February 10, 2015 – An interview with Khalid Al Suwaidi right after the first round of the Middle East Rally Championship 2015 that took place in Qatar on Friday and Saturday, February 6 & 7.
Khalid, it’s good to see you finish the rally. You had plenty of problems. First of all, tell us, where have you suffered the most after a tough day yesterday, and what have you done to bring the car to the finish line?
The first three stages were fine, our times were good. After the service, we stopped 1.5-kilometers into the fourth special stage due to front right suspension arm issues. We had to return under Rally2 regulations the next day. Today, we tried to clock better times, but we suffered from a broken rear drive shaft after the third special. We went into service, tackled the next three stages, and then we tried to see where we are; we were able to gain one position and finish 5th overall.
You have gained 10 points in the Middle East Rally Championship, which are great for a start. What are you preparations for upcoming rallies, especially now that you perhaps have a target to get closer to the front.
I wanted to gain points in this rally. Hopefully, we will try to finish on the podium in the Kuwait International Rally. Jordan, Cyprus and Lebanon are more difficult, I don’t have experience on narrow special stages, so I won’t be fast there. I will try to progress in the championship by finishing as much rallies.
Why did you pick Toksport team, considering your participations are intermittent? We are not seeing you very frequently.
I used to receive backing from the Qatar Motor and Motorcycle Federation, but we had issues with the team, I wasn’t happy with the team and I stopped rallying. After getting support from the Ministry of Youth and Sports, I signed a deal with Toksport. It’s nice to have different teams, not just 2 or 3 teams.
You also get better treatment since you’re their only driver.
Indeed, that is true.
Best of luck Khalid, we’ll hopefully see you in Kuwait.
