Balooshi out to bring pride to UAE flag in season's final rally

Sport360 staff 09:37 05/10/2015
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  • Balooshi has enjoyed a fine season.

    UAE’s Mohammed Balooshi will be looking to end the FIM Cross Country Rally Championship on a high when the OiLibya Rally gets underway on Monday in Morocco.

    He enters the five-day race in sixth position with 52 points, just one point behind fifth-placed former world champion Paulo Concalves.

    It’s an impressive ranking given that this week’s event is his fifth round in the championship, having missed the Sardegna Rally in Italy in June, after not being able to secure sponsorship.

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    With strong competition expected in the Moroccan desert, Balooshi acknowledges he will have to work even harder to clinch a top-10 finish with second, third and fourth-placed standings riders Mattias Walkner, Pablo Quintanilla and Sam Sunderland making up a strong field.

    The riders will put their knowledge and experience to the test, only relying on their GPSs to navigate their way round the course in today’s first round.

    It will be the start of the 2,291km distance they will need to cover. And despite the tough conditions, Balooshi is keen to ride the UAE flag high.

    “When I go out there in the desert the motivation is always the same – make it to the finish and raise my flag at the finish line,” he said. “But this time we need more than that. This time we will race for the UAE and in the UAE’s colours. We want our people to take our achievements as their own and feel the same pride we feel for how far we’ve come with so little and so much work.”

    He added: “I feel very proud of what we have achieved this year. We are a small team with a very limited budget compared to the leading teams, and we started the season with the plan to compete in two rallies and the idea to go for a third if we could.

    “In the end, with a massive amount of hard work, effort and sacrifices we made it to the last round, achieving positions that no Emirati has achieved before in this championship on a motorcycle. I am even prouder as an Emirati to see my flag up there high on the world ranking.”

    After supporting Balooshi, Sport2 managing director, Mahir Badri, has been impressed with the Emirati’s potential.

    “Mohammed is a super professional and the results achieved this year are amazing.”

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