Hamza Dirani

Hamza Dirani

Born in Amman, Aug 16 - 1982'

Hamza Dirani is Jordanian race driver who is well known in Karting in his country and the region. He has achieved many wins in karting in Jordan, Lebanon, Dubai and Egypt. In 2005, he joined Meritus Racing to race in the Formula BMW Asia racing series and be the first Jordanian to participate in Formula Racing and finished all his races in top ten.

Beside his racing career, he started a karting business in 2006. His work includes importing kart, spare parts, racing accessories as well as a service center and training school.

Racing Career:

Dirani's first official race was in 1997 when he participated in the Polaris ATVs (All-terrain vehicle) race and won the 1st place. In 1999, he started to participate in the Jordan Karting Championship. One year later he got his first podium when he finished in 2nd place in the Lucky Strike Karting Race.

In 2001, Dirani started to get attack and won both the 1st and 2nd rounds of the championship as well the Abdoun Karting Race. After his success in Karting, Dirani moved into the rallying world and participated in the Jordan Rally and the Syrian International Rally on a Volvo 244, Group A. in that year, Hamza won the “Achievement Award for Best Novice Rally Driver”.

The year after, Dirani attended a rally course at the Bill Gwynne Rally School in England to build up his skills and learn professional techniques. When he was back in Jordan, he won the second place in the first round of the local rally championship. Dirani's name started to star in the world of rallying after achieving competitive times in the stages of the Jordan Rally and Rally of Lebanon. He received an invitation from the Saudi Champion, Abdullah Bakhashab, to participate in the prestigious “Race of Champions” in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia.

by the end of 2002, Dirani was crowned Jordan's champion (two wheel drive category) for the Jordan Rally Championship 2002, and 4th overall in the same championship.

In 2003, Hamza decided to race in Karting again, but in a very professional level. He achieved a break-through record of winning seven out of seven races in the Jordan Karting Championship making him the youngest driver to win the championship.

In 2004, He was invited to join the "Traffic Awareness Campaign" organized by the Police Department and Red Bull where he talked to students of the local universities about safety and difference between racing and daily driving. He was also invited to join Meritus Racing, the leading team in the Formula BMW championship. By the end of the year, Dirani was crowned once again the Jordan Kart Champion, achieving fastest lap in all races.

2005 was huge step in Dirani's career where he started to race in Formula Racing. He Participated in rounds 11 & 12 (Japan) and 13 & 14 (China) of the Formula BMW Asia championship. Hamza was able to catch up with experienced drivers and finished all the races ranked in top ten. Then he was invited to participate as a guest driver in the Final Round of the Formula Ford Championship at the Bahrain International Circuit. Hamza achieved fast lap in the first practice session. As a guest driver he had to start from the back of the grid (17th) and finished 3rd overall. He was also invited to visit Red Bull F1 team during the Bahrain Grand Prix.

Although he moved to Formula Racing, Hamza didn’t leave the karting sport. Dirani won the season which made him the fastest in karting for three consecutive years.

February 2006, Dirani travelled to UK for a practice session on the Formula Renault 2000 on Brand Hatch and Snetterton Circuits. Then he races in 3 rounds of the Jordan Karting Championship. Finished all races in 1st position, but only two races were counted.

In summer, he started the Dirani Karting School at Jordan Speed Center and had more than 120 drivers enrolled. By the end of the year, he was invited to visit Tony Kart in Italy and became their official representative in Jordan.

For 2007, Dirani had rally plans. The Jordan Rally Champion, Amjad Farrah, supported him to be the junior driver in his team. Dirani participated in three round of the Jordan Rally Champion and did impressive results. He finished the Jordan International Rally in 2nd place on the Jordanian standings. Right after the rally, Dirani headed to the UAE for the Bridgestone invitation to test the new Potenza tires on the Dubai Autodrome Curcuit.

In Karting, he led the Makaseb Karting Team of five senior drivers, and 3 juniors. He also continued to share his experience in giving karting courses in the Dirani Karting School at Jordan Speed Center. He also filmed a special TV report for Al Jazeera Channel about the Karting, Makaseb Team and his Karting School.

For the first time, he organized the Tony Kart Ramadan Challenge. The challenge was a series of 3 races during the holy month which was exclusively for Tony Kart drivers. The series was a great success and there was more than 20 drivers registered in both classes, Seniors and Juniors.

The 2008 Middle East Karting Championship was a challenge to Dirani to complete in karting and for the first time among international drivers from all over the world. The championship was made of three rounds and Dirani was the fastest and most competitive Arab Driver. He finished the championship 3rd overall following the Austrian Champion Kevin Richard and the Italian Piero De Marchi and was the first among.

After the huge success of the 07 championship that Dirani organized, all the drivers wanted a new series by Dirani. He organized the Ramadan Karting Challenge which included more classes and drivers in than last year.

He also continued his support to young drivers by sponsoring Mohammad Bustami, who was crowned Champion of Ramadan Karting Challenge and win the 2nd place in the Jordan Karting Championship.

Dirani Karting School

Dirani Karting School has started in the summer of 2006 when the karting champion, Hamza Dirani and Jordan Speed Center teamed to coach young drivers. With the experience of Dirani, and the facilities of JSC, the school gives the ideal training for the drivers.

The school was a great success! For this year, Dirani and JSC worked on a plan to develop the courses to give the students more techniques. Now, the school has additional courses to cover all the drivers’ needs.

Some results of drivers sponsored and trained by Dirani:

Year	Driver	Age	Championship	Class	Result
2004	Hamza Abdelhadi	14	Jordan Karting Championship	Seniors	2nd Overall
2004	Hamza Abdelhadi	14	Aqaba Karting Race	Seniors	Winner
2006	Serri Rasekh	14	Jordan Karting Championship	Seniors	2nd Overall
2006	Hayat Abu Samra	14	Jordan Karting Championship	Ladies Cup	Winner
2007	Mohammad Muradi	16	Rotax Max Challenge - Round 1	Seniors	Winner
2007	Farah Zakaria	10	Jordan Karting Championship	Juniors	Winner
2008	Othman Abu Samra	13	Middle East Karting Championship	Juniors	Winner
2008	Mohammad Bustami	17	Jordan Karting Championship	Seniors	2nd Overall
2008	Mohammad Bustami	17	Ramadan Karting Challenge	Seniors	Winner
2008	Hamza Bustami	12	Ramadan Karting Challenge	Juniors	Winner

List of courses:

• Juniors Course

• Beginners Course

• Intermediate Course

• Professional Course

• One to One – Private Sessions

• Corporate Course

• Motorsports Marketing and Sponsorships

• Technical and Kart Setup

See also

• Official Website