SAKHIR, BAHRAIN // Whatever lessons Bahrain has learnt from its considerable Grand Prix experience, Abu Dhabi is glad to share. A 21-person delegation from the UAE has arrived in Bahrain on a fact-finding mission ahead of the sixth Grand Prix in the kingdom. The team, made up of stakeholders in the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, yesterday shadowed race officials at the circuit in Sakhir. Race organisers from Abu Dhabi oversaw marshalling procedures and attended a mock rescue of a driver by a medical team in a helicopter.
The delegation is led by Mohammed ben Sulayem, the former rally driving champion, who is president of the UAE's Automobile and Touring Club (ATCUAE). He is also the vice president for sport with the FIA, the world motorsport governing body. Yesterday, he held talks with Sheikh Salman bin Hamad bin Essa al Khalifa, the Crown Prince of Bahrain, who spearheaded the plan to establish a Grand Prix in the kingdom.
Mr ben Sulayem said: "We need to try and learn as much as we can from them. "By Sunday, they will have done this six times, and have some great experience behind them. Why go to the end of the world to learn how to run a Grand Prix, when we have our friends here in Bahrain?" The first Abu Dhabi race, at the Yas Marina Circuit, is six months from next week, on Nov 1. While work involving the circuit itself is being managed by Abu Dhabi Motorsport Management (ADMM), much of the logistical work, such as hiring marshals, will be handled by the ATCUAE.
Nine of the delegation are from ADMM, with another 12 from the Touring Club. "We are not here for a weekend, to come away and enjoy," said Mr ben Sulayem. "There is no enjoyment in it, it is work, work, work. The danger of not doing this now is that we might make mistakes. You can see what is being done here, you see how they are doing things right. "We are following what is going on, learning the rules and we are learning a lot by living through what they are doing. I wouldn't even want to think about not doing this before our race."
"The thought of not doing this scares me." Ronan Morgan, who will be the chief clerk at the Yas Marina Circuit, said: "One of the things we have been doing is an extrication exercise, where we will be helping deliver a casualty to hospital. "It is a lot more than just learning about marshalling. The people we are going to appoint to these positions are shadowing the equivalent workers here. The co-operation we are getting here should be very helpful in making sure we are not missing anything.
"They have six years' experience in doing this now so they have got very good at making sure everything is absolutely right here." The co-operation this weekend comes after an agreement signed last year between ADMM and the Bahrain International Circuit whereby, among other points, resources will be pooled. Martin Whitaker, the chief executive of Bahrain International Circuit, said the agreement was still in its infancy, but that the Bahrain team were ready to help their Abu Dhabi counterparts.
"This year is very much about them constructing the circuit and us helping them, not so much yet about what we can do as a working relationship," he said. "But I can see opportunities for business networking, ticket sales and marketing activities as well." All drivers had arrived at the circuit in Sakhir, 30 kilometres outside the capital, Manama, by yesterday morning. Despite leading the world championship, the British driver Jenson Button was greeted at the airport yesterday by a sign asking him to make himself known to his driver. Strong winds and possible sand storms were predicted for Sunday, the day of the race, when hot weather is also expected.
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