‘I’m very disappointed with the FIA’s decision’

Doha: Qatari driver Nasser Bin Saleh Al Attiyah retained the Dubai International Rally title as well as the 2014 Middle East Rally Championship title after the International Court of Appeal upheld the appeal by the Qatar Motor and Motorcycle Federation (QMMF) on his behalf.

This came after the UAE’s Shaikh Khalid Al Qassimi was awarded victory in the Dubai International Rally on November 29. Al Attiyah’s team had first appealed to the Dubai International Rally stewards to reconsider the result. The appeal was rejected by the stewards because Al Qassimi’s tracking was identified as legal during the Rally.

Following this, the Qatar Motor and Motorcycle Federation (QMMF) submitted an appeal on behalf of Al Attiyah to the International Court of Appeal. The Court subsequently decided that Al Attiyah was the winner.

The International Court of Appeal decision, announced on the December 4, the day before the FIA prize giving ceremony, was a great disappointment to Al Qassimi, who was attending the hearing in Doha. “The competition with Nasser Al Attiyah in Dubai International Rally reached a very high level and was very close. The times that I recorded in the stages speak for themselves. Obviously I am very disappointed with the decision but the International Court of Appeal has the final call.” Al Qassimi said.

“I believe that I won Dubai International Rally fairly, I was the fastest in most of the stages. I feel that the decision is not fair to me or to the team.

“I have proposed several times that cars participating in the Middle East Rally Championship should have on-board cameras, but for some reason this control solution has not been taken into consideration.

“As Abu Dhabi Racing, we really need to think about our commitment to the Middle East Rally Championship going forward.”

Al Qassimi’s lawyer Zeeshan Dhar said: “The ICA decision was based on a route deviation which is out of kilter with all applicable regulations applied by the FIA-appointed rally stewards. As a result, there is no legal or rational basis for the ICA decision. Furthermore, we presented the ICA with clear and unequivocal evidence by way of video footage that the appellant, who was seeking to penalise Shaikh Khalid Al Qassimi for the route deviation, had himself knowingly committed far more egregious route deviations for which he was not penalised.”