Sponsoring this years’ Muscat Festival Sprint Race 2004 is omanoil – Oman’s only 100% Omani owned oil company, the retail brand under Oman Oil Marketing Company SAOG (OOMCO). The exciting race event set to take place on Thursday 19th February at the Oman Automobile Association is open to any member of the general public with a Saloon Car and valid Omani driving license.

The underlying message from all involved in the event is the issue of safety and that racing of cars is for the track and not on the Sultanates roads. This message is reinforced by omanoil and all departments within Oman Oil Marketing Company, where safety is paramount.

“It’s important to us as an Omani Company to endorse activities which have the same acceptable levels of commitment to the general public’s safety as we do,” says Oman Oil Marketing Company’s Corporate Affairs Manager, Hisham Al Alawi. “Fun and safety should go hand in hand, even more so when vehicles are involved.”

High standards of driving are enforced by OOMCO at all levels from office employees driving to and from places of work to those working at the Mina Al Fahal terminal or driving fuel tankers. In fact, those persons behind the wheels of the very cool blue, silver and green tankers delivering fuel to the omanoil Service Stations will have been through a grueling series of tests before they are allowed the responsibility of driving.

The vehicles themselves owned by Oman Oil Marketing Company have been fitted out with the latest built in gadgets ensuring they meet the highest of safety standards. Five of the fleet are recent models from Scania, complete with on board computers capable of monitoring activities from the vehicle start time, speed limits, driver resting time and even driver behaviour! Additional extras include on board GSM’s and computerised systems that can prevent fuel spills from the tanker and monitor vehicle registrations and other relevant permits.

Although you won’t be finding the omanoil tankers taking part in the Sprint Race at the Oman Automobile Association on 19th February, head up there to see some of Muscat’s daredevil amateurs racing at top speeds around the track – better still, take part yourself. Registration for the event will be open until 11.00am on Thursday morning.