Discover the extreme sports setting pulses racing in Qatar

From rally car racing to cycling in sand dunes and desert trekking, Qatar has plenty to offer for thrill seekers looking to push the limits of human endurance, challenge the mind against the forces of nature, or for those just hoping to see some heart-stopping extreme sports action.

The Qatar International Rally is the second stop in the six-part 2023 FIA Middle East Rally Championship.

This year, local organisers made slight adjustments to the circuit and made the route more compact to improve what they say is already one of the leading rallies in the region.

"[The] terrain is, mostly [...] a mixture of gravel, sand, rocky sections, stones. You never know what you can expect in Qatar," explained Stanley Da Silva, Chief Scrutineer at the Qatar Motor & Motorcycle Federation.

The gruelling three-day event puts the racing drivers, mechanics, and cars through their paces. That’s why the International Automobile Federation (FIA), the governing body for world motorsport, ensures all racing events are held safely and responsibly.

"We do the scrutineering and, we have to inspect and take care that all the cars pass through the required safety checks and [only then] they are approved for racing," Da Silva added.

"The car can come back nice and shiny and it can come back in a few pieces. That’s what you have to deal with," said Raivis Kucers, a Team Mechanic at Sports Racing Technologies (SRT), a professional autosport team which claimed two podiums in Qatar this year.

His job is to scrutinise his cars before they get to the scrutineers. The rest of his team puts on the final touches – placing the stickers, cleaning the cars and carrying out the all-important final safety checks ahead of the race.

"Their main task is to focus that the