– Purpose-built opening super special stage to be held at Losail on April 18
Katara, Qatar’s exciting cultural village, will host the ceremonial start and the official pre-event press conference for the Qatar Cross-Country Rally, round four of the FIA World Cup for Cross-Country Rallies and round two of the FIM Cross-Country Rallies World Championship on Tuesday, April 17.
The event is being hosted by the Qatar Motor and Motorcycle Federation (QMMF) and offers five competitive actions on April 18-22.
After administration checks at the Losail International Circuit – which hosts the Service Park, Bivouac and all other rally and media facilities, the official pre-event press conference will now take place in a facility close to Katara’s stunning open amphitheatre for the first time from 18.30hrs on Tuesday, April 17. This precedes the brand new ceremonial start podium in front of the amphitheatre from 19.30hrs.
Katara is Qatar’s cultural village and was built on the eastern coast between West Bay and the Pearl, north of Doha. It opened in October 2010 during the Doha Tribeca Film Festival and features an opera house, cinema, conference hall, beach, a souq, a maritime museum and numerous restaurants and up-market retail stores.
« “We are delighted to have reached an agreement for the event’s pre-event press conference and the ceremonial start to take place at Katara, » QMMF President Abdulrahman Al-Mannai. « This is a prestigious location and a perfect place to showcase Qatari culture on a world stage and an event such as the Qatar Cross-Country Rally. »
The opening super special stage will again be held on a purpose-built track within the perimeter confines of the Losail International Circuit and features the customary jumps, water crossings and twisty sandy sections from 16.30hrs on Wednesday, April 18.
This opening stage precedes the four revised desert selective sections from Thursday through to Sunday and the podium finish at Losail from 18.30hrs on Sunday, April 22.
Neil Perkins,