Long before he took charge of world motorsport, Mohammed Ben Sulayem was the man to beat on the desert stages of the Middle East. The Emirati won 14 Middle East Rally titles, helped bring Formula One to Yas Marina Circuit in 2009, and became the first non-European to lead the FIA in 2021. In an exclusive interview with The National, Ben Sulayem confirmed that the Qatar and Abu Dhabi races will go ahead as planned, even after the 2027 Dakar Rally was moved out of Saudi Arabia.