• Home
• /
• Local Sports

Mohammed Ben Sulayem steps out of retirement for UAE Rally

Sulayem, who won the Dubai International Rally for the 15th time on his last competitive appearance in December 2002, will be partnered again by his co-driver of many years, Irishman Ronan Morgan, for the Sharjah Rally on Saturday.

Mohammed Ben Sulayem with Shaikh Abdullah Al Qassimi during the 2000 UAE International Rally. — Supplied photo

Dubai: Mohammed Ben Sulayem, the record-breaking 14-times FIA Middle East rally champion, steps out of retirement after more than 12 years this weekend to contest the second round of the 2015 UAE National Rally Championship.

Sulayem, who won the Dubai International Rally for the 15^th time on his last competitive appearance in December 2002, will be partnered again by his co-driver of many years, Irishman Ronan Morgan, for the Sharjah Rally on Saturday.

Together they formed the most successful partnership in Arab rallying history, securing the Middle East title ten times and enjoying an unprecedented level of international rally success in the Middle East and overseas.

Sulayem has accepted an invitation to compete in the Sharjah Rally from Shaikh Abdullah Al Qassimi, founder and President of the Emirates Motorsport Club, organisers of the UAE National Rally Championship

“When Sheikh Abdullah asked me to enter I couldn’t turn him down,” said Sulayem, President of the Automobile and Touring Club of the UAE. “He is doing so much good work to revive rallying in the UAE, and I have to support him and do what I can to promote a sport which has given me so much in my life. If my appearance can help to encourage more young Emiratis to take up rallying, or persuade some of our older local competitors to return, that will be very satisfying.”

Sulayem and Morgan will compete in the rebuilt Ford Escort WRC which they took to victory in the 1999 Jordan International Rally, the car’s last competitive event.