Ben Sulayem won his first FIA (Fédération Internationale de l’Automobile) Middle East Rally Championship (MERC) in 1986 and from then on, went on to capture a record 14 MERC titles.
His 61 international rally wins make him the most-decorated driver in the history of the sport and even though he hasn’t raced competitively since his last MERC win in 2002, his contributions to UAE sport have kept him in the limelight.
Driven by a passion for sport that often seems unrivalled, Ben Sulayem has been focusing his endeavours on sports development in the Emirates as well as the Arab world since the early 90s.
In 1991, he founded the UAE Desert Challenge – now the Abu Dhabi Desert Challenge – and as acting Chairman, he has nurtured the event towards its current prestigious stature, serving as a lucrative spot on both the FIA and FIM World Championships.
The Abu Dhabi Desert Challenge attracts rally’s greatest icons like multiple Dakar and World champions Jean-Louis Schlesser, Stéphane Peterhansel and Marc Coma, and Ben Sulayem continues to take the event to higher standards each year, securing a partnership with Eurosport that allows the whole world to witness the grand event.
“The Rally is also no longer confined to just being a competitive race, it now has a huge entertainment aspect to it, and it gives us a chance to represent the UAE in a great way,” Ben Sulayem said after a highly successful Desert Challenge last April.
Before embarking on his motorsport career, he graduated from the American University in Washington D.C with a degree in political science, and by combining his education with his passion for sport, he became a firm believer in the role of sports in carving and protecting the national identity of the UAE.
In recognition of his contribution to the sport and for serving as a role model for Arab youth, Sulayem was declared the UAE’s Sportsman of the Century by the respected international news agency, Agence France-Presse in 1991.
“When a UAE driver wins a rally; when our football team wins the Gulf Cup; when an Emirati wins a gold medal for shooting at the Olympics; we inspire our young,” says Ben Sulayem. “We make them proud to be Emiratis, proud of their national identity, eager to embrace it, to aim for success in sport themselves and to become tomorrow’s champions.
“We are a mirror for our national identity. How we behave when we win, when we lose; how we celebrate; how we take defeat, says a lot about us as Emiratis.”
He was elected as FIA Vice President and in 2006 he also took over the reins of the Automobile & Touring Club in the UAE.
His efforts in boosting the level of motorsport have been equally directed towards the Emirates as well as the Arab region over the years.
Before taking his place on the advisory board of the Abu Dhabi Formula One Grand Prix, he was greatly involved in Bahrain’s bid for a place on the Formula One calendar – a role that led King Hamad Bin Isa of Bahrain to award Ben Sulayem a Medal of Honour.
He also supported Jordan’s World Rally Championship campaign.
In August last year he unveiled a strategic four-year-plan he devised after months of research that emphasised the collaboration between motorsport authorities on a pan-regional level so that the Middle East nations can move forward together.
Another priority for Ben Sulayem is introducing education to UAE motorsport.
Last month he launched the first edition of the televised Motorsport Star Programme, which provided an exciting way to find promising young talent and help mould them into professional drivers.
The winners of the programme will receive educational training at the elite Sports Institute of Northern Ireland in the University of Ulster.
“Motorsport is now a science,” he believes.
“We really lack new blood in this sport in the UAE.
“We need to encourage our youth and more importantly we need to educate them.
It’s time now to be more proactive than being reactive.”
And Ben Sulayem is anything but reactive. With all the initiatives he has been introducing to reduce costs of entry into motorsport, to promote safe driving habits, to develop sport in the region and to showcase the Emirates in the best possible way, the future is shaping up to be rather bright.
