The Automobile and Touring Club of the UAE (ATCUAE) has officially launched the new motor sport season by revealing the calendar for 2014-15.
Headlined again by the Formula 1 Etihad Airways Abu Dhabi Grand Prix on November 23, the new season is characterised by the growing popularity of karting, expansion of the national Baja series, and international circuit racing events.
The continued success of the UAE Rotax Max Challenge is seen as key to the future of UAE motor sport, which sees fresh young talent arriving at entry level and hopefully rising through the ranks towards Grand Prix racing.
For this year’s 12-round national karting championship, run between Dubai Kartdrome, Al Ain Raceway and Yas Marina Circuit, and again crossing the border to Seeb in Oman, the ATCUAE has issued 125 competitor licences, an increase of 25 per cent on last year.
In addition, the opportunities for young drivers to progress from karting and develop their skills is highlighted by a busy calendar of single-seater and touring car circuit racing activities fitted into a new season featuring more than 120 events.
“This growing popularity of the Rotax Max Challenge here is very encouraging as one of our main goals is to strengthen motor sport at grass roots level and ultimately help guide more young drivers towards the top levels of the sport,” said ATCUAE president Mohammed Ben Sulayem.
Sulayem added: “This is now becoming more and more of a team sport, with many of the manufacturers present, and the paddock at events is looking more and more like a mini F1 set-up.”
Sulayem added: “The government has made a huge investment in motor sport, and it’s our duty to work hard to attract and develop more young local talent to make sure that the growth we have seen in the sport in recent years is sustainable.”
Sulayem was joined at yesterday’s press conference by senior representatives of other key motor sport stakeholders to preview the 2014-15 season.
The Emirates Desert Championship, a Baja rally series launched last, has been expanded from four to six rounds, the first of which will be run on October 3, for which purpose the ATCUAE has issued 150 competitor licences.
The championship takes its place alongside established events like the UAE Touring Car Championship, the UAE Radical Winter Cup, the Gulf 12 Hours and the 10th Hankook 24 Hours of Dubai.
Other prominent events include the Porsche GT3 Cup Challenge Middle East, while Yas Marina Circuit will for the first time host the Asia, Europe and North America finals of the Ferrari Challenge in December.
Prominent on the calendar are also the Dubai International Rally and the Abu Dhabi Desert Challenge. The 36th Dubai rally brings the 2014 FIA Middle East Championship to a climax in November while the Desert Challenge celebrates its 25th anniversary in March as part of the FIA World Cup for Cross Country Rallies, and the FIM Cross-Country Rallies World Championship for bikes.
