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The 60-year-old Emirati is the first non-European to serve as
president of the International Automobile Federation, the
governing body for a host of series including Formula One,
rallying, endurance racing and electric Formula E.
His appointment comes in a year that has seen Saudi Arabia and
Qatar added to the Formula One calendar on long-term contracts.
The region now has four races, with Abu Dhabi and Bahrain
well-established on the schedule since 2004 and 2009
respectively.
Saudi Arabia also has the gruelling Dakar Rally, Formula E and
Extreme E while Bahrain also hosts a round of the world
endurance championship and Qatar has MotoGP.
British supercar makers McLaren are majority owned by Bahrain's
sovereign investment fund Mumtalakat, with Saudi Arabia's Public
Investment Fund (PIF) also providing significant funding.
State-owned energy giant Saudi Aramco is a global partner of
Formula One.
"No-one now can come near the Gulf or the Middle East and ignore
motorsport," Ben Sulayem told reporters in Paris on Friday.
"It will be a help for the FIA to grow but it doesn't mean we
forget the other regions."
Ben Sulayem said improving diversity was high on his agenda
along with increasing participation in motorsport.
He has said he wants to double the number taking part worldwide
in the next four years, with much of that growth in the
developing world.
He compared a country like Finland's success in Formula One and
rallying to the huge and untapped potential of India and China
as well as the Middle East.
The Emirati, who served as president of the UAE motorsport
federation, said he would be moving to Paris to devote himself
full-time to the position and had given up his other jobs.
He recalled how attitudes had changed in his region since he
first began competing.
"I had to change my last name at the beginning because
motorsport was not acceptable," said the winner of 14 Middle
East rally championships.
"When I started winning they saw my photos and then they
accepted it," he said.
(Refiled to change association to federation in para 2)
(Reporting by Alan Baldwin, editing by Christian Radnedge)
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