Dubai: The Automobile and Touring Club of the UAE (ATCUAE) on Wednesday pointed to a bright future for motorsport in the Emirates, with the official launch of the 2014-15 season showing healthy growth in key areas.
Headlined again by the Formula 1 Etihad Airways Abu Dhabi Grand Prix on November 23, the new season is characterised by the growing popularity of karting, expansion of the national desert rally series introduced last year and a strong line-up of international circuit racing events.
The continued success of the UAE Rotax Max Challenge is seen as key to the future of UAE motorsport, which needs young talent arriving at entry level and rising through the ranks.
For this year’s 12-round national karting championship, which is run at Dubai Kartdrome, Al Ain Raceway and Yas Marina Circuit in the UAE and at Seeb in Oman, the ATCUAE has issued 125 competitor licences, an increase of 25 per cent on last year.
In addition, the opportunities for young drivers to progress from karting and develop their skills is highlighted by a busy calendar of single-seater and touring car circuit racing events in a new season featuring more than 120 competitive races.
“This growing popularity of the Rotax Max Challenge here is very encouraging, as one of our main goals is to strengthen motorsport at grass roots level and ultimately help guide more young drivers towards the top levels of the sport,” said ATCUAE President Mohammad Bin Sulayem.
“This is now becoming more and more of a team sport, with many of the manufacturers present, and the paddock at events is looking more and more like a mini F1 set-up.”
The FIA Vice-President added: “The government has made a huge investment in motorsport and it’s our duty to work hard to attract and develop more young local talent to make sure that the growth we have seen in the sport in recent years is sustainable.
“We have the infrastructure now that allows drivers entering karting at the age of eight to develop their skills and progress through single-seater and touring car events towards Grand Prix racing, which is the ultimate goal.
“I’m very pleased that the season ahead shows many opportunities for young drivers to progress from karting and develop their skills through the many single-seater and touring car circuit racing events we have in the calendar.”
Bin Sulayem was joined at Wednesday’s press conference by senior representatives of other key motorsport officials. The new season launch highlights how UAE motorsport has evolved over the last two decades, from the pioneering days of rallying in the 1970s.
Significantly, the Emirates Desert Championship, the new national rally series launched last year for cars, buggies, motorcycles and quads, has quickly become a major attraction and for 2014-15 has been extended from four to six rounds, the first of which will be run on October 3.
The ATCUAE has so far issued 150 competitor licences for the series, with entries for the first event expected to climb past 100 for the first time.
Established events on the calendar include the UAE Touring Car Championship, the UAE Radical Winter Cup, the Gulf 12 Hours at Yas Marina Circuit in December, supported by the Maserati Trofeo Championship, and the tenth anniversary Hankook 24 Hours of Dubai in January.
Other prominent events include the Porsche GT3 Cup Challenge Middle East, which features race weekends at Dubai Autodrome in December and next February, while Yas Marina Circuit will for the first time host the Asia, European and North American finals of the Ferrari Challenge in December.
The Abu Dhabi F1 Grand Prix returns for a sixth year, the main attraction on this occasion being supported by the GP2 and GP3 series.
Once again prominent on the calendar are the Dubai International Rally (November 26-27), the UAE’s longest-running international sports fixture, and the Abu Dhabi Desert Challenge (March 27-April 2), the Middle East’s first world championship motorsport event.
Action on two wheels also features the Sportsbike Championship, with 600cc and rookie classes, as well as the national motocross series.
