Former multiple rally champion Nasser Al-Attiyah will compete in the inaugural World Touring Car Championship races in Qatar next month, driving a Campos Racing Chevrolet Cruze.
The 44 year-old will team up at the Spanish outfit alongside season regulars Hugo Valente and John Filippi in the year-old car, which has been used to showcase local stars during the 2015 season.
Al-Attiyah, who has worked as a UNICEF ambassador previously, also won a bronze medal in the London 2012 Olympics in the skeet shooting competition.
However the Qatari driver is perhaps best known for being an 11-time FIA Middle East Rally Champion a two-time winner of the Dakar Rally and recently the winner of the FIA World Cup for Cross Country Rallies.
“It will be real honour for me to represent my country, Qatar, when it hosts the FIA World Touring Car Championship for the first time,” said Al-Attiyah. “Qatar has successfully staged MotoGP events for a number of years and securing an FIA world championship will only enhance the country’s reputation as a sporting destination.
“I was proud when I learned the WTCC would be coming to Qatar but I’m even more proud to say that I will be part of the action, even though I will have plenty to learn and get used to because I have not done much circuit racing and never in a front-wheel-drive car.
“While I want to be competitive, my objectives will be different to my rivals: I’m an ambassador for Middle East motorsport and I’ll be doing all I can to further highlight Qatar’s position on the motorsport map.”
Franois Ribeiro, Head of Eurosport Events, is hoping that Al-Attiyah will bring an increased media exposure to the series when the country also hosts the WTCC’s first-ever night race in November.
“We are very pleased to welcome Nasser Al-Attiyah to the WTCC family for the championship’s first visit to the Middle East and its first night race,” added Ribeiro. “Like his profile, Nasser’s sporting CV is massive and it’s a real honour he accepted our invitation to make his WTCC debut on home soil.
“He’s a great character and true ambassador and we look forward to working with him and the increased interest from the fans and media his participation will bring.”
Al-Attiyah will become the first driver from the Middle East to compete in the WTCC, and FIA Vice President and QMMF President Nasser Khalifa Al-Atya is looking forward to seeing the country represented in the series.
“We are delighted to be hosting the WTCC for the first time here in Qatar and providing the drivers with a special first night event for the championship,” said Al-Atya. “It is great that one of our most famous national sporting stars will participate and again represent his country in a different motorsports discipline.”