Muscat, Sept 24 - Oman’s international rally racer Abdullah al Zubair and teenage prodigy Shihab al Habsi were felicitated by Oman Automobile Association (OAA) at the OAA premises on Monday. Both national racers won laurels for the Sultanate in the past few years. The function was part of the OAA initiative to support the Omani motor sports drivers who are winning laurels for the Sultanate in regional and international events.
The event was under the auspices of Brigadier Jamal al Taie, Vice-Chairman of OAA, in presence of Shaikh Al Zubair bin Mohammed al Zubair (racer Abdullah’s father), Ahmed al Habsi (Shihab’s father), several OAA officials including Suleiman bin Abdullah al Rawahi, General Manager of OAA, Hisham al Sinani and Falah al Jabri, board members of OAA.
In his welcome speech, Hisham al Sinani said the function is part of OAA support to all the members of motor sports in the Sultanate including the international racer Abdullah al Zubair and the young champion Shihab al Habsi who had triumphs at the regional and international level.
“Both the drivers achieved top results in their latest participations which reflected the high standard of Oman’s motor sports. Since the formation of OAA, there was a huge attention from the board to provide maximum efforts to develop the motor sports in the Sultanate. Also, to stand with the national champions and help in their participations to claim podiums,” OAA chief added.
“A dedicated thanks to all our stakeholder and special thank to Lt Gen Hassan bin Mohsin al Shraiqi, Inspector General of Police and Customs, for his whole-hearted continuous support to the OAA activities and competitions,” the OAA board member said.
Later, the chief guest accompanied with the officials of OAA, awarded the sponsorship certificates and honoured Al Zubair and Al Habsi.
Congratulating all the domestic champions, the vice-chairman of OAA said to Oman Daily Observer, “Omani drivers have registered good results in their different racing tournaments and championships.
Many of Omani racers were classified with top level drivers. The OAA will continue providing the maximum level of support including the funding, logistics, registration at the international federation, technical support and other kind of assistance,” Jamal al Taie said.
Speaking after the ceremony, Abdullah al Zubair from AZ team affirmed that the support from OAA is essential for racers and it is in line with the drivers’ future requirement. “The support pushed us to do better in the upcoming events,” the rally driver said.
“Motor sports is an expensive sport. The OAA sponsorship will cover some part of the expenses. We are looking forward for more kind of support,” Al Zubair added.
The duo of Abdullah al Zubair and co-driver Faisal al Raisi will take part in the Morocco Rally in beginning of October. AZ racing team, who has already been on the T3 podium this season during the championship opening Baja in Russia’s, will look forward to more accomplishments.
Teenage star Shihab al Habsi said this is a good step from the OAA. “Definitely, this will encourage us to provide our best in the forthcoming races and achieve more accomplishments.
My goal is to be the first ever Omani and Arabian to reach at F1 and register top results and represent the Sultanate well at the global events. My forthcoming participation is in Portugal during September 27 to 29. I hope to register the best results in this race,” Al Habsi added.
“My previous triumphs in different international circuits inspire me to do further achievement in the upcoming events. I hope to get more sponsors as motor sports is an expensive sport which requires a lot of efforts to stay on top,” Shihab concluded.
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