Oman's Team QadiroonWins Ford Focus RabaaRally 

(MENAFN Press) DUBAI, UAE, 06 May 2012 “Oman'sTeam Qadiroon, made up of Azzan Abdul Amir Hameed,Faisal Fadhil Mahmood Al Bakriand Issam Abdullah Said Al-Kharusi, is the winning team of the Ford Focus Rabaainter-GCC Rally challenge, as announced by Ford Middle East today after the conclusion of the final rally challenge in Dubai's Burj Khalifa.Al-Yaqdan Alhooti, an avid supporter of the challenge who scored the most points in the online challenges also won in the "Pit Crew"or Ford Focus Rabaa Fan category. All winning team members and Al-Yaqdan Alhootiwill receive a brand new 2012 Ford Focus model as their prize.

Scoring 395 points, Team Qadiroon emerged on top of the leaderboard, beating the scores of the other teams. With earnest support from fans, Team Qadiroon garnered crucial points to help seal its position in the number one spot.

In second place came Team I.C.T. from Qatar with a score of 360 points, closely followed byTeam Bahrain Youth Lionsin third place with 350 points, and Team Bura Bura with a score of235.

The Ford Focus Rabaa [referring to a gang of friends in Khaleeji dialect] tookteams through each of the Gulf statesto compete in a series of tasks and challenges while driving across the countries. The teams were scored based on their skills and performance rather than speed.The level of online and offline participation and support of their country's fans also played an important role in the scoring as fans were able to take online challenges to help their team get more points.

Renowned DJ, music producer and radio presenter Dany Neville followed the progress of each team from one Gulf state to the other as the rally's host. Online fans were able to follow the updates live as each day a new episode recapping the challenges was produced and posted on the Ford Middle East Facebook page (www.facebook.com/FordMiddleEast).

Paul Anderson, Ford Middle East's Marketing director said: "Job well done for Team Qadiroon! We congratulate them for taking up and rising to the Ford Focus Rabaa challenge. We extend our heartfelt thanks to each of the celebrity team captains for their outstanding support and enthusiasm as they engaged their fans with the Rally and supported their teams throughout the challenge. We couldn't have done this without everyone's support!

"Our congratulations also go to Al-Yaqdan Alhootifor actively pursuing the online challenges and winning as in the Pit Crew category. Each individual fan who participated in the online challenges was quite exemplary in their efforts to boost the scores of the teams he supported," Anderson continued.

"Through this unique challenge, the all-new 2012 Ford Focus proved that it can deliverareliable and dynamic performance, while demonstratingitstremendous abilities and unique technologies that truly stand out in the compact car segment," added Anderson.

The rally saga was witnessed by thousands of Ford Middle East's Facebook fans via daily video updates posted on its page at the social networking site.

For his part, celebrity captain Nabil Al-Busaidi enthused: "Indeed, the Ford Focus Rabaa was a great rally initiative. Most of all, it was a great way to engage the youth and the community to an activity that challenges the mind and promote camaraderie at the same time."