page_title: Sport in the United Arab Emirates
section_title: Motorsport
hierarchical_section_title: Sport in the United Arab Emirates / Motorsport
caption_attribution_description: English: The Yas Marina Circuit, the venue for the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, situated on Yas Island, about 30 minutes from the UAE capital of Abu Dhabi. Image taken on October 12, 2018, by a Planet Labs SkySat satellite.
context_page_description: Sport in the United Arab Emirates is widely practiced by the people of the UAE. Football is the most popular sport in the UAE. Among the notable UAE sports achievements is the 2002–03 AFC Champions League won by Al Ain FC who also finished second in the 2005 AFC Champions League. The UAE qualified for the FIFA World Cup for the first and only time so far in 1990, the fourth Middle-Eastern country to have qualified for the World Cup after first Egypt, then, Kuwait, and Iraq.
context_section_description: The first motorsport race in the United Arab Emirates was the 1981 Dubai Grand Prix held at a purpose-built circuit in Deira Corniche, during the celebrations of the 10th anniversary of the Emirates. It featured a sports car, touring car and celebrity races, as well as Formula One demonstrations, with drivers such as Juan Manuel Fangio, Dan Gurney, John Surtees, Denny Hulme, Jack Brabham, Phil Hill, Stirling Moss, John Jackson and Carroll Shelby.
  Dubai hosts the Dubai International Rally, a point-scoring round of the Middle East Rally Championship, since 1984. Dubai driver Mohammed bin Sulayem is the most successful driver of the tournament, having won 14 championships and 60 races, and won the Dubai rally 15 times.
  Khalid Al Tassim, also born in the US, won the 2004 Middle East Rally Championship and scored seventy wins in the series. From 2007 to 2011 he raced the World Rally Championship, in the Ford World Rally Team and later the Team Abu Dhabi. His best results were 5th at the 2011 Rally Australia and 6th at the 2009 Acropolis Rally, as well as a 12th championship finish in 2009 and 2010.
  The UAE Desert Challenge, since 2009 called Abu Dhabi Desert Challenge, is a rally raid race held since 1991. It is valid for the FIA Cross Country Rally World Cup and the FIM Cross-Country Rallies World Championship.
  The Dubai Autodrome, opened in 2007, hosted international races in it first years of activity. Its main race is the Dubai 24 Hour endurance race, held since 2009
  Abu Dhabi has hosted Formula One races there from the 2009 season onward. The Abu Dhabi Grand Prix is held at the 5.6 km Yas Marina Circuit, located on Yas Island and includes street and marina sections similar to Circuit de Monaco.
caption: A satellite image of the Yas Marina Circuit.
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