Bank Muscat Rally Oman 2006
FIA Middle East Rally Championship, round 3 of 8

For immediate release
Tuesday, March 14th, 2006

OMAN OFFICIALS ANNOUNCES NEW-LOOK
BANK MUSCAT RALLY OMAN 2006

Event organisers announce thrilling ‘floodlit’ super special;
New special stages for Sultanate’s premier motor sport event

MUSCAT (Oman): Oman-based Intevents announced the running of the Bank Muscat Rally Oman 2006, in association with Gulf Air and Intercontinental Hotels, today (Tuesday). The event will be the third round of the FIA Middle East Rally Championship and takes place on the revised dates of April 5th-7th, 2006.

Bank Muscat Rally Oman 2006 is being jointly organised by the Oman Automobile Aassociation, in conjunction with the FIA, the Ministry of Tourism and marketing company Intevents and will be held under the patronage of the Ministry of Tourism and Ministry of Sport Affairs. The event is one of the most popular in the Middle East and has arguably some of the finest gravel special stages anywhere in the world.

~We have made several exciting innovations this year and will be staging the first stadium-based, double-track, super special stage ever to be held in the Middle East,~ said Colonel Salim bin Khalifa Al-Maskiry of the Oman Automobile Association. ~This 3.5 kms stage will see the finest drivers in the region going head-to-head under floodlights and I am sure we will attract a massive crowd on the Wednesday evening (April 5th).~

The super special stage will also be repeated as the final special of the event on Friday afternoon. Organisers will be laying on a wide spectrum of family entertainment to run alongside the special stage activities, including a freestyle motocross competition, a music concert and parachutists.

Finland’s Simo Lampinen will again act as the Clerk of the Course and the Finn’s organising team have devised a challenging route with around 260 competitive kilometres. Approximately 60% of the stages have not been used before.

The service park and rally headquarters will be based within the stadium complex in Wattayah, in the heart of Muscat, ensuring a convenient location for members of the media, competitors, officials and spectators.

Gulf Air has agreed to be a sponsor this year and will bring its marketing expertise to the event and experience gained as the official sponsor of the opening round of the FIA Formula One World Championship at Sakhir in Bahrain last Sunday. The event will be based at the Intercontinental Hotel in Muscat.

Event organisers, in conjunction with the Ministry of Tourism, have also attracted support from official communications partner Oman Mobile, leading energy drink producer Red Bull and Precision Tune Autocare.

For further information about Bank Muscat Rally Oman 2006, contact the Oman Automobile Association, Tel: + 968 24510630, Fax: + 968 24510276 or Jeremy Alston (Mobile + 968 99269783) and Niall Polley at INTeVENTS, PO Box 268, Ruwi 112, Sultanate of Oman, Tel: + 968 24564325, Fax: + 968 24564327. E-mail: niall.polley@intevents.com and jeremy.alston@intevents.com

Ends

For further media information:
Neil Perkins, 2006 Bank Muscat Rally Oman Press Officer, NDP Publicity Services, NCH Building, Upper Bar, Newport, Shropshire TF10 7EH, United Kingdom.
Tel: + (44) 1952 825078, Fax: + (44) 1952 825001, Mobile: + 44 7831 123153
E-mail: NDPPublicity@compuserve.com
www.ndp-publicity.com (press releases)

Published On: 14 March 2006