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Formula One likely to come to Dubai in near future |
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5/20/2006 10:37:18 AM |
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Dubai: Motor racing fans will find out within three years whether Formula One is to gain a berth at Dubai Autodrome.
The man behind the plan to bring Alonso and Schumacher et al to the UAE is the Middle East's best rally driver, Mohammad Bin Sulayem.
Bin Sulayem, who has won more international rallies than any other driver, believes that Dubai is primed to host the cream of motor racing.
"We can bring F1 to Dubai," he insisted. "It is not too late and it's not impossible. We will know in the next two or three years if something is going to happen."
Recently given a position as president of the Automobile and Touring Club for the UAE (ATCUAE) by His Highness Shaikh Mohammad Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice-President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai, Bin Sulayem intends to use all his influence to secure the event for Dubai.
And his clout can be felt even in the highest echelons of motor sport. Bin Sulayem has played host to F1 supremo Bernie Ecclestone in his Dubai majlis and says they spoke about his F1 hopes.
"We can bring F1 to Dubai," went on Bin Sulayem, who owns a multi-million dollar collection of high performance vehicles. "The big man (Ecclestone) was sitting right here as a guest in my house.
"This can be very easy, I have a personal friendship with 20 per cent of the F1 drivers, I talk to them, I know them, I know the teams and some of the team managers were even my team managers while I was rallying."
And the fact that Bahrain currently hosts F1 need not be seen as an obstacle to Dubai's ambitions, said the 14-times Middle East rally champion.
"We can cooperate with Bahrain. We should not forget that they are the holders of F1 and we should be joining them and supporting them and not stepping over them," he continued.
"With the way the Middle East and Dubai are going we can have two races; one at the start and one at the end of the season.
"We are neighbours and while competition is good it is unnecessary to have a battle."
A second issue that Bin Sulayem will focus on as part of his new role is safety, or rather the lack of it, on Dubai's roads.
"Human life is not a joke," he said.
"But on our highways a new breed of driver has evolved because of the mass of people that are coming to Dubai. The situation on the roads has changed even in the last three years."
The answer, said Bin Sulayem, is to educate drivers in responsible ways of driving and punish those who put lives at risk.
"Educate people, attract them to schemes at the Autodrome and in the meantime, if they do not comply with the laws make sure we punish them," he said.
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