Qatar Motor and Motorcycle Federation (QMMF) will send its’ drivers and riders to participate in Europe’s regional championships.
In the past, Qatar riders and drivers took part in competitions in Europe with support from QMMF, but this time they will be part of federation’s official team. Abdulla al-Khelaifi, who in January won the Qatar Touring Car championship for the fourth successive time, will try his luck at the PCR Europe championship, which will be held over three months.
Qatar’s young rider Abdullah al-Qubaisi, who has impressed in the Qatar Superstock 600 Championship, will be part of the Super Sport Championship in Spain along with experienced compatriots Saeed al-Sulaiti and Jassim al-Thani. Promising rider Youssef al-Darwish, meanwhile, will race in Moto4 in Spain. So will another young rider Hamed al-Sahoti, but for only few rounds.
QMMF president Abdulrahman al-Mannai said the six racers were chosen after they impressed in the local championship, with the young riders showing plenty of potential. He said federation’s main aim was to create a ladder for them to graduate to the next level.
“We have the riders who will go to the CEV championship in Spain. We have Abdulla al-Khelaifi who will go into the PCR Europe championship. I think this the first time in Qatar we have a Qatari who will participate in the full European championship. Al-Khelaifi is not going for just few rounds and coming back, he is participating in a full championship,” al-Mannai said.
“This is part of the general philosophy we have followed. Those who come competed for the past three years in our national championships and performed at the very high level and developed very quickly, we have given them an opportunity to test themselves against tougher competitions,” he added
Al-Mannai said the QMMF’s long term goal is to see the riders and drivers to go on and compete at the world level. “I see it as a ladder. One can compete at the national level and then go to the bigger regional competitions. And after that depending upon how they perform, they will have a chance to go to a world level championship,” the QMMF chief said.
He was impressed with what youngsters al-Darwish and al-Sahoti were able to achieve in a short span of time and predicted a bright future for them. “These youngsters deserve the opportunity, having developed their skills over the last three years, proving themselves and their willingness to compete in a bigger and stronger competition,” al-Mannai said.
“The work that we have done with the clubs and Qatar Motorsport Academy and the activities we carried out with this kids, we see it as a fantastic opportunity for kids like them to first get some training in Europe.  Only Yusuf will compete at the Moto4 championship. Unfortunately, here we don’t have the numbers so we cannot organize a championship. If he does well, we will take him to bigger regional championship and then to the world level competition,” he added.
QMMF chief said the partnership between Losail Circuit Sports Club and QMMF is proving beneficial. “This co-operation between QMMF, the club and teams like PCT Sports is good for the sport in the country. Everything now is coming together and hopefully our riders and drivers will have a good competition there.  We are also hoping people who compete at the local championship will be motivated. In the future if one does really well and shows discipline, they will have a chance to go to next level,” he said.
“The Losail club has the environment to train the people and this co-operation will lead to many youngsters going to participate at higher level in the future. QMMF will be sending them, with co-operation from the LCSC club. Some of them will go early April, while al-Khelaifi will go late April. They will compete in every round and will train in between races. They will also have program in the club and train. We sent them last year to Europe as well. It was just a support. What is different this time is we are sending an official Qatari team to take part in the championships at different age level,” al-Mannai said.
Khalid al-Rehmaihi, Losail Circuit Sports Club vice chairman and QMMF board member said the club along with QMMF is implementing all the programs so that the Qatari youth get a chance to prove themselves in tougher championships.
The Qatar Motorsport Academy, which was launched last year and is housed at Losail Circuit, is playing a key role in shaping young riders’ future, al-Rehmaihi said.