Khalid Al Qassimi
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Khalid Al Qassimi's first taste of motorsport came early in life when he competed in a rally local to his native Abu Dhabi in a Land Rover 110.
After a break to complete his education, it was in 2002 that his career began in earnest with a full programme in the Middle East Rally Championship (MERC). Success was instant and he won the Group N title and also won the United Arab Emirates Championship at his first attempt.
The following season he topped Group N in three events and regained the UAE title but the year ended with a big accident which resulted in a broken vertebra. He recovered to return to the wheel of a Subaru Impreza WRX in 2004, in which he lifted the MERC crown for the first time after outright wins in Bahrain and Syria.
He also debuted on the WRC stage, finishing fourth in the Production Car category in Greece and going off the road when leading in Turkey.
In 2007 he joined the BP-Ford World Rally Team for the second half of the season and tackled four events in a Focus RS World Rally Car. His best result was 14th in Spain. He combined that programme with another MERC campaign and finished second, missing out on the title on a tiebreak after finishing on the same points as Nasser Al Attiyah.
Last year Al Qassimi tackled 10 rounds of the WRC, ninth place in Jordan his best result.