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The UAE will make an important contribution at a new global motor sport summit being staged in the UK this week by the FIA, the world governing body, to shape the sport’s future.
Representatives from more than 200 national motoring and sporting organisations in 135 countries will be attending the first ever FIA Sport Conference Week taking place over three days at historic Goodwood House and Circuit in England from Tuesday.
They will include Dr. Mohammed Ben Sulayem, President of the Automobile and Touring Club of the UAE, and Richard Cregan, Chief Executive Officer of Abu Dhabi’s Yas Marina Circuit.
The new event, initiated by FIA President Jean Todt, provides a global platform of networking and business exchanges for motor sport authorities, local sporting clubs and associations, promoters, organisers, suppliers and partners.
“This is an extremely important initiative because it is aimed at fostering the cooperation that is required from all the main stakeholders to build a strong, safe and sustainable future for motorsport around the world,” said Sulayem, the FIA Vice President for Sport.
On the opening day, Cregan will be among a panel of experts who will discuss the main challenges facing global motor sport in the coming decades, and looking at how national motor sport authorities can respond.
Two of the workshops to follow, analysing how to run a major rally and how to manage the environmental impact of motor sport, will be moderated by Ronan Morgan, director of the Motorsport Knowledge Institute (MKI), the ATCUAE’s training and education division.
Another session, looking at how to organise grassroots events and recruit volunteers, will be moderated by MKI Chairman Dr. Séan O’Connor.
Over the last 18 months, on behalf of the FIA, the MKI has delivered motor sport training to ATCUAE counterparts in the Middle East, Africa and South America, and also to world superpower Russia ahead of next year’s first F1 Grand Prix in Moscow.
In recent months, the ATCUAE has published three important motor sport reports based on studies carried out in conjunction with the University of Ulster, one of the UK’s top learning and research institutes.
The latest of these, analysing the social and economic impact of volunteerism in sport, will be presented in Goodwood by Dr. David Hassan, Senior Lecturer in Sport and Exercise at the University of Ulster and a member of the executive research team.
Based on an intensive study of the 2012 F1 Etihad Airways Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, it shows volunteerism around the world as a prolific opportunity for industries, policy makers and regulators to further enhance national competitiveness and the labour market.
The 82-page document, the first study of its kind in motor racing, calculates that more than 600 volunteers and unpaid officials working on the Grand Prix produced an economic savings of AED6,641,500 ($US1.81m) by giving 53,448 hours towards preparation and running of the event.
The FIA Sport Conference Week will be followed on Friday by a meeting of the World Motorsport Council, of which Sulayem is the first Arab member.
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