Al-Attiyah in China for crucial WMSC meeting

By Sports Reporter/Doha

FIA vice president Nasser Khalifa al-Attiyah is in Beijing for the three-day FIA World Motor Sports Council (WMSC) meeting, which started yesterday.

The meeting will see participation of all the council members, including the FIA president Jean Todd.

The meeting, being held on the sidelines of the launch of new Formula E Championship, is crucial in that that it will decide on the 2015 calendars of all the FIA-regulated events, apart from any changes to the current regulations governing various series. Key among these changes are a proposal to cut back on radio conversations during a race that help with car or driver performance in Formula 1, and changes in the final day format of the 2015 World Rally Championship (WRC).

Al-Attiyah will then head for meetings with FIM Europe president Wolfgang Srb. The two share a strong relationship, with the Qatar Motor and Motorcycle Federation president supporting the Austrian in his candidature for FIM Europe presidency in July last year.

During the meeting, al-Attiyah, who is also a FIM vice president, will discuss means of reinforcing relations between the Asian and European Union arms of FIM. He will also discuss arrangements for the next FIM elections, which will be held in Spain in November 2015.

While there have been voices of support for al-Attiyah’s candidature for FIM president, he has expressed preference for continuing as the vice president.

The Qatari will then visit San Marino to follow the progress of the QMMF Racing’s Moto2 team, consisting of Australia’s Anthony West and Spain’s Roman Ramos, in the 13th round of the world championship.