-Sadadi is keen to continue representing the island in the regional rally series. "I enjoy coming to Dubai and competing," said Al-Sadadi. "This year I have every belief that I have a chance of making the podium. It is very disappointing that there will not be a rally in Bahrain next season."

Meanwhile, Sheikh Suhail Bin Khalifa Al-Maktoum was racing against time to ensure that he had a car prepared to take part in the event. Currently lying third in the Driver's Championship, the UAE driver had hoped to use a new car in the Dubai Rally, but this was not ready and he was contemplating switching to an older practice car as we closed for press.

This weekend's Dubai International Rally has further support from Emirates Petroleum Production Company (TASJEEL), the Rehab Rotana Hotel and Al-Jumeira Rotana Hotel, Gulf Commercial Group, Emirates Computers, Sky Electronics, AMD and GTS, the recovery and towing company.

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16/11/05
QATAR'S NASSER SALEH AL-ATTIYAH BIDS TO ENTER THE RECORD BOOKS
Qatari regional champion can create history with clean sweep in Dubai

The recently-crowned FIA Middle East rally champion Nasser Saleh Al-Attiyah can create history at the start of December by becoming the first Arab driver ever to win all eight rounds of the regional rally series in the same season.

The Qatari has won seven rounds to date and amassed 70 championship points. He starts as the clear favourite to make it eight wins in a row on the 2005 Dubai International Rally, the final round of this year's series, which takes place under the patronage of His Highness Sheikh Ahmed Bin Saeed Al-Maktoum, President of the Dubai Civil Aviation Department, on December 1st-2nd.

"It would be a fantastic achievement. I have been thinking about it for a few weeks now, since we won the last round in Cyprus," said Al-Attiyah, fresh from clinching 13th overall and fifth position in the P-WRC category of the Telstra Rally Australia in Perth. "I have won seven rallies now this season and have not lost a race in the Middle East since the Syria Rally last September."

That is a total of 10 successive rallies unbeaten in this part of the world for the Qatari star. The run began with victory in Cyprus last November and continued with a win in last year's Dubai International Rally and the inaugural Qatar Baja in a powerful Pro-Truck.

This season Al-Attiyah and Ulster co-driver Chris Patterson have won special stage rallies in Al-Ain, Bahrain, Oman, Qatar, Jordan, Syria and Cyprus and head for the start of the final event in Dubai, already crowned as FIA regional rally champions. Al-Atttiyah will even find time for some pre-event practice when he takes part in next week's Qatar Baja event in Doha.

"It would be a phenomenal achievement for Nasser, Chris and their team and I am sure they will be working hard for the historic win," said Mohammed Juma Bin Bakheit, President of the Organising Committee. "But it will not be easy. The entry has been boosted in the days before the closing date and the region's very best drivers will be out in force to stop Nasser achieving his goal."

Al-Attiyah had hoped to end the season with a unique winning double, which would have included the FIA Middle East title and the FIA P-WRC title. But he arrived in Perth last week trailing P-WRC series leader Toshi Arai by nine points. To overhaul the Japanese star he would have needed to win the category outright and hope that Arai retired from the event. As it happened, Arai won the category and finished ninth overall to clinch the title and Al-Attiyah finished fifth, but had the consolation of beating his closest Argentinean rival Marcos Ligato.

The Dubai International Rally will be based at the Al Bustan Rotana Hotel and has further support from Emirates Petroleum Production Company (TASJEEL), the Rehab Rotana Hotel and Al-Jumeira Rotana Hotel, Gulf Commercial Group, Sky Electronics, AMD and GTS, the recovery and towing company.

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06/11/05
EUROPEAN ENTRIES ADD FLAVOUR TO DUBAI INTERNATIONAL RALLY
British drivers Nutter and Scialom return to desert action; Austrian and Italian teams to take part in FIA stage finale

The Automobile and Touring Car Club of the United Arab Emirates (ATC UAE) is delighted to announce a surge in interest from international competitors for the 2005 Dubai International Rally. The event is the final round of this year's FIA Middle East Rally Championship and takes place under the patronage of His Highness Sheikh Ahmed Bin Saeed Al-Maktoum, President of the Dubai Civil Aviation Department, on December 1st-2nd.

With less than one month to go before the start of the traditional finale to this year's regional series, the organisers' offices in Abu Dhabi and Dubai have received numerous enquiries for entries and additional information. They have already received international entries from Italy, Austria and the United Kingdom, in addition to a whole host of registered championship regulars and the region's top drivers.

Heading the international contingent will be two crews travelling all the way from the United Kingdom to take part in the traditional two-day event in the deserts of the emirate of Dubai. David Scialom has visited several rounds of the championship in the last few years and is looking forward to taking part in his second Dubai Rally with co-driver Andy Tatham in a Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution 5.

Austrian veteran Rudi Stohl took part last season and enjoyed his first experience of the Gulf deserts with his guest co-driver and competition winner Elzabeth Wittmann in a Mitsubishi Lancer. He held sixth position until he was forced to limp through the final stage with a damaged radiator sustained in the unlucky 13th stage.

This year he will not be driving in Dubai, but his place will be taken by Andreas Wimmer and co-driver Michel Kolbach in a Stohl Racing Subaru Impreza. Stohl's son Manfred has been one of the stars of this year's FIA World Rally Championship and became a rallying superstar back in May when he finished second overall in the prestigious Cyprus Rally, beaten only by the runaway World Champion Sebastien Loeb in his all-conquering Citroen Xsara.

Italian Lorenzo Ontano has been a regular to the region in the past few seasons and he plans to return in his trusty Subaru Impreza, where he will line-up alongside a former championship regular from the United Kingdom.

Briton Simon Nutter contested several Middle East championships in his trusty, two-wheel drive Peugeot 205 GTI in the mid-1990s and last visited the Gulf region to take part in the Bahrain Rally a couple of years ago. A coffee shop owner and businessman from Kirkby Lonsdale in northern England, Nutter enjoys his visits to the Middle East and is relishing the challenge of unleashing a new Subaru Impreza on the desert stages. "It will be fantastic to be back and see all the old faces again," enthused the Briton, who will be co-driven by Sean Kukula.

"It is great to see this international interest in our event again," said Mohammed Juma Bin Bakheit, President of the Organising Committee. "This year's FIA Middle East championship has been decided in favour of Nasser Saleh Al-Attiyah, from Qatar, but there are several other scores to be settled and it is a major boost for the organisers to see these international names on the entry list."

The event is based at the Al Bustan Rotana Hotel and has further support from the Rehab Rotana Hotel and Al-Jumeira Rotana Hotel, Gulf Commercial Group, Sky Electronics, AMD and GTS, the recovery and towing company.

Dubai Rally

• 2005 FIA Middle East Rally Championship

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30/10/05
The Automobile and Touring Car Club of the United Arab Emirates (ATC UAE) announced details of the 2005 Dubai International Rally, the final round of this year's FIA Middle East Rally Championship

The event will be based at the Al Bustan Rotana Hotel in Dubai and takes place between November 30th and December 2nd, 2005 under the patronage of His Highness Sheikh Ahmed Bin Saeed Al-Maktoum, President of the Dubai Civil Aviation Department.

The two-day, all-desert special stage rally could also mark one of the greatest achievements ever carried out by an Arab sportsman. Recently-crowned FIA Middle East Rally Champion Nasser Saleh Al-Attiyah will be bidding to become the first Arab rally driver in history to win all rounds of the series in the same season since the championship was extended to eight rounds and a satellite tracking system was introduced.

The Qatari has currently won seven successive rounds of the prestigious series, amassed a maximum 70 championship points - 32 points more than his nearest UAE rival and outgoing FIA Middle East Rally Champion Sheikh Khalid Al-Qassimi - and will arrive in Dubai looking for a clean sweep of all the rallies in the FIA's Middle East calendar - a phenomenal achievement.

He has already won events this year in Al-Ain, Bahrain, Oman, Qatar, Jordan, Syria and Cyprus this season and is unbeaten in the entire Middle East region since the Syrian International Rally in September 2004.

The Dubai International Rally is one of the strongest rounds of the series in terms of organisational strength and the ATC of the UAE is hopeful that over 40 international and regional drivers will take part in the traditional finale to the region's annual off-road motorsport calendar.

"Rallying is one of the fastest growing sports in the world and we are sure that this year's Dubai International Rally will attract all the region's top drivers," said Mohammed Juma Bin Bakheit, President of the Organising Committee.

"We are extremely grateful to the DCA-Govenment of Dubai for supplying crucial finance to the event this year to make everything happen. Qatar's Nasser Saleh Al-Attiyah will be bidding to achieve an historic feat, but there are many other drivers quite capable of beating him across the desert special stages we have in Dubai."

The organising team will include Sweden's Bengt Gustafson, returning to the role of Clerk of the Course for a second successive season. "We have made some changes to the route this year and are putting the finishing touches to those now, before we announce them in the near future," said Gustafson. "We have a compact and exciting route, which complies fully with FIA championship regulations."

The organisers are offering generous assistance packages to overseas foreign entrants, including hotel accommodation, two air tickets, freight assistance and entry visas, where applicable.

Further invaluable support for this year's event comes from the Al Bustan Rotana Hotel, the Rehab Rotana Hotel and Al-Jumeira Rotana Hotel, Gulf Commercial Group, Sky Electronics, AMD and GTS, the recovery and towing company.

For further information on entries and full concessions, please contact the ATC of the UAE, PO Box 5078, Dubai, UAE. Tel: + 9714 2284019, Fax: + 9714 2283159, e-mail: atcuae@emirates.net.ae.

Dubai Rally

• 2005 FIA Middle East Rally Championship