For the people of Abu Dhabi, motorsport is a passion. Matt Westcott travelled to Sweden to find out why the Emirate’s tourism chiefs are using rallying to promote their country as a travel destination.

FROM somewhere deep in the forest it announced its presence.

A crack, the sound of the ground being torn up. It is alien to the noises that usually come from these snow-laden surroundings.

As it gets closer, small groups of people emerge from behind the towering spruces.

Some have cow bells that they ring with vigour, others blow horns.

Suddenly the object of their attention comes out of the shadows. Sliding around a bend, tyres grabbing at the icy surface for grip, comes 300- brake horsepower of snarling machinery.

The World Rally Championship has returned to Scandinavia.

Over the next 11 months, the circus will crisscross the globe, taking in places as diverse as Jordan, Japan, Turkey and Great Britain.

For now, we are in Sweden, home of the championship’s only snow rally, and I am here as a guest of the Arab state of Abu Dhabi.

It is not the most obvious of locations to meet its tourism chief, but there is method to this apparent madness.

Dubai’s oil-rich neighbour is in the midst of a major promotional push, targeting affluent westerners, in particular the British, and motorsport has been earmarked as one way of attracting the masses.

Anyone who witnessed the climax to last season’s Formula One Championship will realise Emiratis do not do things by halves; the word spectacular really doesn’t do the Yas Marina circuit justice.

Later this year, Rally Abu Dhabi will showcase what the state has to offer, with the aim of being included on the WRC calendar next year.

For now, all eyes are on the frozen roads of the Varmland province of Sweden, three hours drive from Stockholm.

Abu Dhabi’s involvement here is not solely limited to sponsorship. Behind the wheel of a Ford Focus is Sheikh Khaled Al Qassimi.

For the sheikh, who eventually finished 13th, being part of the World Rally Championship is not just about the driving.

It is also about the exposure – he is extolling the virtues of his homeland. He says he wants Abu Dhabi to become a hub for international motorsport.

In Sweden, the sheikh is accompanied by Ahmed Hussein, deputy director of the Abu Dhabi Tourist Authority.

Sweeping over the trees as we follow the rally’s progress by helicopter, he says spreading the word is just as important as one of his drivers winning the world championship.

Sweden’s terrain is spectacular – huge swathes of woodland, frozen lakes, jaw-dropping topography – with temperatures which dropped as low as minus 22 degrees when we were there.

Abu Dhabi, where temperatures can be just as inhospitable, though at the other end of the scale, is equally fortunate in environmental terms.

“I suppose we are blessed in Abu Dhabi that we have fantastic terrain on which to test cars and push them to their limits. I suppose that’s where our involvement and love for rallying springs from,” Mr Hussein said.

Culturally, things might be a little different in Abu Dhabi, but Mr Hussein is confident an event there will be just as well organised and just as popular as it is in Sweden.

As quickly as they came, the world’s best drivers depart the forests, leaving them tranquil and peaceful, an eerie silence once again encasing the vast wilderness.

Next stop, Mexico and one day, no doubt, Abu Dhabi.

TRAVEL FACTS

Matt Westcott travelled to connect with his flight from Newcastle Airport by East Coast train to Newcastle Central Station, connecting with the Tyne and Wear Metro to the airport.

Through tickets are available via eastcoast.co.uk, on 08457-225-225 or at any staffed station