Sheikh Rashid provides new drive for Emirates Desert Championship

Crown Prince gives Sulayem strong backing as national Baja rally series breaks new ground in Umm Al Quwain

Dubai, UAE, 13 January, 2015: The Emirates Desert Championship breaks new ground this weekend when the national Baja series extends into Umm Al Quwain for the first time with the full backing of the Crown Prince, H.H.Sheikh Rashid bin Saud bin Rashid Al Mua'lla.

Taking place under the patronage of Sheikh Rashid, the fourth round of the 2014-15 championship runs in the Falaj Al Moalla area on Friday morning, with more than 100 drivers and riders expected as the six-round championship continues to go from strength to strength.

“We are indebted to Sheikh Rashid for his personal support and encouragement to take the series into Umm Al Quwain,” said Mohammed Ben Sulayem, President of the Automobile and Touring Club of the UAE.

“It was our intention from the start to stage events across the Emirates, and take full advantage of the fact that, in the UAE, we have the best terrain in the world for this type of motor sport.

“Sheikh Rashid is very enthusiastic about the sport and especially eager to see our national series develop further. He has made it possible for us to plan a route through a desert area which is ideal for this kind of rallying, and we hope it will be the first of many events in Umm Al Quwain.”
 
The Emirates Desert Championship is organised by the ATCUAE and the Emirates Motor Sport Federation, with TAG Heuer Middle East as the official timekeeper and founding partner.

Launched in October 2013 to safeguard the future of rallying on a national basis, the championship has met the growing demand from the country’s motor sport fraternity for a new series of highly competitive events run in a natural environment, with an emphasis on safety.

With categories for cross country cars, buggies, motor cycles and quads, it is a natural feeder series for the Abu Dhabi Desert Challenge. Entries have climbed past three figures for each of the three rounds so far this season, hitting a record 135 for Round Two last October.

Defending champion Ahmed Al Fahim currently leads the race for the cars title while fellow-Emirati Mohammed Al Balooshi tops the bikes standings and Alex MacFarlane leads in the quads at the half way point in the season.

They are all likely to come under pressure when they return to action in Umm Al Quwain on Friday.  The action gets under way at 9am in a demanding short course event, which sees the bikes and quads running on one loop and the cars and buggies competing on another at the same time.

All will be out to complete as many laps as fast as possible over a window of approximately two hours, and the line-up includes a record seven lady bike riders, including current leader Kylie Slowe.

CHAMPIONSHIP POSITIONS AFTER 3 ROUNDS

Cars overall

1. Ahmed Al Fahim (UAE)      62pts
2. Graeme Rose (GB)            52
3. Chris Jackson (GB)            51
4. Ahmad Al Maqoodi (UAE)   50
5. Emil Kneisser (LEB)           49
6. Mohammed Gulzar             40
                                        
Class leaders

T1 -  Ian Barker, Vadym Prytuliak (joint); T2 - Emil Kneisser; T3 - Michel Fadel; National - Ahmed Al Fahim.

Bikes overall

1. Mohammed Al Balooshi   65pts
2. Mohammed Jaffar            62
3. Jake Shipton                   50
4. Mark Grams                    48
5. Ross Runnalls                 43
6. Saeed Al Shenqiti            42
= Mark Ackerman                42

Quads

1. Alex MacFarlane             59
2. Humaid Al Mashghouni    45
3. Jaco De Lange                38
4. Sebastian Husseini         36
5. Colin Mercer                   33
6. Colin Wilken                   28
7. Mohammed Al Shamsi    25

Class leaders

450cc - Mohammed Al Balooshi; Over 450 - Khalid Al Falasi; Marathon - Chris Dunn; Masters - Tim Trenker; Ladies - Kylie Slowe.

Caption:     H.H.Sheikh Rashid bin Saud bin Rashid Al Mua'lla