With a trial at Abu Dhabi Racing’s Daman Speed Academy on offer, budding young Emiratis will line-up alongside more than 150 students from 10 different countries at the Al Ain Raceway this Friday for the first weekend of the Students’ Karting Cup, hoping to get a seat at the prestigious academy in the capital.
The Students’ Karting Cup, the first event of its kind in the country, has attracted a good mix of drivers, both male and female, from countries like the UAE, India, Pakistan, the Philippines, South Africa, France, Morocco, Australia, the UK and Bangladesh.
The students will be vying for top honours in two different categories – Juniors (12 to 15-year-olds) and Seniors (16 to 19-year-olds) – and the top-ranking Emirati driver in each of those two categories will be invited for a trial at the Daman Speed Academy.
“Although the Cup is only open to UAE residents, the multinational entries generated so far highlight the universal popularity of karting across the country and beyond,” said Sayed Harris Hassan, the chief execute of Prodrive Sports Services, the organisers of the series.
“The sport knows no borders and we’re looking at a bona fide grid of nations of our hands at Al Ain Raceway.”
The Students’ Karting Cup will take place over four race weekends at Al Ain Raceway from January 15 to February 26, with the first weekend seeing qualified instructors from the circuit and Prodrive evaluate the drivers on the basis of their skills and responses to aspects such as safety, punctuality, speed and the attention paid to rules and regulations.
Following the 30-minute assessment, the field will be trimmed down to a final line-up of 100-125 drivers, who will compete in the following three race weekends on February 5, 19 and 26.
For further information, please visit their website www.skcae.com.
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DUBAI WORLD CUP CARNIVAL CARD
6.30pm Handicap US$135,000 (Turf) 2,410m
7.05pm UAE 1000 Guineas Listed $250,000 (Dirt) 1,600m
7.40pm Dubai Dash Listed $175,000 (T) 1,000m
8.15pm Al Bastakiya Trial Conditions $100,000 (D) 1.900m
8.50pm Al Fahidi Fort Group Two $250,000 (T) 1,400m
9.25pm Handicap $135,000 (D) 2,000m
The National selections
6.30pm: Gifts Of Gold
7.05pm Final Song
7.40pm Equilateral
8.15pm Dark Of Night
8.50pm Mythical Magic
9.25pm Franz Kafka
Racecard
6.35pm: American Business Council – Maiden (PA) Dh80,000 (Dirt) 1,600m
7.10pm: British Business Group – Maiden (TB) Dh82,500 (D) 1,200m
7.45pm: CCI France UAE – Handicap (TB) Dh87,500 (D) 1,400m
8.20pm: Czech Business Council – Rated Conditions (TB) Dh105,000 (D) 1,400m
8.55pm: Netherlands Business Council – Rated Conditions (TB) Dh95,000 (D) 1,600m
9.30pm: Indian Business and Professional Council – Handicap (TB) Dh95,000 (D) 1,200m
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When: The one-off Test starts on Friday, May 11
What time: Each day’s play is scheduled to start at 2pm UAE time.
TV: The match will be broadcast on OSN Sports Cricket HD. Subscribers to the channel can also stream the action live on OSN Play.
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Dr Miriam Bradley, senior lecturer in humanitarian studies at the University of Manchester, has argued that, by the early 1980s, “several government policies combined to cause, rather than prevent, a famine which lasted from 1983 to 1985. Mengistu’s government imposed Stalinist-model agricultural policies involving forced collectivisation and villagisation [relocation of communities into planned villages].
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The biog
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Place of birth: Jeddah, Saudi Arabia but lived in Virginia in the US and raised in Lebanon
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