Chevrolet Supercars ME driver Raed Raffii on the Gold Coast.
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By Briar Gunther 11:59 AM Thu 15 July, 2010
Source: BigPond Sport
V8 Supercars Australia CEO, Martin Whitaker, said Raed Raffii’s test with Paul Morris this week is great for motorsport both in Australia and the Middle East.
Raffii drives for the Meezer Team in the Chevrolet Supercars ME Championship and has arrived in Australia to begin testing an Aussie V8 Supercar.
“I think it’s absolutely fantastic to get Raed out to Australia and into a V8 Supercar,” Whitaker said.
“V8 Supercars and the Middle East have a fantastic relationship with the region being home to the opening two events of the championship.
“The Chevrolet Supercars Middle East Championship is the leading series of its kind in the Gulf and it is therefore fitting that leading drivers from the series look at the chance of furthering their racing careers with a test in a V8 Supercar.”
Whitaker believes Raffii will do a decent job of the test.
“Knowing Raed’s commitment to the sport alongside his speed I genuinely believe that he will go really well in the V8 Supercar.
“He’s young and has shown in the recent past that he has immense talent and is one of the best drivers in the Middle East and an emerging talent.”
The V8 CEO hopes Raffii’s visit will further strengthen ties between Australian and Middle Eastern motorsport.
“This is another step towards getting a Middle Eastern driver into V8 Supercars full-time which will further endorse the existing racing, tourism and business benefits that exist between the Gulf and Australia,” Whitaker said.
“Hopefully Raed can secure enough backing to contest the 2011 Fujitsu V8 Supercar Series, the development feeder category to V8 Supercars.
“Who knows, we might even see him in the V8 Supercar Championship Series in the future.”
Raffii, who finished the 2009/2010 Chevrolet Supercar season in fifth, will complete a day at the Holden Performance Driving Centre learning the basics of driving a V8 Supercar before his V8 Supercar test at Queensland Raceway on Friday with Paul Morris Motorsport.
“I’m very excited and hope I give a good impression,” Raffii said after touching down in Oz.
“It’s my first time in Australia and I already like it; the weather is amazing and the people are great.
“I’m really looking forward to this experience here and hopefully I go well in the car to send some good news back to the Middle East.”
Chevrolet Supercars Senior Manager, Sherif Al Mahdy, is also in Australia and insists the link between V8 Supercars and Chevrolet Supercars is as strong as ever.
“We are really proud of the link between Chevrolet Supercars and V8 Supercars,” he said.
“We need to take this relationship an extra mile and need to strengthen this link because this is closest championship to V8 Supercars in the Middle East region.”
