JEDDAH, 4 January — Saudi Arabia’s Future Rally Driver Program, which is aimed at scouting promising rally drivers, has completed its first phase.
The program, announced earlier this year, has generated a lot of interest among young enthusiasts dreaming to be rally champions, according to Abu Bakr Salim Bakhashab, general coordinator of the program and manager of Saudi Toyota Team for Rallies.
"The first phase of the program has just ended with thousands of applications received from young Saudis. Application forms were distributed at the Kingdomwide branches of Toyota agent Abdul Latif Jameel Group (ALJ).
"We’ve completed the screening of applications. The response is tremendous and it has exceeded our expectations," he told Arab News yesterday. "This proves the growing popularity of the motor sport in the Kingdom and the keen interest it has generated among youngsters."
An initial study of the applications shows that 300 of them are equipped with capabilities to form the prospective first generation Saudi rally drivers. "They are also found qualified to join the champions caravan of Saudi rally drivers who have represented the Kingdom in regional and international championships," he said.
The program supervisors are planning to take personal interviews of the qualified applicants to judge whether they are ambitious enough to join the world of speed and excitement. The Team management has prepared a plan to interview them over a period of two weeks, starting with applicants from the Western Province. Those in Riyadh and the Eastern Province will be interviewed thereafter. Applicants from Baha and Madinah will follow next.
"It was a difficult job to select 300 from among thousands of applicants. These 300 will form the core of the future professional drivers. The upcoming interviews should give us more insight into their mental makeup for a rally career," Bakhashab said, adding: "While doing so, we’ll also on disseminating "The public road is not for racing" message among young enthusiasts."
The next plan, according to him, is to further short list 90 applicants and enroll them in the safety Driving School and test their driving skills. The best among them will join the Rally School to be run under the supervision of a specially recruited international team of experts. Those emerging successful will then be trained to participate in the next Toyota Cup of the Middle East Rallies Championship.
The Future Rally Driver program is meant to develop the Kingdom’s motor sport under the sponsorship of ALJ with the cooperation of Toyota Motors Corporation of Japan.
"The motor sport has in the recent past witnessed a great interest among youngsters. The interactive participation in it from both public and private sectors resulted in the staging of the first motor sport event last summer. This will be followed up with many such events in the future," Bakhashab said.
