Khalid Al Qassimi

Khalid bin Faisal bin Sultan Al Qassimi (Arabic: الشيخ خالد بن فيصل بن سلطان القاسمي; born 18 February 1972) is a rally driver from the United Arab Emirates, and a member of the royal house of Al Qasimi who rule the Emirate of Ras Al Khaimah, and has competed in the World Rally Championship and Dakar Rally.

Sheikh Khalid Al Qassimi

Sheikh Khalid in 2013
Personal information
Nationality	Emirati
Born	(1972-02-18) 18 February 1972 (age 52) Abu Dhabi, UAE
House	Al Qasimi
World Rally Championship record
Active years	2004–2011, 2013–2018
Teams	Citroën, Ford
Rallies	over 180 Dakar 6th in 2018 7th in 2021 3rd position in the T1 2WD category 2021
Championships	Top World Rank Driver-Seeding Driver 3 times Middle East Champion FIA Middle East Cup for Drivers Of Production Cars Champion 2002 FIA Middle East Rally Championship for Drivers Champion 2004, 2014 First ever Emirati to win Abu Dhabi Desert Challenge in 2017 World Cup Champion in Cross Country 2WD in 2017
Podiums	80
Total points	48 in WRC and over 200 in other rallies
First rally	2004 Acropolis Rally

Early life

Al Qassimi was born on 18 February 1972.^[1] He is the son of Sheikh Faisal bin Sultan Al Qassimi and Sheikha Moza bint Hilal Al Nahyan.

Career

 

Al Qassimi during the shakedown of the 2009 Cyprus Rally.

 

Al Qassimi driving a Ford Focus RS WRC 09 at the 2010 Rally Finland.

Sheikh Khalid Al Qassimi won the FIA Middle East Cup for Drivers of Production Cars in 2002 and the FIA Middle East Rally Championship in 2004.^[2]

At the half way stage of the 2007 World Rally Championship season, a joint venture between the BP Ford World Rally Team and the Abu Dhabi Tourism Board was announced to bring a third official Focus RS WRC to the team's World Rally Championship campaign. With heavy sponsorship from the latter, Khalid was given a chance to drive alongside Mikko Hirvonen and Jari-Matti Latvala in the extra car. Co-driven by Nicky Beech, Khalid Al Qassimi contested Rally Finland, Rallye Deutschland, Rally Catalunya and Rally Ireland. On his debut in Rally Finland, al-Qassimi drove consistently to finish in 16th place overall.

For the 2008 WRC season, he continued with BP Ford Abu Dhabi WRT, contesting ten events, co-driven by Michael Orr. His best result was ninth at the Jordan Rally. For 2009, Khalid Al Qassimi and co-driver Michael Orr remain with the BP Ford World Rally Team. His season began with a first world championship point by finishing in eighth place on the Rally Ireland; he repeated this feat in Cyprus and Portugal.

At the 2011 Rally Australia, he finished with a career-best 5th place. After a sabbatical year, he returned to the World Rally Championship in 2013, switching to an Abu Dhabi-sponsored Citroën DS3 WRC, claiming two ninth places and a tenth. In 2014 he took tenth place at Sardinia. In 2015 he finished sixth at the Rally Argentina and tenth at Sardinia. He also entered the Middle East Rally Championship with a Citroën DS3 RRC winning at Dubai and finishing second at Qatar and Kuwait.

In 2016, he finished sixth at the Abu Dhabi Desert Challenge.

Al Qassimi entered the 2017 Dakar Rally with a customer Peugeot 2008 DKR.

Titles

Year	Title	Car
2002	FIA Middle East Cup for Drivers of Production Cars Champion	Mitsubishi Lancer Evo 6
2004	FIA Middle East Rally Championship for Drivers Champion	Subaru Impreza WRX STI
2014	FIA Middle East Rally Championship for Drivers Champion	Citroen DS3 / RC2
2017	Abu Dhabi Desert Challenge Champion	Peugeot 3008 DKR
2017	World Cup Champion in Cross Country 2WD	Peugeot 3008 DKR

WRC results

Year	Entrant	Car	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	WDC	Points
2004	Khalid Al Qassimi	Subaru Impreza WRX STi	MON	SWE	MEX	NZL	CYP	GRE 20	TUR Ret	ARG	FIN	GER	JPN	GBR	ITA	FRA	ESP	AUS Ret	NC	0
2005	Khalid Al Qassimi	Subaru Impreza WRX STi	MON	SWE	MEX	NZL	ITA	CYP	TUR 33	GRE	ARG	FIN	GER	GBR	JPN	FRA	ESP	AUS	NC	0
2006	Khalid Al Qassimi	Subaru Impreza WRX STi	MON	SWE	MEX	ESP	FRA	ARG	ITA	GRE 23	GER	FIN	JPN	CYP 13	TUR	AUS	NZL	GBR	NC	0
2007	BP Ford World Rally Team	Ford Focus RS WRC 06	MON	SWE	NOR	MEX	POR	ARG	ITA	GRE	FIN 16	GER 16	NZL	ESP 14	FRA	JPN	IRE 15	GBR	NC	0
2008	BP Ford Abu Dhabi World Rally Team	Ford Focus RS WRC 07	MON 16	SWE 26	MEX	ARG	JOR 9	ITA 16	GRE 12	TUR	FIN 11								NC	0
		Ford Focus RS WRC 08										GER 14	NZL	ESP 21	FRA 12	JPN	GBR 16
2009	BP Ford Abu Dhabi World Rally Team	Ford Focus RS WRC 08	IRE 8	NOR	CYP 8	POR 8	ARG	ITA 15	GRE 6	POL	FIN 9	AUS 19	ESP 14	GBR 19					12th	6
2010	BP Ford Abu Dhabi World Rally Team	Ford Focus RS WRC 08	SWE 13	MEX	JOR	TUR	NZL	POR 9	BUL	FIN Ret	GER 8	JPN Ret	FRA 13	ESP 7	GBR 11				12th	12
2011	Team Abu Dhabi	Ford Fiesta RS WRC	SWE 10	MEX	POR 14	JOR 8	ITA 13	ARG	GRE	FIN 14	GER	AUS 5	FRA 12	ESP 12	GBR				14th	15
2013	Abu Dhabi Citroën Total WRT	Citroën DS3 WRC	MON	SWE Ret	MEX	POR 9	ARG	GRE Ret	ITA 10	FIN	GER 11	AUS 9	FRA	ESP 11	GBR				21st	5
2014	Citroën Total Abu Dhabi WRT	Citroën DS3 WRC	MON	SWE 16	MEX	POR 13	ARG	ITA 10	POL	FIN	GER	AUS	FRA	ESP 15	GBR				29th	1
2015	Citroën Total Abu Dhabi WRT	Citroën DS3 WRC	MON	SWE	MEX	ARG 6	POR 24	ITA 10	POL	FIN 16	GER	AUS	FRA	ESP 15	GBR				13th	9
2016	Abu Dhabi Total WRT	Citroën DS3 WRC	MON	SWE 19	MEX	ARG	POR 26	ITA	POL	FIN 16	GER	CHN C	FRA	ESP 12	GBR	AUS			NC	0
2017	Citroën Total Abu Dhabi WRT	Citroën C3 WRC	MON	SWE	MEX	FRA	ARG	POR 17	ITA	POL	FIN 16	GER	ESP 17	GBR 22	AUS				NC	0
2018	Citroën Total Abu Dhabi WRT	Citroën C3 WRC	MON	SWE	MEX	FRA	ARG 14	POR	ITA	FIN 37	GER	TUR 15	GBR	ESP 21	AUS				NC	0

PWRC results

Year	Entrant	Car	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	Pos.	Points
2006	Khalid Al Qassimi	Subaru Impreza WRX STi	MON	MEX	ARG	GRE	JPN	CYP 3	AUS	NZL	11th	6

References

1. "Khalid Al Qassimi". Eurosport. Retrieved 1 October 2023.
2. van der Zee, Tjeerd. "Khaled Al-Qassimi". RallyBase. Retrieved 20 July 2007.

External links

 

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Khalid al-Qassimi.

• al-Qassimi at eWRC-results.com

Sporting positions
Preceded by Nasser Al-Attiyah	Middle East Rally Champion 2004	Succeeded by Nasser Al-Attiyah