Kuwait’s first motorcycle racing team

December 2, 2011 by

Arab Riders racing team is Kuwait’s first motorcycle racing team, the guys has been riding motorcycles all their live…they actually don’t remeber when was the first time they rode a motorcycle but what they do remember is that back in 2008 they decided to take their hobby a bit more serious.

I have known Mohamad Al Hadad and Fahad Al Owaish – the 2 guys behind the Arab Riders – for a couple of years and over a cup of coffee we had a serious chat -for a change-, i asked them a couple of questions about the hobby and their recent participation at the Qatar International Road Racing Championship.

Q: How did it all start ?
A: We used to ride with Kuwait BMW Club but our pace was a bit quicker and we wanted to race so with the help of  TriStar we established Kuwait Ducati Club, a club for Ducati owners that like speed as much as we do. Later on we decided to take our adrenaline addiction off the public roads and into a safe environment so we started organizing track days, attending racing classes at California Superbike School and finally last moth we participated at the Qatar International Road Racing Championship. Unfortunately we do not have track in Kuwait so we are chasing track days from Qatar to Dubai to Bahrain and Abu Dhabi.

Q: How many are you?

A: We are a team of around 11 including riders and support team.

Q: How many of you are participating in the Qatar International Road Racing Championship?

A: Only 3 riders, Mohammed Al Hadad, Fahad El Owaich and Nawaf Al-Shaubi.

Q: What about the other riders, why didn’t they participate?

A: Well, different reasons… can’t take days off from work, bike not ready, and injury.

Q: What bikes are you ridding?

A: BMW, Ducati, Apprila, and Yamaha.

Q: How are you financing the sport?

A: Mainly from our pockets, but we are also getting some support from the Public Authority For Youth And Sport, I’am a pilot at the army, Fahad is an oceanologist that also works for the army..so if it wasn’t for the support from Public Authority For Youth And Sport we couldn’t have made it.

Q: Are you getting any support from local motorcycle dealers?

A: Not really.

Q: Usually motorcycle racers start at a very young age, and you guys are not that young..what are you expecting to achieve ?

A: We believe with the right support we can achieve  a lot, but now we want to build the base for an official Kuwaiti racing team..Anyone who has the passion and the skills for the sport is welcome to join.

Q: How is participating in an international championship is different from track days and local races?

A: There is a huge difference, you get to meet pro racing teams from all over the world and benefit form their experience.

Q: What are your goals?

A: Our CURRENT goals are to work on the team, find local talents and promote safe riding.

Q: Anything you like to add?

A: Ride safe 🙂