Riders set for big bikes battle; flying Dutchman Husseini leads charge for quads victory
Dubai, UAE, 2 October, 2014: Emirati driver Ahmad Al Fahim launches his bid to repeat last season’s double success in the Emirates Desert Championship when a record line up of competitors go into action at the start of the of the 2014-15 campaign tomorrow (Friday).
Al Fahim, who won the overall cars title after the national Baja rally series was introduced last year, also topped the buggies class in his Polaris RZR and is in a line-up of 104 drivers and riders entered for the first of six rounds that make up the new season.
Also carrying high hopes into the short course desert rally running in the Al Qudra area of Dubai is Lebanese driver Emil Kneisser, who enters the Nissan Patrol Y62 which he drove to success on the model’s competitive debut in the Abu Dhabi Desert Challenge back in April.
He will be looking to follow up that production class victory in the World Cup cross country rally with a first Desert Championship win, while Desert Challenge veteran Mark Powell starts the new season at the wheel of his SsangYong Musso. Al Fahim, meanwhile, has to contend with the challenge of British drivers Graeme Rose and Andrew Gerrard in two more Polaris entries.
With defending bikes champion Sean Gaugain absent through injury and last year’s runner-up, Sam Sunderland, in world championship action in Morocco, the battle for success on two wheels is still packed with talent and is sure to be fiercely contested.
Organised by the Emirates Motor Sport Federation, with TAG Heuer Middle East as the official timekeeper and founding partner, the Emirates Desert Championship is run with the support of the Automobile and Touring Club of the UAE.
“The fact that we’ve attracted more than 100 competitors for the first time at the start of the second season shows that this is a series which is going from strength to strength,” said ATCUAE President Mohammed Ben Sulayem. “We have a great deal of quality and experience on show, and we’re looking forward to a very competitive season.”
Among the leading contenders in a field of 85 bikes are Emirati rider Mohammed Al Balooshi, the multiple Arab motocross champion on a KTM, and German Mark Grams, who finished third overall in the inaugural Desert Championship and will be aiming for a flying start this time on his Honda.
Emirati riders Salim Al Mulla on a KTM and Khalid Al Falasi riding a Yamaha are joined by Kuwaitis Mohammed Jaffar and Abdulla Al Shatti on a pair of KTMs, while experienced Desert Challenge campaigners David McBride and Sean Linton enter two more KTMs. The strength and international flavor of the bikes class is emphasised by a wealth of other local-based contenders from South Africa, New Zealand, France, Austria, Finland, Holland, Russia and Colombia.
Another big tussle for supremacy is expected among the quads, with Dubai-based Dutchman Sebastian Husseini, who won two stages in this year’s Dakar Rally to finish third overall, starting as favourite.
Among his biggest challengers will be Emiratis Humaid Al Mashghouni, third overall in the series last season, and Atif Al Zarouni, a former Desert Challenge quads champion.
With the first round getting under way at 9am tomorrow (Friday), the short course event sees the bikes and quads running on one loop and the cars and buggies on another, all at the same time. The target is to complete as many laps as possible within a time window of approximately two hours.
With 12 individual national rally titles up for grabs, auto and moto team competitions are also included for the first time. Access to the rally HQ and service park in Al Qudra is via Junction 29 on Al Ain Road or from Jebel Ali.