How a gulf nation is working on nurturing homegrown talent

Qatar is already a proven force in world rallying. Earlier this year, Nasser Al-Attiyah notched up his sixth victory in the Dakar Rally, cementing his place among the greatest drivers in the discipline. Abdulaziz Al-Kuwari also impressed during his wildcard appearances in the World Rally Championship in the early-to-mid 2010s, while countless other Qatari rally drivers have represented their country on the international stage.

Now, the Gulf nation is slowly expanding its presence into other forms of motorsport. This month, the Qatar Motor and Motorcycle Federation made its Le Mans debut at with its own team, fielding Abdulla Al-Khelaifi as one of its drivers.

“The academy of Qatar Motorsport is divided into three departments. One of them is circuit racing, the other one is rallies, and the third one is motorcycles,” said Abdul Rahman bin Abdul Latif Al Mannai, president of the Qatar Motor and Motorcycle Federation.

“So we’re trying to focus on all of them.”

Team Qatar entered the iconic race in collaboration with Iron Lynx, running a Mercedes-AMG GT3 in the LMGT3 division. After losing significant time in the pits with a defective fastening component, the car shared by Al-Khelaifi, Giuliano Alesi and Julian Hanses finished 16th in class.

But beyond the results, the broader objective was to put a Qatari on the grid and inspire the next generation of drivers in the country.

“The idea [to race at Le Mans] came to us a long time ago. Not only for Le Mans, but we’re talking about Dakar and even Formula 1,” said Al Mannai.

“The vision is to have Qataris competing at that level. We showed that our teams are capable of coming to these big and important events. 

“We worked on a plan for the past three-and-a-half years. We worked with the team step by step.

“We went through a selection process. We went through some difficulties and challenges until we saw results coming in. This is where it gives you encouragement to go to the next level.”

On the F1 ladder, most up-and-coming drivers rely on financial support from their families and private backers before they get picked up by a manufacturer.

This is where the financial might – and the intent – of the Qatar government comes into play. The federation is directly involved in creating a pathway for young drivers aiming to make it big in motorsport.

“We want Qatari drivers to have the opportunity, the platform and the environment to compete at such a level. So, we’re going to create, hopefully, a pipeline of talent,” Al Mannai said.

“The most important component of developing motorsport is to have really good championships at different levels of age.

“For example, we have our national karting championship, we have our national touring championship. And we’re going to continue having these championships because it’s a really good test ground for us. 

“Also, we give opportunities to certain talents to emerge from these championships to go into regional championships, and from there to go to international championships. So, the Qatar Motorsports Academy is really a key component. 

“We are working every day with kids. The sport is not for everyone, we realise that. But once in a while, you get that kid, and you see the spark in their eyes, the passion in them . And you say, ‘this kid has potential’.”

Despite the federation’s big ambitions, Al Mannai wants to take a measured approach while developing the next generation of drivers.

“I don’t want to rush things as we focus on developing talent,” he said. “I think you will see more and more Qataris competing at international levels. Maybe, later on, you will see us in prototype racing. 

“But we don’t want to force ourselves into it. We want to make sure that we are successful as we go along.”

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Photo by: JEP / Motorsport Images

Qatar has been an annual fixture on the MotoGP calendar for over two decades, with the Losail International Circuit standing out as the only night race venue on the calendar.

However, in recent years, the track has begun to host more major international events, most notably Formula 1 and the World Endurance Championship.

The geopolitical situation in the Middle East led to this year’s MotoGP and WEC rounds being moved to later in the season, while the F1 event was always scheduled for November.

The US and Iran recently signed an initial peace deal to end the war in the region, but with still some issues to be negotiated over the next 60 days.

“Qatar is ready. We’ve been planning to host the biggest events, and we never stopped planning,” Al Mannai said.

“So we’re happy to host these events. We’re planning to have three races, MotoGP, World Endurance Championship and Formula 1, in five weeks. We are capable of doing it.”

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