DOHA (Qatar): Qatar’s Sheikh Suhaim Al Thani will be making his rallying debut when the 2021 Qatar International Rally starts at Katara with a ceremonial podium start today at 20.15hrs.
An impressive field of drivers and co-drivers from 12 nations will tackle two runs and two laps of a purpose-built Super Special Stage from 21.30hrs on Friday.
The teams will then slog it out over the next two days in the high-speed competition across the northern deserts of Qatar that will make the opening round of the FIA Middle East Rally Championship (MERC) such a challenge.
Qatar’s challenge in the competition is led by a number of veterans and new drivers eager to make a mark. One of them happens to be Sheikh Suhaim.
He has decided to venture into the world of motor sport and has teamed up with Motorsport Italia to run a Skoda Fabia Evo with co-driver Hamad Al Yafei.
Sheikh Suhaim has never taken part in a rally before and has never driven competitively either. He’s not expecting to be pushing his R5 rivals at all and the goal is to finish the rally and gain experience over some of the most challenging desert terrain in the Middle East.
He managed to work with his team and test the car for the first time earlier this week.
Qatar’s Khalid Al-Suwaidi the 2012 Kuwait International Rally winner returns to the event with the Portuguese co-driver Hugo Magalhaes.
The latter finished ninth and third in MERC 2 with Abdullah Al Kuwari at the Qatar International Rally in 2019.
Defending regional champion Nasser Saleh Al Attiyah also made use of the opportunity to get back behind the wheel of his Autotek Motorsport-run Volkswagen Polo GTi R5 after spending much of January battling his way across the sand dunes of Saudi Arabia to finish second in the Dakar Rally in a Toyota Hilux.
Al Attiyah won the Qatar International Rally for the 14th time when it was last held in 2019 and that marked the first regional success for the Volkswagen.
That victory set the winner of a record-breaking 75 MERC event wins up for his 15th regional title and he made it 16 during a 2020 season that was shortened with the onset of the Covid-19 pandemic.
Qatar’s Nasser Khalifa Al Atya and Abdulaziz Al Kuwari and Oman’s Abdullah Al-Rawahi drive the other three R5s in a formidable line-up that opens the door for some fascinating competition over the weekend.
This weekend’s Qatar International Rally will be held under the chairmanship of QMMF President Abdulrahman Al Mannai, senior committee member Abdulrazaq Al Kuwari and the QMMF’s Executive Director Amro Al Hamad.
