I am privileged to know many of the talented young racing drivers in the UAE, some of whom I believe will go on to have great careers as professional racing drivers. For them, this is no pipe dream, and they fully expect to put in an enormous amount of hard work to get there. But when you look at the lives of young champions in any sport, there's a common requirement: supportive parents. Without the full backing and enthusiasm of a parent as mentor and banker, their task becomes almost impossible.
There's a fascinating list of 2010 motor racing champions at www.driverdb.com. If you look at the nationalities of these 337 successful drivers, you will see they are from all around the world, including two from Bahrain and one from Saudi Arabia. Of these three, the youngest is 19-year-old Menasheh Idafar, who won the National Class of British F3 this year and is based in Bahrain. Congrats Menasheh and to your father, Salman.
When we launched Formula Gulf 1000 in April we received, and continue to receive, a huge amount of support at all levels for this initiative. It is aimed at offering ambitious young racing drivers in the region the opportunity to train and race in the same type of Formula car they will have to master should they move up the ladder towards a professional racing career. Think of it as a two-year apprenticeship. You would expect that a Junior Formula series like this, after seven years of Formula One in the region, would be oversubscribed. As it happens, there are plenty of qualified young drivers who have already displayed their talents and commitment in the field of karting and, in some cases, in the Radical sportscars that we have been overseeing for the last five years.
But there's a problem. The parents - or more accurately, education. In many cases, although thankfully not all, parents just do not know enough about motor racing to understand what an exciting and demanding sport it is and how it can lead onto a rewarding professional career for their offspring. Having been through this journey myself with my son and his friends, we have seen how motorsport opens up a plethora of opportunities to the most committed and hard-working of its graduates. Some get to the very top of the ladder, some get paid well to race for manufacturers and teams, and some adopt a race engineering career to manage the teams and cars that the champion drivers rely on. There is more to working in motorsport than just being the man or woman in the cockpit.
The high-performance engineering industry requires a lot of clever people to develop race-winning technology - something that is under continual improvement.
The next step after Formula Gulf 1000 is likely to be Formula Renault BARC, which is a UK-based, one-make single-seater category contested over 12 rounds with six double-headers. New for 2011, the last two races join the TOCA package at Silverstone circuit. And I fully expect a UAE driver to win it sometime, but it will take not only their hard work, but also dedication from their families.
Barry Hope is a director of GulfSport Racing, which is seeking the first Arab F1 driver through the FG1000 race series. Join the UAE racing community online at www.singleseaterblog.com
The rules on fostering in the UAE
A foster couple or family must:
- be Muslim, Emirati and be residing in the UAE
- not be younger than 25 years old
- not have been convicted of offences or crimes involving moral turpitude
- be free of infectious diseases or psychological and mental disorders
- have the ability to support its members and the foster child financially
- undertake to treat and raise the child in a proper manner and take care of his or her health and well-being
- A single, divorced or widowed Muslim Emirati female, residing in the UAE may apply to foster a child if she is at least 30 years old and able to support the child financially
NO OTHER LAND
Director: Basel Adra, Yuval Abraham, Rachel Szor, Hamdan Ballal
Stars: Basel Adra, Yuval Abraham
Rating: 3.5/5
A MINECRAFT MOVIE
Director: Jared Hess
Starring: Jack Black, Jennifer Coolidge, Jason Momoa
Rating: 3/5
In numbers: PKK’s money network in Europe
Germany: PKK collectors typically bring in $18 million in cash a year – amount has trebled since 2010
Revolutionary tax: Investigators say about $2 million a year raised from ‘tax collection’ around Marseille
Extortion: Gunman convicted in 2023 of demanding $10,000 from Kurdish businessman in Stockholm
Drug trade: PKK income claimed by Turkish anti-drugs force in 2024 to be as high as $500 million a year
Denmark: PKK one of two terrorist groups along with Iranian separatists ASMLA to raise “two-digit million amounts”
Contributions: Hundreds of euros expected from typical Kurdish families and thousands from business owners
TV channel: Kurdish Roj TV accounts frozen and went bankrupt after Denmark fined it more than $1 million over PKK links in 2013
Tuesday's fixtures
Kyrgyzstan v Qatar, 5.45pm
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COMPANY PROFILE
Name: Lamsa
Founder: Badr Ward
Launched: 2014
Employees: 60
Based: Abu Dhabi
Sector: EdTech
Funding to date: $15 million
At a glance
Global events: Much of the UK’s economic woes were blamed on “increased global uncertainty”, which can be interpreted as the economic impact of the Ukraine war and the uncertainty over Donald Trump’s tariffs.
Growth forecasts: Cut for 2025 from 2 per cent to 1 per cent. The OBR watchdog also estimated inflation will average 3.2 per cent this year
Welfare: Universal credit health element cut by 50 per cent and frozen for new claimants, building on cuts to the disability and incapacity bill set out earlier this month
Spending cuts: Overall day-to day-spending across government cut by £6.1bn in 2029-30
Tax evasion: Steps to crack down on tax evasion to raise “£6.5bn per year” for the public purse
Defence: New high-tech weaponry, upgrading HM Naval Base in Portsmouth
Housing: Housebuilding to reach its highest in 40 years, with planning reforms helping generate an extra £3.4bn for public finances
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Places to go for free coffee
- Cherish Cafe Dubai, Dubai Investment Park, are giving away free coffees all day.
- La Terrace, Four Points by Sheraton Bur Dubai, are serving their first 50 guests one coffee and four bite-sized cakes
- Wild & The Moon will be giving away a free espresso with every purchase on International Coffee Day
- Orange Wheels welcome parents are to sit, relax and enjoy goodies at ‘Café O’ along with a free coffee
Specs
Engine: Dual-motor all-wheel-drive electric
Range: Up to 610km
Power: 905hp
Torque: 985Nm
Price: From Dh439,000
Available: Now
COMPANY%20PROFILE
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The specs
AT4 Ultimate, as tested
Engine: 6.2-litre V8
Power: 420hp
Torque: 623Nm
Transmission: 10-speed automatic
Price: From Dh330,800 (Elevation: Dh236,400; AT4: Dh286,800; Denali: Dh345,800)
On sale: Now
Messi at the Copa America
2007 – lost 3-0 to Brazil in the final
2011 – lost to Uruguay on penalties in the quarter-finals
2015 – lost to Chile on penalties in the final
2016 – lost to Chile on penalties in the final
If you go...
Fly from Dubai or Abu Dhabi to Chiang Mai in Thailand, via Bangkok, before taking a five-hour bus ride across the Laos border to Huay Xai. The land border crossing at Huay Xai is a well-trodden route, meaning entry is swift, though travellers should be aware of visa requirements for both countries.
Flights from Dubai start at Dh4,000 return with Emirates, while Etihad flights from Abu Dhabi start at Dh2,000. Local buses can be booked in Chiang Mai from around Dh50
Ms Yang's top tips for parents new to the UAE
- Join parent networks
- Look beyond school fees
- Keep an open mind