The Chairman of the Board of Directors of Saudi Automobile & Motorcycle Federation (SAMF) and President of the Saudi Motorsports Company Prince Khalid Bin Sultan Al Abdullah Al-Faisal welcomed the elite drivers and teams participating in the two-day final round of FIA World Touring Cars Cup 2022 series to be kicked off later Saturday at Jeddah Corniche Circuit. During the press conference for drivers and teams, which was held Friday evening at Jeddah Corniche Circuit, Prince Khalid stressed that the Kingdom's hosting of FIA WTCR 2022 Series is a strong addition to its growing portfolio in hosting the largest motorsports event. The Kingdom has played host to Formula 1, Dakar Rally, Formula E and Extreme E. Prince Khalid pointed to his trust in SAMF's team consisting of the Kingdom's youth, to present an event that would be an incentive to continue the distinguished march in hosting international sporting events. He wished success to all participants, especially the Saudi driver Ahmed Bin Khaneen, who is the first Saudi driver to participate in this global series. The press conference was held in the presence of Jean-Baptiste Ley, director of the World Touring Car Series at Discovery Sports, drivers, team representatives and international media. For his part, Ley valued the efforts of the Saudi Motorsports Company and the SAMF throughout the past few period, citing the holding of the final round of this year's Season 2022 in Saudi Arabia and at the new circuit of Jeddah Corniche. This, Ley added, is a wonderful thing for "WTCR" and its partners, praising the efforts of the organizers in dealing with the weather and the heavy rain that fell in Jeddah the days before the race, and preparing Jeddah Corniche circuit and its track in record time. In turn, the drivers expressed their aspiration for the qualifying round Saturday on the track of the fastest street circuit in the world. They praised the facilities of the circuit and the speeds that they were able to reach during their test of the track for the first time today. Also, they stressed that the short track of Formula 1 track will add more enthusiasm to the race, especially with the high speeds of the circuit. Meanwhile, Saudi driver Bin Khaneen, will become the 91st driver to race in the WTCR, and will carry with him the experiences he gained throughout his career in competitions at the international and regional levels. As 33-year-old, Bin Khaneen will drive an Audi RS3 with Comtoyou Team Audi Sport. After winning the GT Academy Middle East title in 2014, Bin Khaneen became a driver for NISMO, and participated in selected endurance racing events, such as Dubai 24 Hours, and achieved many outstanding results. After winning Bahrain's Championship for 2000 in 2018 and 2019, Bin Khaneen moved to the Jaguar I-Pace Championship, scoring third place in the 2018-2019 season. Then, he moved to Jaguar I-Pace Championship, wining third place in 2018-2019 season. On the occasion, Bin Khaneen said, "I have loved the touring car category for a long time and I used to watch it from all over the world, and hosting the World Touring Car Cup now in the Kingdom is a great opportunity to be part of this global series. "I expect the race to be strong and I am very excited about this participation, especially that WTCR championships always have strong competitions on the track, which is punctuated by many epic excesses between drivers on the track." — SPA
