JEDDAH, 19 January 2005 — After an absence of many years, the first steps to reintroducing competitive motor sport to Saudi Arabia have been taken. Discouraged by the authorities because of safety concerns, the moves to reintroduce the sport have been dependent on the simultaneous introduction of world class safety and competition regulations.
ACE Automotive Projects, a division of ACE Events, has announced proposals for a wide range of motor sport and automotive events.
Ian Bennett, Director of operations for the company is determined that the sport be both safe and addresses a wider agenda.
“The most relevant spin-off is the introduction of disciplined driving skills to young people by involvement in the training and testing that they will need to compete even at a low level,” he told Arab News yesterday.
Starting with an innovative AutoSolo event to be held in Jeddah from Jan. 26 to 30 (to be confirmed) and culminating in a multi sport celebration following the Saudi International Motor Show in November, ACE plans include a wide variety of motor sports and driving skills events aimed directly at developing a motor sport infrastructure in the Kingdom and providing leisure activities in a safe environment.
Bennett said that despite the intensive interest in motor sport and automotive related activities throughout the Kingdom, with no formal infrastructure competitive events have been few and far between.
The result was a lack of a recognized set of regulations covering venue, technical and competition. The lack of experienced motor sport officials was also a contributing factor; training will be given to build a body of crowd and track marshals and scrutineers at a marshals’ school in conjunction with the British Rally Marshals Association; this will be run at the Professionals Institute at a later date. Should the sport develop in the Kingdom to warrant international competition, training to meet the strict regulations of the Federation Internationale de l’Automobile (FIA) — world motor sport’s governing body — will be implemented. Addressing those issues led to the organization of this landmark event. AutoSolo, which originated in the USA and is rapidly spreading throughout Europe, combines elements of Autotests and Sprints resulting in one of the safest yet most exciting forms of motor sport. Though well established overseas and has been the training ground for many of the most famous film stunt drivers, the lack of infrastructure in Saudi Arabia meant that a complete official rule book had to be written before the event could go ahead.
“Motor sport is not only an exciting leisure pursuit, it enables auto enthusiasts to take part in a safe environment away from our public roads but we recognized that it would have been irresponsible to have organized any competitive event without first putting the supporting infrastructure in place,” said Bennett. “In consultation with ASN’s (National Sporting Authorities), national motor sport organizations and manufacturers overseas, for more than a year we have been developing the rule books for several branches of motor sport including ProSport Buggy, Rallycross Stock Hatch and Autocross in addition to Solo,” he said. Throughout that process safety had been a prime concern, with many issues being addressed for the first time in the Kingdom.
AutoSolo and the subsequent events planned by ACE are the culmination of a long period of behind the scenes research and organization. Two years ago the Automotive Projects team took control of the Off-Road 4x4 Test Drive Track at the Jeddah Motor Show, developing it into an annual event with a multi route course extending to more than half a kilometer with fully tiered grandstands, segregated spectator enclosure, extensive safety barriers and full recovery and safety facilities.
For the AutoSolo event, which is being organized as part of the Eid Al-Adha Festival under the approval of the Department of Tourism & Education, Jeddah Municipality, there are numerous classes ranging from small hatch through sedan to hot sports cars. Safety equipment including homologated safety helmets will be provided.
ACE is inviting entries from individuals or companies and has made the regulations and entry forms available on-line at www.aceautoprojects.com
Drivers competing in the AutoSolo event will be invited to register for a series of further events planned throughout the season, leading to Grand Finals at the Autolympics in December.
