Khalid Aljafla is set to make a bold statement at the Dubai International Baja. If he were a boxer, his approach would be unyielding, and it's this same fearless attitude that drives him as a motorsport enthusiast, even when facing the daunting Dakar Rally. Remarkably, Aljafla, who breathes motorsport, can't pinpoint the exact moment he fell in love with it, but he recalls the first time he considered desert driving at a tender age of under 10. 'I come from a motorsport family in Dubai, so I was born into it and grew with this sport,' he says.
What began as a passion soon evolved into an obsession. Aljafla, along with friends, built a track in Dubai where he rode until a shoulder injury halted him. However, his fighting spirit led him back to the sport, shifting his focus from bikes to cars and eventually becoming a rally driver. This journey has taken him to some of the most prestigious events, and now he stands on the brink of winning his first world championship at the Dubai International Baja, needing a strong finish to lift the trophy on December 1, the final day of the event.
With the final round of the global event taking place in Dubai, Aljafla says winning the world title at 'home' would be a dream come true. 'We were kids when we first watched the Dubai Rally. We grew with this rally, through different stages of our lives. It's a special event for us. So winning it here would be emotional,' he says.
While many champions have come and gone, few can match Aljafla's dedication. The Emirati, who also owns a transport business and a garage in Dubai, designs and builds his own cars to compete in events. 'I started to build the cars for these races in 2010 when I first participated in the Abu Dhabi Desert Challenge. I took part in the event with a buggy car built by me in my garage. I have continued to race with it,' says Aljafla, who has also participated in four Dakar Rally events.
For over 15 years, Aljafla has meticulously built buggies in his garage—Dune Bike in Ras Al Khor. 'These cars are built and designed by me as per the FIA regulations. They have very tough standards to reach to get the passport for the car,' he says. 'The car which I will be driving for the world championship in Dubai was also built by me.'
Aljafla then explained the intricate process of assembling a car for high-profile rally events. 'You need to have the chassis engineer, body engineer, designers, so many things, it's not an easy job,' he says. 'The car I am going to race now, it cost me around 800,000 dirhams. All the items, the special brakes, safety things, so you need so many things which are so expensive and you have to meet the FIA standards.'
Mohammed Al Balooshi, a renowned Emirati biker aiming for his third world championship in Dubai, highlighted what makes Aljafla unique. 'He is the only Arab who is doing it (building cars for rally events), properly from his own garage. He is also the only designer in the Arab world,' Al Balooshi says. 'At the start, we used to criticize him, you know, because it's a lot of money he was investing, a lot of money and a lot of energy is involved. We used to ask him, 'Why are you doing this?' But today he is sitting here and going for a world championship. When everybody thought it's not possible, he has done it, he has shown it that it's possible.'
While the outcome of this self-funded motorsport venture remains uncertain, one thing is clear: Aljafla's impact on the sport in the UAE extends far beyond any podium finish. 'I first opened the garage to keep the bikes for my friends and myself, and then it became bigger and bigger and the business grew,' he says. 'The sport was also growing with us. We built a track, we rode and we trained. And all the bikes were maintained in my garage. At that time, there were not many such garages for such bikes. And now there is nobody else apart from us who are building cars for these rally events!'
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