RIYADH: Few figures have witnessed the evolution of motorsport in the Middle East as closely as David Richards.
The former World Rally Championship-winning co-driver and founder of Prodrive says the region’s rise from hosting modest desert rallies to staging some of the world’s biggest motorsport events has been one of the defining transformations of his career.
Speaking exclusively to Arab News as Prodrive marks its 50th anniversary, Richards reflected on his first visit to the Gulf half a century ago, his long-standing ties with Saudi Arabia and its neighbors, and the remarkable journey that has turned the region into a global motorsport destination.
Richards’ connection with the region dates back to the mid-1970s, when he organized the inaugural Kuwait Rally. Looking back, he sees the event not only as the beginning of his own long relationship with the Gulf but also as part of the foundations for the region’s organized motorsport landscape. Over the following decades, countries including Qatar, Bahrain, Oman, and the UAE developed structured rally programs, national motorsport federations, and world-class racing venues, helping establish the Middle East as a major player on the international calendar.
“I suppose we start 50 years ago, when I got an invitation from Rothmans, the sponsors of the first Kuwait Rally, to go out to Kuwait and organize the rally for them,” Richards recalled.
With only a few weeks’ notice, he traveled to Kuwait to help organize the event. Its success led to further invitations across the Gulf, taking him to Qatar, Bahrain, the UAE, and Oman, as rallying steadily gained momentum throughout the region.
“So, I spent quite a lot of time out in the Middle East in those early days,” he said. “I look back now, and I was a very young guy in my early 20s, organizing rallies in a very different world from what it is in the Middle East today.”
After winning the World Rally Championship as a co-driver in 1981, Richards founded Prodrive in 1984. The Middle East remained an important part of the company’s story, with relationships formed during those early years later contributing to manufacturer programs, technical partnerships, and the company’s return to the region through projects including the Dakar Rally.
Among Prodrive’s earliest driver signings was Qatari rally star Saeed Al-Hajri, who would become one of the Middle East’s most successful competitors.
“He went on to win the Middle East Championship on a number of occasions,” Richards said. “We had a very successful relationship.”
The friendship has endured long after their competitive years together.
“Strangely enough, he just sent me a text this morning discussing Qatar’s chances in the World Cup football,” Richards said with a smile. “We still (are) good friends.”
Richards said many of his closest friendships in motorsport remain rooted in the Gulf, pointing to long-standing relationships in Bahrain, the UAE, and across the region.
Looking back, he believes few could have imagined how dramatically motorsport would develop in the Middle East.
“Who could have imagined those days when we were driving cars in the desert with very few facilities and really pioneering, early days?” he said. “Now you look at the circuits you have in Bahrain, Saudi, Doha, and Abu Dhabi, and it’s quite a different place.”
Saudi Arabia’s emergence as a major international motorsport destination has particularly impressed Richards, especially through its hosting of the Dakar Rally.
“I think the Dakar Rally is probably the most challenging motorsport event in the world,” he said.
“The terrain in Saudi provides that challenge. It’s an incredible environment where you have wonderful landscapes, open deserts, the Empty Quarter, and the unbelievable backdrop of AlUla.”
Beyond the scenery, Richards praised the reception competitors receive throughout the Kingdom.
“The welcome that the rally receives is incredible,” he said. “Everywhere we go, everyone welcomes us to Saudi and enjoys the presence of all the teams there.”
Richards also believes the Gulf’s sustained investment in motorsport infrastructure is beginning to produce a new generation of local competitors.
“It doesn’t happen overnight, but we’re already seeing some very good drivers come through,” he said.
Tracing the region’s rallying history, he highlighted pioneers including Al-Hajri, FIA President Mohammed Ben Sulayem, and multiple Dakar winner Nasser Al-Attiyah, while also pointing to emerging Saudi talent.
“It’s a slow process to build up local talent,” he said. “This happens slowly over a period of time, and it’s great to see it happening.”
For Richards, however, the memories that stand out most are not the modern facilities but the sport’s earliest beginnings.
“There were no maps, there was no infrastructure,” he recalled. “We were organizing things with people we met and enthusiasts.”
He credits the volunteers, local authorities, and early commercial partners with helping establish the foundations of motorsport across the Gulf.
“You have to look back and thank the people who were there at the beginning and believed in it,” he said.
Today’s Gulf circuits, he added, rank among the world’s finest.
“If you look across the Gulf region and Saudi, you have some of the best tracks in the world now, and some of the best-attended events in the world.”
That evolution mirrors Prodrive’s own journey. As Gulf nations expanded investment in permanent circuits, international events, and motorsport infrastructure, the company returned to the region with new competition programs and engineering projects. Its recent Dakar success also represents a symbolic return to the terrain where Richards first helped establish organized rallying nearly five decades ago.
Even after 50 years, Richards says Prodrive continues to focus on the future.
The company is currently working with British engineering firm JCB on a hydrogen-powered world land speed record project, reflecting the industry’s growing interest in alternative propulsion technologies.
“We’re working with hydrogen now as a new technology,” Richards said. “We see that as a very interesting possibility for the future.”
Prodrive also expects to return to the Dakar Rally next year with a new project, while Richards said the company is exploring further opportunities following Saudi Arabia’s addition to the World Rally Championship calendar.
“There’s a lot going on at the moment,” he said. “It never stands still.”
For someone whose Middle East journey began with a hastily arranged trip to Kuwait half a century ago, Richards believes the region’s motorsport story is still unfolding.
“You have to start with small beginnings,” he said. “The result is what you have today.”
