Dubai: Record breaking 14-time FIA Middle East Rally Championship winner Mohammad Bin Sulayem will step out of retirement this weekend after more than 12 years to take part in the second round of the 2015 UAE National Rally Championship.
Sulayem, who won the Dubai International Rally for the 15th time on his last competitive appearance in December 2002, will be reunited with his old co-driver Ronan Morgan of Ireland for the Sharjah Rally on Saturday.
Together they formed the most successful partnership in Arab rallying history, securing the Middle East title ten times and enjoying an unprecedented level of international rally success in the Middle East and overseas.
Sulayem has accepted an invitation to compete in the Sharjah Rally from Shaikh Abdullah Al Qasimi, founder and President of the Emirates Motorsport Club, organisers of the UAE National Rally Championship.
“When Shaikh Abdullah asked me to enter I couldn’t turn him down,” said Bin Sulayem, now FIA Vice President and President of the Automobile and Touring Club of the UAE.
“He is doing so much good work to revive rallying in the UAE and I have to support him and do what I can to promote a sport that has given me so much in my life. If my appearance can help to encourage more young Emiratis to take up rallying, or persuade some of our older local competitors to return, that will be very satisfying.”
Bin Sulayem and Morgan will compete in the rebuilt Ford Escort WRC that they took to victory in the 1999 Jordan International Rally, the car’s last competitive event.
