JEDDAH, 26 January 2004 — Hamza T. Al-Sharif is the first Saudi star to represent the Kingdom at a desert race international championship, which is due in the UAE this weekend. “Hamza is my discovery as a budding talent who has the capability of bringing honors to the Kingdom as he leaves for Dubai for the Mor’eb Hill International Championship,” Saudi Rally Champion Abdullah Bakhashab said while introducing him at a press conference at Mersal Village here on Saturday night.
Hamza expressed his happiness at being the first Saudi to join the challenging world of the desert motor sports races under Bakhashab’s supervision.
“I wanted to specialize in criminology but fate willed it otherwise,” said Hamza, 42, who attended school in Riyadh, and did his graduation at St. Louis and masters in forensic science in Santiago, California. “On my return, I got involved in family business and my presence at the UAE Desert Race last year kindled my desire to participate in it. I’ve remodeled my 1993 Jeep Wrangler (750 HP, 8 cylinders, turbochargers boosted) for the desert race and hope to succeed. The car is equipped to conquer harsh desert terrains.” Last year, 68 participants took part in the 6-cylinder category and 48 in the V-8 category. This time, more than 100 have already enrolled for the race.
Hamza has been dreaming about participating in races and rallies from childhood. “I’ve been into cars and doing my own mechanical modifications over the years. I’ve studied the nature of terrains and also tried driving my vehicle,” said Hamza. Sultan Hamdi will be giving him support all through the race.
He said great riders from the world over will perform challenging maneuvers climbing up one of the world’s highest sand dunes over 300 meters high above sea level.
Bakhashab said rally participation is becoming expensive and not all can aspire to take part. “I’ve established Bakhashab Motor Sports Development precisely to finance and support promising talents. My long-term plan is to establish a school to train Saudis for such desert races.”
He also disclosed a plan to organize the first officially approved desert races (“Tat’ees”) in the Kingdom “This will offer another opportunity to attract our youths to the right racing ground. “I’ve found Hamza talented enough and decided to promote him, as he is a skilled performer of the Tat’ees phenomenon. I decided to promote and support his talents because he is dynamic and full of enthusiasm and spirit.”
In the past few years, Bakhashab initiated a number of sports programs such as the Road Safety Rally School, Toyota Cup Challenge within the Middle East Rally Championship, Champions Race and Autocross (Jeddah Star Race). “These events have brought up several potentially talented drivers. While we’ve introduced to the Kingdom a proficient rally team, which has in a record time achieved great successes and fame, we now switch toward investing in such talents, helping them demonstrate their potentialities. We’ll provide them with support, guarantee them sufficient finance and design the right programs that suit their capabilities.”
