2003 UAE DESERT CHALLENGE
FIM and FIA Cross Country Rallies World Cups, final round
For immediate release
Monday, April 28th, 2003
DESERT CHALLENGE SET TO ATTRACT
RECORD NUMBER OF EUROPEAN TEAMS
DUBAI (UAE): This year’s UAE Desert Challenge is again the final round of the FIM and FIA Cross Country Rally World Cups and is set to attract a record number of foreign competitors. The event takes place across the sands of the UAE between October 19th and October 24th.
Entries for the biggest motorsport event in the Middle East will be available from July 1st, with reduced price entries closing on September 24th, but places in both the motorcycle and car categories are set to fill rapidly.
This year’s event will begin a week earlier than usual to avoid a clash with the Islamic festival of Ramadan, with documentation taking place in Dubai on October 17th/18th. Entries will be officially scrutineered on Saturday, October 19th and the competitive action gets underway with a Prologue in Dubai on October 20th.
The official start will be in Abu Dhabi on October 21st, followed by four days of desert action across the Rub Al-Khali or Empty Quarter, some of the remotest terrain in the world. The finish, gala dinner and prizegiving will be held in Dubai on October 24th.
The international-status event is open to both professional and amateur teams in cars and trucks complying with FIA T1, T2, T3 and T4 specification and to motorcycles complying with FIM technical regulations. The event is now seen as the traditional warm-up for the gruelling Dakar Rally and is again set to attract professional teams from the likes of Mitsubishi, Volkswagen. BMW, Nissan, KTM, Mercedes and Schlesser-Ford.
Last year’s event marked the winning world debut of the Mitsubishi Pajero Evolution in the hands of Frenchman Stephane Peterhansel and a second victory in the motorcycle category for fellow countryman Cyril Despres, the runner-up on the recent Rally of Tunisia.
Entry forms, costs and further details for British competitors are available from Neil Perkins at the UAE Desert Challenge liaison office: NDP Publicity Services, NCH Building, Upper Bar, Newport, Shropshire, TF10 7EH, (Tel: 01952 825078 and Fax: 01952 825001) or e-mail ndppublicity@compuserve.com
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