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photographed by HERBERT FERNANDES

“Members of the club worked tirelessly
to create a 1.2km adult circuit and a
300m junior circuit for young riders�br>
Although some off-road motorcycle enthusiasts might remember motocross events in Muscat, they were held so long ago a majority of the present generation will have little, if any, recollection of the sport here. Fortunately for the sport’s future in Oman, riders now have the chance to experience motocross once again in Oman. And the sport will now take place at the refurbished track of the Oman Automobile Association (OAA) in Seeb.

The seeds of revival were planted at the Muscat Festival held earlier this year when the Muscat Municipality organised a motocross like event in the wadi in Qurm, behind the Capital Commercial Centre (CCC). A group of local off-road riders who participated in the event found themselves completely hooked on to the experience, and hence to the sport itself. With no access to the sport in the capital they came up with the idea of restarting the old track, which had fallen into a state of disrepair over the years. Together they started the fledgling Oman Motocross Club (OMX) under the umbrella of the OAA. Chairman Stephen Hendry and secretary Ian Bowen, themselves dedicated riders and participants at the Muscat Festival event, then approached the OAA and requested that the club be granted access to the old facility. For their part, the association and the related authorities obliged the OMX and gave them permission to use the motorsport facility to create a track, subject to members following a set of clear safety rules.

Since then members of the club worked tirelessly to create a 1.2km adult circuit and a 300m junior circuit for young riders. A couple of sponsors too have been secured while work for the enrolment of additional sponsors and improving the club’s rudimentary facilities is being carried on. According to the club’s management, the current facilities, which have been designed to appeal to novices and advanced riders alike, will be open only to its members for practice during daylight hours each day. The main aims of the club are to provide a relatively safe environment and a controlled area for people to enjoy off-road motorcycle riding and competition and to encourage others, especially members of the local community, to take up the sport. While the club facilities are meant for non- competitive practice sessions only at the moment, in future special events may also be held where people can have a trial go before committing to buying their own equipment. Meanwhile a race series is scheduled for January next year.

“In my opinion, the opening of the new track is an exciting development for the biking community here. It will certainly enhance the sport’s visibility and appeal, attracting new riders to the sport,�says Paul Turner, national sales manager, OMASCO, which sells Honda motorcycles in Oman and is now the primary sponsor of the motocross track. According to Anwar bin Ali al Zadjali, deputy director at the Oman Automobile Association (OAA), Oman was one of the first countries in the region �this was in the Eighties �to get a motocross track, and interest in the sport continued right through to the mid-Nineties. But enthusiasm in this two-wheeled sport gradually declined until finally in 1996 the track closed down from lack of enthusiasts.