An interview with Al Kuwari


Fast & furious



He is known as the 'Prince of Motor racing', to deny this fact is very difficult for people who adore the motor racing sport. Abdul Aziz Al Kuwari also known as 'ASK', is a a gifted motor racing star. Born on the 13th of November in Qatar, this talented sportsman is extremely passionate about rallying.He has won several rallies and this is not very common for someone his age. Rallying is in his blood, he was highly motivated by his father, who is also one of the champions in rallying. He received extreme encouragement from a fellow Qatari royal who was his friend. His sporting ambitions include his desire to be the Middle East champion & to win the Production Cup and to drive from Paris to Dakar. Sky is the limit for ASK, nothing is impossible for him, where there is a will, there is always a way. The way maybe difficult but the whole challenge is not to give up. His inspirations in his career include his grandfather, who was the first ever Qatari driver, this goes back to 1975 and than his father, who has been one of the best Qatari drivers and four of his uncles have been rally drivers as well. His dream relied on the fact that he had a whole family who was pro active in rallying. His dream has been to become the number one rally driver one day.

It was in the year 2000, that ASK decided to participate in a local rally in Qatar, he spoke to a rally driver and one of his best friends, a Qatari royal Sheikh Hamad Bin Eid Al Thani. ASK asked him to rent his Nissan Patrol so he could participate in this local rally and Sheikh Hamad was more than happy to help ASK. ASK participated in three rallies, he is very thankful to Sheikh Hamad for his help.

AAAK was discovered as a rally driver by his father when the little ASK was showing interest in motor racing. But it was his best friend Sheikh Hamad who professionally discovered him and allowed him to go pro in the local rallies. Naturally his influences include his father and Sheikh Hamad.

His memorable moments are various, but amongst them, some of his favourite memorable moments include the Abu Dhabi International Rally in 2004, where he came third after one year rallying and his target was to come in the top three after a span of three or four years rallying but he was able to accomplish this aim way before.

Championships

In 2003, ASK won the Qatar International Rally ( the Middle East Championship), it was his first rally in the Middle East, where he drove the Mitsubishi Evolution. He took the fourth place overall in this rally and second in the group N.


Rallying

In rallying, there is no safe driving ASK points out, there is always risk but his safety are his peace notes in and he always trusts his co-driver and when he gives him an advice or says something, ASK trusts him and drives blindly.

The many ups and downs include not having a good sponsorship and always driving bad cars and struggling and most of the time. I was driving bad cards and struggling very most of the time I was driving faster than what the car has and that cost me drawing back from some of the rallies.