Al-Balushi…from “Waslawi” player to world motorcycle champion

Emirati champion Mohammed Al Balushi (45 years old), who was crowned last week with the world championship for the third time in motorcycles in the “Baja” desert races, confirmed that the search for a sport through which the country’s flag could be raised in the largest international forums was the reason behind his abandoning playing football. “The most popular” that he played since his childhood at Al Wasl Club.

Al Balushi told Emirates Today: “I previously practiced other sports, such as swimming, bodybuilding and martial arts, before I found my calling in 1999 when I was 19 years old by competing in my first race in the world of motorcycles from the gate of the Emirates Desert Rally in Abu Dhabi on a bike.” (KTM 350), in a step that represented a cornerstone for moving towards internationalism, and gifting the country with titles in local and international races, most notably the title The World Desert Rally Championship (Baha) for bicycles in 2018, 2023 and 2024.”

He explained: “I played football in the junior stages of Al Wasl Club in the nineties of the last century, before I gave up the first popular game, to achieve my ambition of achieving an Emirati achievement in the largest international forums, and in 1995, with the encouragement of friends, I switched to motorcycles, which quickly attracted me, and I moved on. From hobby to professionalism in 1999, when I had my first experience by participating in the Abu Dhabi Desert Rally, which represented a cornerstone of belief in my abilities in this regard. Sports, and gradually moving to international and global rallies, in a journey that spanned 25 years, culminating in 2019 with the achievement of the first Arab and Asian to achieve the World Championship title, followed by two additional titles in the 2023 and 2024 editions.”

He added: “The secret of my distance from football is that in the popular game, achievement or not remains linked to the team, but the task and the challenge of responsibility are greater in individual sports, whether in terms of success or failure, and my keenness to raise the country’s flag was the biggest motivation for moving to motorcycles.” ».

He continued: “My relationship with Al-Wasl continues as a fan of the great club, and although I am busy with training and participating in international rallies, I am keen to follow the club’s news, and I remember that in 2007 I was present in the stands when it won the double, and last season I was trying, despite the compressed schedule, to follow the news of its victories. And he accomplished it with the double again.”

The secret of success

Al-Balushi revealed the secret of his success in desert rallies, saying: “When we were young, we used to play on the sand dunes, and we are connected to our roots and our identity in the ability to tame the desert, which has helped me since my beginnings in motorcycles in being able to adapt to the challenging style and driving in rallies.” Desert.

George Job

Al Balushi confirmed that the year 2003 witnessed a transformation in his career, in cooperation with the five-time world champion in the sport of motocross, George Job, and said: “He was my mentor from 2003 until his death in 2012, and he did a lot for me, and I learned a lot from him, and with his guidance he was my true inspiration.” In 2011, I competed in the Dakar Rally, the most difficult and famous rally in the world, in a move that actually allowed me to repeat this experience six times, of which I succeeded in finishing four, most notably It came in 2019 when I – out of 200 of the strongest racers in the world in an edition that saw more than half of them withdraw due to the difficulty of the rally – was able to finish in the top 25 places.”

In his seventh experience in the Dakar Rally, triple world champion Al Balushi is counting on the new partnership that brings him together with the Italian bicycle manufacturer, Santec, and he said: “The dream has no expiration date, as after winning the world champion title on more than one occasion, the ambition remains to be able From giving the country its first title in the motorcycle category in (Dakar), which I will return to in 2025 supported by a bike manufactured by the Italian factory (Santec), and those who know the world of rallying are fully aware of the importance of It has a factory team to compete in the Dakar Challenge, and support that can constitute a difference in obtaining logistical components, spare parts and technical crews throughout a rally that extends more than 5,000 kilometers.

Muhammad Al Balushi:

. I moved from a motorcycle hobby to a professional one in 1999.

. George Job, “the true inspiration.” I learned a lot from him between 2003 and 2012.

. The dream has no expiration date. Wait for me in “Dakar 2025.”