KUWAIT, 8 April 2007 — Kuwait Motor Sport Club (KMSC) has taken full control of FIA motorsport for Kuwait and become a new national sporting authority (ASN) in the GCC. This follows an agreement between the Kuwait International Automobile Club (KIAC) and the ASN, brokered by FIA vice-president Derek Ledger.
According to Ledger, the decision means that the KMSC has full control of all motor sporting activities in Kuwait, including karting, and this took effect on April 1. Initially, this agreement will last for 12 months and will be reviewed on an annual basis.
Ahmad Al-Sabah has been seeking the FIA license since he was appointed as the president of the KMSC in 2003, although the KIAC will continue to issue all competitive licenses for administration reasons on the request of the KMSC. The KMSC will be responsible for the organization of all national and international motor sporting activities in the state. One of the goals of the new KMSC is to return Kuwait to the FIA championship calendar.
“I am very proud that we can now look ahead to a very exciting future for motorsport in Kuwait,” said Al-Sabah. “We have a history of motorsport in this country, and have organized rounds of the FIA Middle East Rally Championship in the past and have several teams taking part in this year’s regional rally championship. Now we can push ahead with exciting plans to establish the foundations for motorsport in Kuwait and encourage young drivers to come through the ranks and establish themselves for the future.”
“We have many talented drivers in the rally and drag racing categories and in other motor sport activities, where we compete in the Middle East Championships. We lacked a local arena for them to practice on but, with the new FIA membership, we will be obliged to construct a local circuit to international standard for our local and international events.” Kuwait ran a regular round of the FIA Middle East Rally Championship throughout the 1980s, but the onset of the Iraq invasion brought motorsport to a standstill at the end of 1989. The Kuwait International Rally returned to the championship calendar in 1995 and 1996 and ran in 1995 as the Martyrs’ Rally, in memory of Fahad Al-Ahmed Al-Sabah, who was a prominent member of the ruling Al-Sabah family to lose his life defending the Sief Palace during the Iraqi invasion in 1990.
“This is another positive step forward for motorsport in the Middle East,” said Ledger. “Kuwait has organized its own national rallies and international event in the past and I am sure that this is the start
