Academy to nurture young talent launched by LCSC

Inwhat is undoubtedly a huge step towards unearthing motorsport talent inQatar, Losail Circuit Sports Club (LCSC) yesterday announced the launchof the Qatar Motorsport Academy.At a press conference on thesidelines of the MotoGP Grand Prix of Qatar at the Losail InternationalCircuit, LCSC Vice President and General Manager Khalid al-Remaihi saidthe academy will come into effect from October 2018.  For its ambitiousproject, LCSC has tied up with Dorna Sports, the commercial rightsholder for the MotoGP, and Qatar’s Aspire Academy.The announcementwas made in the presence of Minister of Culture and Sports of Qatar HESalah bin Ghanem bin Nasser al-Ali, Dorna CEO Carmelo Ezpeleta, GeneralDirector Aspire Academy Ivan Bravo, QMMF President Abdulrahman al-Mannaiand Fédération Internationale de Motocyclisme (FIM) President VitoIppolito.Al-Remaihi said the aim of the Qatar Motorsport Academy wasto create a platform for younger talents in the age bracket of 6 to 14and nurture them into future MotoGP riders. “The Qatar MotorsportAcademy will more or less be the platform for youngsters to get into thesport. We want to accept 6 to 14-year-old kids into the academy, whichincludes locals, people of different nationalities living in Qatar andalso those who are living around us in the region,” said al-Remaihiyesterday.“We want to capitalise on the opportunities we have inQatar, like in the winter season where we can practice the sport here.At the same time in Europe and other parts of the world it’s the offseason. With the help of Aspire and Dorna we can provide that serviceeven for people in Europe,” he added. The LCSC Vice President saidone of the major objectives of the club was to create an environment forthe existing motorcycling enthusiast in the country and in the Gulf. “Sincethe establishment of the Club in early 2016, we had three majorobjectives. One to promote the sport to get the community in Qatarinvolved in the sport, and the second was to make full use of thefacilities. I am happy to say that we have achieved those goals. Anexample of that is 81% utilisation of the facilities, which shows howmuch we have increased the events and quality of the events and how wehave attracted people come to come to the circuit,” said al-Remaihi “Nowwhen it comes to promoting the sport, we understood that we needed tocreate an environment for the existing enthusiast, people who like thesport already. Those who come enjoy the championship and atmosphere inthe events as that would help in creating the culture in the country forthe sport. We also understood that we need to create a platform tonurture younger talent and we were working on the possibilities wehave,” he added. On LCSC’s tie up with Dorna Sports and Qatar’sAspire Academy, al-Remaihi hailed them as the best possible partners inreaching academy’s goals. “What we found out is we need to have analliance with right partners. This is why Losail Club has tied up withDorna Sports, who with their vast experience and knowhow of themotorcycling racing will create programmes for younger generations thatwill be their stepping stone into MotoGP. And also Aspire Academy is anicon in sports training, education and excellence in sport. To have thatkind of support in Qatar is a great value to us,” al-Remaihi said. “Specificto Dorna’s and Aspire’s involvement from a collective point of view,it’s a platform for growth of MotoGP. Our friends in Dorna have a greatrecord and we believe in their great capabilities and support to reachour goal. And with the help of Aspire they will cater to the specialtalents selected. It’s an opportunity for us achieve our maximumpotential. Our target is to launch this programme in October 2018, whichis the beginning of our season. From now on until that point of time,we will fully mobilise all our collective resources to be able todeliver our programme. We hope people will see the fruits of ourcollaboration,” he noted.The LCSC General Manager also thanked QMMFand its’ President Abdulrahman al-Mannai for the support. “We do notwant forget the cooperation of local federation QMMF and Abdulrahmanal-Mannai and his team, which is essential for what we want to achieve.Hopefully in near future, we will get to see Qatari rider or someoneliving in Qatar or someone from the region in the MotoGP class,” hesaid. Carmelo Ezpeleta, the Dorna CEO said the Qatar MotorsportAcademy is very important to the future of sport and was excited tocollaborate with LCSC. “Qatar was the first country to conductfloodlight race, which was necessary for MotoGP. They have conducted theMotoGP races successfully over the last 15 years and have been pioneersfor the sport in general. Through this academy, it’s a continuity ofour association with them. It’s a social responsibility for us to teachthe sport to newer and enthusiastic audience. That’s what we intend todo with our tie-up with LCSC and Qatar Motorsport Academy. For us atDorna its very exciting project. One of the main aims is to giveopportunities to people, who have never raced before. The QatarMotorsport Academy is very important to the future of the sport and weare excited to collaborate with LCSC,” Ezpeleta said.