UAE racing star Khaled Al Qubaisi leads Team Abu Dhabi by Black Falcon into battle this weekend for the Dunlop 24 hour race at Dubai Autodrome looking for a third straight win. Before putting on his race suit, the Emirati had a chat with Sport360˚ about how hard it was to get behind a wheel and why he thinks he’ll always be at a disadvantage
You have obviously won here twice before, can you tell us what it means to race – and to win – on your home turf?
Well it is a race in my hometown so definitely you feel part of it and feel like you are representing your country.
It’s an international race and it has been for a while. We had to wait until we could find locally grown talent to participate but finally we were able to get that.
So it is great, but it wasn’t easy from the beginning and it was tough for me to come here and go up against an international field, it was a real challenge to step into it.
But once you have stepped into it – we did so in 2011 – we did well and finished fourth and only missed the win because of a technical fault. That’s what got me into it and the track. It is a nice place to keep your passion going and compete with a high level field in Dubai.
Can you give us an insight to how you get into the zone on race day?
Nowadays I try to be as calm as possible, leave my phone somewhere, I don’t check my emails – because I have like five full-time jobs. I just make sure nothing stresses me and I’m relaxed.
Do you listen to music or indulge in any superstitions for good luck?
No, I just stay calm and in a good mood. I have done it so many times now that there is no stress in doing it. It’s just about being away from unnecessary stress.
You came to the sport late, are there any advantages at all that you have received from starting late?
No, they’re all disadvantages. I race against people who have been racing since they were five. No one here got into motorpsport any later than 12 and most were under 10. And Blazing a trail for Emirati drivers that gives them a real advantage because you learn a lot so quickly and you get a natural feel for it. So no matter how hard you try, that one per cent I can’t get, just because I started late.
Are there no mental advantages that came from previous life experience or anything like that?
No. By the time I got in, competitors already had 20 years experience. I need to build that up and it is all about experience at the end of the day. They started early, they have that advantage. Now I have some experience but not like starting early. Mohammad Ben Sulayem was saying how important it was for this event to have flagship local talent so that it wouldn’t be like a travelling circus.
As one of the best drivers from the UAE, do you feel a responsibility to inspire the next generation?
Definitely. This is one of the goals – to show that it can be done. When I grew up there was a real barrier in my mind. To get into motorsports was an impossible thing to do. But we know we can do it now and the path is clearer.
We had Ben Sulayem’s rally and then the circuits and now we just need to focus on the talent and get them in early like everyone else. We have started the speed academy with kids from 13 to 16 and they’re quite good.
If there was a barrier for you, when was that knocked down and what knocked it down?
I didn’t know how to get here. There was no one to guide you and there was no infrastructure, there weren’t even kart tracks. Now there are tracks and academies and people to guide you, there is a place to aspire to. It is much better than before. I know what it takes so I can find the right talent, put them in a programme and make sure we get the best out of them.
Without karting, when was the first opportunity you had?
A proper car? It was only 2009. I always loved motorsports but there was never the chance to step into something, I just karted for fun.
There was Sheikh Zayed Formula One Karting, it was back in the 90s, that was the first time I stepped into a kart. And I was quite quick then and people said that I should take it up when I was about 19.
But when I was 19 I just thought ‘this is for kids’ and I didn’t take it seriously, it was just for fun. But I was fast and I knew I was fast.
Then in 2009 at the Abu Dhabi GP, I drove with some professional friends and I was faster than them so that got me into it and made me look seriously. The Super Cup gave me an entry and I was jut happy to participate – since then things have gone on.
