Khalid Al Qassimi

Sheikh Khalid Al Qassimi

Sheikh Khalid with his car and co-driver
Personal information
Nationality United Arab Emirates Emirati
World Rally Championship record
Active years 2004–
Teams Citroen, Ford
Rallies 61
Championships 0
Rally wins 0
Podiums 0
Stage wins 0
Total points 48
First rally 2004 Acropolis Rally

Sheikh Khalid bin Faisal bin Sultan Al Qassimi (Arabic: الشيخ خالد بن فيصل بن سلطان القاسمي‎‎) is a rally driver from the United Arab Emirates, and a member of the royal house of Al Qasimi who rule the Emirates of Sharjah and Ras Al Khaimah. He is the current champion of the Middle East, and previously won the same title in 2004. Sheikh Khalid also competes in the World Rally Championship (WRC).

Career

Al Qassimi during the shakedown of the 2009 Cyprus Rally.
Al Qassimi driving a Ford Focus RS WRC 09 at the 2010 Rally Finland.

Sheikh Khalid Al Qassimi won the FIA Middle East Cup for Drivers of Production Cars in 2002 and the FIA Middle East Rally Championship in 2004.[1]

At the half way stage of the 2007 World Rally Championship season, a joint venture between the BP Ford World Rally Team and the Abu Dhabi Tourism Board was announced to bring a third official Focus RS WRC to the team's World Rally Championship campaign. With heavy sponsorship from the latter, Khalid was given a chance to drive alongside Mikko Hirvonen and Jari-Matti Latvala in the extra car. Co-driven by Nicky Beech, Khalid Al Qassimi contested Rally Finland, Rallye Deutschland, Rally Catalunya and Rally Ireland. On his debut in Rally Finland, al-Qassimi drove consistently to finish in 16th place overall.

For the 2008 WRC season, he continued with BP Ford Abu Dhabi WRT, contesting ten events, co-driven by Michael Orr. His best result was ninth at the Jordan Rally. For 2009, Khalid Al Qassimi and co-driver Michael Orr remain with the BP Ford World Rally Team. His season began with a first world championship point by finishing in eighth place on the Rally Ireland; he repeated this feat in Cyprus and Portugal.

At the 2011 Rally Australia, he finished with a career-best 5th place. After a sabbatical year, he returned to the World Rally Championship in 2013, switching to an Abu Dhabi-sponsored Citroën DS3 WRC, claiming two ninth places and a tenth. In 2014 he took tenth place at Sardinia. In 2015 he finished sixth at the Rally Argentina and tenth at Sardinia. He also entered the Middle East Rally Championship with a Citroën DS3 RRC winning at Dubai and finishing second at Qatar and Kuwait.

In 2016, he finished sixth at the Abu Dhabi Desert Challenge.

Al Qassimi will enter the 2017 Dakar Rally with a customer Peugeot 2008 DKR.

Titles

Year Title Car
2002 FIA Middle East Cup for Drivers of Production Cars Champion Mitsubishi Lancer Evo 6
2004 FIA Middle East Rally Championship for Drivers Champion Subaru Impreza WRX STI

WRC results

Year Entrant Car 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 WDC Points
2004 Khalid Al Qassimi Subaru Impreza WRX STi MON SWE MEX NZL CYP GRE
20		 TUR
Ret		 ARG FIN GER JPN GBR ITA FRA ESP AUS
Ret		 NC 0
2005 Khalid Al Qassimi Subaru Impreza WRX STi MON SWE MEX NZL ITA CYP TUR
33		 GRE ARG FIN GER GBR JPN FRA ESP AUS NC 0
2006 Khalid Al Qassimi Subaru Impreza WRX STi MON SWE MEX ESP FRA ARG ITA GRE
23		 GER FIN JPN CYP
13		 TUR AUS NZL GBR NC 0
2007 BP Ford World Rally Team Ford Focus RS WRC 06 MON SWE NOR MEX POR ARG ITA GRE FIN
16		 GER
16		 NZL ESP
14		 FRA JPN IRE
15		 GBR NC 0
2008 BP Ford Abu Dhabi World Rally Team Ford Focus RS WRC 07 MON
16		 SWE
26		 MEX ARG JOR
9		 ITA
16		 GRE
12		 TUR FIN
11		 NC 0
Ford Focus RS WRC 08 GER
14		 NZL ESP
21		 FRA
12		 JPN GBR
16
2009 BP Ford Abu Dhabi World Rally Team Ford Focus RS WRC 08 IRE
8		 NOR CYP
8		 POR
8		 ARG ITA
15		 GRE
6		 POL FIN
9		 AUS
19		 ESP
14		 GBR
19		 12th 6
2010 BP Ford Abu Dhabi World Rally Team Ford Focus RS WRC 08 SWE
13		 MEX JOR TUR NZL POR
9		 BUL FIN
Ret		 GER
8		 JPN
Ret		 FRA
13		 ESP
7		 GBR
11		 12th 12
2011 Team Abu Dhabi Ford Fiesta RS WRC SWE
10		 MEX POR
14		 JOR
8		 ITA
13		 ARG GRE FIN
14		 GER AUS
5		 FRA
12		 ESP
12		 GBR 14th 15
2013 Abu Dhabi Citroën Total WRT Citroën DS3 WRC MON SWE
Ret		 MEX POR
9		 ARG GRE
Ret		 ITA
10		 FIN GER
11		 AUS
9		 FRA ESP
11		 GBR 21st 5
2014 Citroën Total Abu Dhabi WRT Citroën DS3 WRC MON SWE
16		 MEX POR
13		 ARG ITA
10		 POL FIN GER AUS FRA ESP
15		 GBR 29th 1
2015 Citroën Total Abu Dhabi WRT Citroën DS3 WRC MON SWE MEX ARG
6		 POR
24		 ITA
10		 POL FIN
16		 GER AUS FRA ESP
15		 GBR 13th 9
2016 Abu Dhabi Total WRT Citroën DS3 WRC MON SWE
19		 MEX ARG POR ITA POL FIN GER CHN FRA ESP GBR AUS NC* 0*

* Season still in progress.

PWRC results

Year Entrant Car 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 Pos. Points
2006 Khalid Al Qassimi Subaru Impreza WRX STi MON MEX ARG GRE JPN CYP
3		 AUS NZL 11th 6
Sporting positions
Preceded by
Nasser Al-Attiyah		 Middle East Rally Champion
2004 		Succeeded by
Nasser Al-Attiyah

References

  1. ↑ van der Zee, Tjeerd. "Khaled Al-Qassimi". RallyBase. Retrieved 2007-07-20.
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