“ALWAYS LAUGHING”
- Motorsports’ most powerful man Mohammed Ben Sulayem says he has enjoyed working with Filipinos for decades
The Federation Internationale de l’Automobile (FIA), the global association for mobility and motorsport, held its Region II Roundtable session in Cebu last Sept. 5 to 6, 2024.
FIA clubs from across the world, including the Asia-Pacific region, collaborated in various sessions and meetings at picturesque, seaside Crimson Resort and Spa Mactan. And even though FIA President Mohammed Ben Sulayem had been to the Philippines over a decade ago, this trip took his breath away.
“It’s beautiful,” he said of his first time in the province in an exclusive interview with Inquirer Mobility.
“I’ve been strangled by all the meetings, but I’ll make sure to at least go and see,” Sulayem added. “I know the culture because the UAE and Dubai have so much of the Filipino community working there.”
Always laughing
The Emirati FIA President, who succeeded Jean Todt in December 2021, also noted how Filipinos have long played a role in his motoring life.
“When I was rallying in ‘86, ‘87 and ‘88, I had the Toyota team and I had two Filipino mechanics that were running with me and they were servicing my car,” he said, referring to his Toyota Celica that helped him win the first three of his 14 titles at the Middle East Rally Championship
Sulayem found them to be disciplined, but he initially couldn’t understand why they laughed when they encountered problems.
“My mechanic said, ‘Oh, you broke your car!’” he recounted. “I said, ‘Yes, I broke my car, you should be upset! You are my mechanic!’ Always laughing, that’s the culture, but they are always devoted to my car and the results speak for themselves. I still have them in so many areas of my private workshop and office.”
Picking what works
Sulayem also spoke of how the Philippines can make the most of its diverse mobility and motorsport communities to create safer and more sustainable roads.
“My idea was to have more synergy between sport and mobility, so I said to them, ‘I would like to see the sport also here’ because the FIA is for both and can only be strong with sport and mobility combined together,” he said.
Sulayem said the Roundtable was a way for Asia-Pacific FIAclubs to discover and share ideas with clubs from other parts of the world, even if many countries in the region have lower economic growth and lower incomes.
“There is no size that fits all and that works in everything, sport and mobility,” he said. “Today, we were talking about OEM roadside assistance and there was sharing between Australia, Thailand, the Philippines, Indonesia and Japan.”
“That was important to see because it has to be like a menu, sharing among all the clubs, but picking whatever suits here and maybe they can change something,” Sulayem added.
Acting on what we say
The FIA President also noted that policies on road safety must go beyond just looking at numbers.
“In every country, the awareness to road safety is different,” he said. “Asia is different and very specific and also between the Philippines and other countries, it’s different. It’s about culture, about education, about awareness, about the vehicles that you have and also about the economy.”
Sulayem said among the ways that the FIA supports its clubs’ road-safety initiatives is through the FIA Foundation.
“In the United Nations, there will never be an appearance in any country of our FIA Foundation without going through the club itself because that club knows that country more than us,” he said. “It is a must that the FIA has been leading, but we need to lead more. When we say it, we have to act it.”
