Qatar’s Nasser Saleh Al Attiyah.
ARIFJAN, KUWAIT: Qatari rally driver Nasser Saleh Al Attiyah will be looking to defend his regional rally crown in Kuwait City this weekend with the record for the most number of victories at the Kuwait International Rally (KIR).
The three-day Kuwait International Rally begins tomorrow.
It is the fourth round of the 2018 FIA Middle East Rally Championship (MERC) and Kuwait’s flagship motor sporting event will make a return to the FIA calendar at the new Kuwait Motor Town Race Circuit (KMTRC) facility.
The Qatari star, Al Attiyah, has been impressed with the new start location in Kuwait.
“This is an excellent facility and I am sure it will have a very exciting future in world motorsport,” said the visiting MERC series leader, who starts as top seed this weekend.
This will also mark the first time that the facility has ever been used to host an FIA event.
Kuwait Motor Town Race Circuit was inaugurated under the patronage and attendance of the Emir Sheikh Sabah Al Ahmad Al Jaber Al Sabah on March 28 this year. The KIR is based there this week with the fourth round of the regional rally series taking place over 13 timed desert special stages
The new KMTRC is situated in the area of Arifjan, 52km south of Kuwait City, and was constructed in 14 months. The project was the vision of the Amiri Dirwan and was brought to reality by renowned German engineer and circuit designer Herman Tilke.
The site holds seven different race tracks, including an FIA grade one main race circuit of 5.61km, and also features facilities for drag racing, karting, motocross, rally and dune racing.
There are sufficient seating and space for around 8,000 spectators, VIP halls, media facilities, 32 pit facilities and parking for around 3,300 vehicles. The race track itself was laid by the Arizona National Company in association with Trimble, the machine control technologies company.
The KIR started at the Sirbb karting track, near Kuwait City, in 2016 but has followed its neighbours in Qatar and Abu Dhabi to utilise excellent race circuit facilities to host off-road rally events.
Jordanian motorcycle enduro rider Ata Al Hmoud won his category at the recent Jordan Baja and is in Kuwait for the rally.
“I have been very impressed. The circuit, the set-up, the pits, the facilities, they are all state-of-the-art,” Ata said.
Competitors carried out their first day of route reconnaissance yesterday and will be permitted a second day to check the route today before the competitive action gets underway with a timed super special at 4.00pm tomorrow after the ceremonial start at the Kuwait Motor Town Race Circuit.
This year’s event is being organised by the Basil Salem Al Sabah Motor Racing Club (BMRC) under the chairmanship of Sheikh Athbi Nayef Jaber Al Ahmad Al Sabah and in conjunction with the General Authority for Sport and the Kuwait International Automobile Club (KIAC).
