This place was supposed to be tranquil. All the brochures will tell you that Sharm El-Sheikh is all about chilling on the beach, sipping cool drinks and watching the sun go down over the mountains.
And yet, here we are, us recent converts to motorsports, gripping the rail of the viewing platform as we cheer on a dozen demon drivers charging round a race track, risking life and limb in the pursuit of racing glory ¬- all at considerable volume.
The sport is karting, and the occasion is the first leg of the Middle East Karting Cup, the first event of its kind in the region. The location is Ghibli Raceway, positioned somewhere in the golden desert between the growing tourist metropolis of Sharm El-Sheikh and the mountains of Sinai’s interior.
“There’s so much shaking. In the race, I couldn’t even feel my arms, says Libyan Mohamed Tatanaki, one of the drivers, once he’s caught his breath. “The kart really shakes when you go round the corners. It goes bump, bump, bump…
And you can see what he means. These vehicles may be small, but they really tear round the course, reaching speeds of 140 km/ph on the straight stretches. As they hit the tight turns, they bump and skid alarmingly, leaving streaks of rubber on the track and making the kind of screeching noise that’s music to racing enthusiasts’ ears.
Sitting only inches from the ground in a light-weight contraption made of just a few steel pipes only adds to the thrill and sense of speed.
“After the first ten minutes your concentration goes because your head is heating up so much. You’re wearing the helmet and racing suit and the fire hood, and it just gets so hot, continues Tatanaki.
As you might expect from such a high-octane pursuit, danger is only moments away. In the timed heats on day two, Egyptian Ahmed Fadel was one of several drivers who spun off the track into a cloud of dust. His kart collided with another driver’s and came to a stop in the sand. He climbed from his vehicle and seemed at first unhurt. Moments later he was kneeling in the dirt, doubled in pain.
As the crowed fell silent, the call came over the radio for an ambulance. Fadel was loaded onto a stretcher and removed from the circuit. Yet within minutes the race was underway again.
As it happens, Fadel suffered no more than bruised ribs, but it’s clear this is no sport for the faint-hearted.
Many of the racers at Ghibli are in it for the fun, as a release from the day-to-day business of making a living, a touch of excitement in an otherwise tame existence.
For others, though, this is more than a hobby. It is a stepping-stone to bigger things. As the brains behind Ghibli, businessman Hany Soufrakis, will tell you such racing legends as Michael Schumacher and Kimi Raikkonen started their careers as youngsters on the karting circuit.
“All the Formula 1 drivers today have come through from karting, says Soufrakis. “Kimi Raikkonen was world champion seven years ago in karting. He was also European champion.
“That’s where the Middle East championship comes in, he continues. “This championship is primarily focussed on the Middle East. It’s held in the Middle East, and the idea is to develop Middle Eastern driving talent.
“I anticipate that in six, seven years time the champions of the Middle East Karting Cup will be competing in Formula 1. That’s the goal.
It’s a bold prediction, but walking round the pits, where drivers and engineers are busy preparing for their next race, you get a genuine feel of the ambition fuelling some of the participants.
Among them is a fresh-faced young Austrian, Kevin Reichard. He has with him an experienced motorsports mechanic from Britain, as well as his own personal trainer to keep him on the right track. While his engine is exactly the same as the other competitors, he has brought his own kart along to the competition, and the team is constantly working to squeeze every last ounce of speed out of it.
Reichard is typical of the handful of Europeans in the competition, having already established himself on the European karting scene, which is light-years ahead of anything on offer in Egypt. He has sponsors and plans to move up to the next level of motor racing, Formula Renault, in 2009.
For some of the Middle Eastern drivers, however, the story is somewhat different. While there is clearly some racing talent among them, many are held back by a lack of funds.
Some, like Egyptian Tarek Khader, can’t afford an engineer, and so have to maintain and repair their karts with their own hands. They mostly drive hire karts, rented for the occasion. And the idea of employing a personal trainer is a distant dream.
Kader has already proved his skills in previous races at Ghibil, but if he wants to take the next step on the road to Formula 1 he’ll need a backer.
He is busy trying to arrange a move to Italy to try out for Formula Renault, but making that all-important financial deal is proving hard.
Before the final day’s racing, he wasn’t even sure he could afford to continue on the second leg of the competition, which is to be held in Dubai in February.
There are success stories from the Middle East, although they go against the trend. Another Egyptian, Mazen Badawi, has already made a deal to race Formula Renault in Bahrain. But he has the good luck to have a solid sponsor in the form of his father’s shipping company.
The winners and losers of the final day’s racing at Ghibli were somewhat predictable. In the senior category (over 18s) Austrian Kevin Reichard gained a comfortable lead from the start and ended a good 30 seconds ahead of the competition. For the juniors, it was Russian Stephan Karasov who took poll place on the podium.
Among the Egyptians, Kader had a promising start, moving into second place early on. But in the second lap the exhaust went on his rental kart, and he was forced to retire. Fadel, suffering from his bruised ribs and dented kart, finished some way down the field. Only, the young Badawi made it onto the podium, taking third place in the junior category.
There were successes for the wider Middle East, with Jordanian Hamzah Dirani taking second place in the seniors, while the young Peirre George Hanna, representing Syria, came second next to Karasov.
So not a bad result overall for the home-grown talent, but you can’t help wondering how much better they would have done with the advantages of a state-of-the-art kart beneath them, and a full-time trainer on the case.
Last week’s events in Sharm El-Sheikh were only a taste of things to come.
The second leg will likely see another 20 or so drivers join the competition.
And by the time the final leg gets underway in April, again at Ghibli, a host of new champions may emerge from the dust.
For one Egyptian, though, things seem to be looking up. Sitting in the airport lounge on his way back to Cairo, Tarek Khader confided with a smile that he had found a backer, at least for the next month or two. Soufrakis had agreed to provide Khader with a free rental kart and to waive the entry fees for the race in Dubai. It’s not much, but it may just be enough to see him through to the medals.
Watch this space for the next generation of motorsport heroes. With a bit of luck – and an injection of funds – one of them may well be Egyptian.
