DUBAI, United Arab Emirates, 1 November — Saudi Arabia’s ace driver Abdullah Bakhashab has thrown down a Dubai International Rally challenge to Mohammed Bin Sulayem in the hope of setting up a thrilling last battle of the season in the FIA-Middle East Championship.
While Bin Sulayem has been cruising to his 14th Middle East title, Bakhashab has had a miserable year plagued with mechanical problems, and he wants another chance to take on the Arab world’s top driver in the Dubai Rally, which rounds off the regional series on Dec. 5-6.
Bakhashab is abandoning the Toyota Corolla WRC which has seen him complete only two of five championship rounds, and will be driving a Ford, Peugeot or Subaru in the Dubai Rally, which is officially sponsored for a fifth year by the Ports, Customs & Free Zone Corporation.
Having already clinched the Middle East crown, Bin Sulayem can relax and save his energy, and resources, for next year’s championship, although he has yet to officially announce whether he will defend the Dubai Rally title — which he has won 14 times — or not.
“If Bin Sulayem doesn’t enter, it will be a big disappointment,” said Bakhashab, who was inspired by Bin Sulayem’s success to launch his own rallying career. “I haven’t even seen the Dubai stages for four years and I’ll be stepping into a new car, so to be honest, I’d have to be lucky to beat Bin Sulayem on home ground. But I’d like to have the chance.”
Bin Sulayem’s immediate priority is to stage the UAE Desert Challenge from Oct. 30-Nov. 2, and he will not think about the Dubai International Rally until the World Cup event is over.
Held under the patronage of Sheikh Ahmed bin Saeed Al Maktoum, President of Dubai Civil Aviation Department, the Dubai Rally is organized by the Automobile and Touring Club for the UAE, and co-sponsored by the Al Bustan Rotana Hotel, and by GTS Recovery.
With respect to the co-sponsors, Bakhashab will be hoping to avoid any more breakdowns, and he will shortly decide which car to drive in place of the Toyota Corolla WRC.
He said: “I have a number of options — Ford, Peugeot and Subaru — and I want to make the right choice because the car I’ll drive in Dubai will be the one I’ll use in next year’s Middle East Championship. It’s been a really disappointing season, and I’m going to have to work hard now to build myself up psychologically for next year.”
Added Bakhashab: “I couldn’t complain about what went wrong in Jordan because I broke the car’s suspension. But when you’re leading a rally, and the clutch breaks or the engine fails, and it’s not your fault, that’s when it’s hard to take.”
Bakhashab may need to win the Dubai International Rally to have any chance of climbing above Sharjah’s Abdullah Al Qassimi to snatch second place overall in the Middle East Championship, and even victory may not be enough. Sheikh Abdullah has had an excellent first season at the wheel of a World Rally Car, and his local knowledge, coupled with the reliability of the Ford Focus WRC, should see him finish the year as championship runner-up.
With an anticipated line-up of around 30 drivers from the Middle East and overseas, the Dubai International Rally starts from the Al Bustan Rotana Hotel at 10 a.m. on Thursday, Dec. 5, and finishes there at 5.20 p.m. the following day.
