Qatar Motor and Motorcycling Federation (QMMF) President Abdulrahman Al Mannai during his meeting with FIM chief Vito Ippolito in Spain. The two met on the sidelines of 2017 FIM World Champions gala.
Qatar Motor and Motorcycling Federation (QMMF) President Abdulrahman Al Mannai has met with FIM chief Vito Ippolito in Spain where two officials discussed ways and means to develop the sport in the future.
The 62-year-old FIM official commended Qatar’s initiatives to promote the sport in the country, QMMF said yesterday.
The two met here on the sidelines of 2017 FIM World Champions gala. Officials from 113 countries have featured at the FIM gathering.
Ippolito presented a memento to Al Mannai to mark the federation’s 30 years in the business of developing motor sport in Qatar.
FIM also praised QMMF’s efforts to raise the profile of the sport besides developing interest among the public about motor sport.
Qatar’s Losail International Circuit hosts the first leg of every MotoGP calendar besides welcoming the WorldSBK family and the World Touring Car Championship (WTCC) drivers for races on annual basis.
Scores of other motor sport events - cars and bikes - are also held at the same venue.
Al Mannai, the QMMF President, thanked the FIM chief for his kind gesture.
“We are grateful towards FIM who have appreciated QMMF’s role in developing the sport in Qatar and the region,” Al Mannai said. “We are happy to see the progress over the course of last 30 years in developing two-wheel events across Qatar,” he added in a statement released yesterday.
“When we talk about Qatar’s role in developing this sport, we must look how we have played a leading role in taking the sport across the region and the Asian continent,” he said.
“Qatar has become a major destination for motor sport activities. We host MotoGP, WorldSBK and WTCC events on a regular basis. We had our Qatar SuperStock Championship which was a major success last year,” he said.
“Qatar has also served FIM in other roles such as carried out with distinction by Nasser bin Khalifa Al Attiyah, who was an FIM Vice President for many years,” he said.
“QMMF takes pride in being an active member of the world body FIM. We will continue to meet with the top officials around the world as we look to exchange ideas on how to make the sport more exciting.
“I have the good opportunity to meet a number of key officials namely Wolfgang Srb, who is the FIM President for Europe. I also got the chance to meet national federation presidents of Turkey and Portugal. I thank them for their time and we look forward to meeting again,” Al Mannai said.
