ADR could pull out of Middle East championships following row with Qatar

Anthony Fernandes 08:59 07/12/2014
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  • Uncertain future: Abu Dhabi Racing might decide to pull out of the Middle East Rally Championship, which will be a big blow to the regional series.

    The row between Qatar and the UAE over two controversial deci­sions – denying Abu Dhabi a round of the Middle East Rally Champi­onship (MERC) and then following that up by stripping Sheikh Khalid Al Qassimi of his Dubai rally victory and regional title – is threatening to assume epic proportions.

    Abu Dhabi Racing, for who Sheikh Khalid drives, are currently weighing all options before them, including legal and perhaps even discontinuing from participating in the regional series.

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    Sheikh Khalid denied second Middle East Rally Championship title

    While the row threatens to in­tensify, it has now emerged that the three-member International Court of Appeal panel – Jan Stovicek (Czech Republic), Philippe Roberti de Winghe (Belgium) and Felipe Zeraik (Brazil) – that stripped Sheikh Khalid of his title were granted an extension in service for a further period of three years beg-inning January 1, 2015.

    And, coincidentally, the exten­sion was granted on the final day of the FIA General Assembly in Doha, December 5, while the ruling on Sheikh Khalid was made the previ­ous day.

    The neutrality of the panel has also come into question with con­cern raised about their presence in Doha and the location of their makeshift office at the St Regis hotel, the venue of the five-day gen­eral assembly.

    But Sheikh Khalid, when con­tacted, preferred not to wade into the controversy and said: “The competition with Nasser Al Atti­yah in Dubai International Rally reached a very high level and was very close.

    “The times that I recorded in the stages speak for themselves. Obvi­ously, I am very disappointed with the decision but the International Court of Appeal has the final call.

    “I believe that I won Dubai Inter­national Rally fairly, I was the fast­est in most of the stages. I feel that the decision is not fair to me or to the team.

    “I have proposed several times that cars participating in the Mid­dle East Rally Championship should have on-board cameras, but for some reason this control solu­tion has not been taken into consid­eration.

    “As Abu Dhabi Racing, we really need to think about our com­mitment to the Middle East Rally Championship going forward.”

    Sheikh Khalid’s lawyer Zeeshan Dhar added: “The ICA decision was based on a route deviation which is out of sync with all applicable regu­lations applied by the FIA appoint­ed rally stewards, and therefore there is no legal or rational basis for the ICA decision.

    “We presented the ICA with clear and unequivocal evidence by way of video footage that the appellant, who was seeking to penalise Sheikh Khalid for the route deviation, had himself knowingly committed far more serious route deviations for which he was not penalised.”

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