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| Richard Cregan |
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Yas Marina Circuit will stage the UAE’s first Formula 1 Grand Prix in November, but it’s a year-round enterprise that will be one of the most comprehensive centres for motor sport, business and entertainment in the whole of the Middle East.
It is no mean feat. At the very least, it means that the eyes of the world will be firmly fixed on the quietlyspoken man from County Kildare. As CEO of Abu Dhabi Motorsports Management ADMM), Cregan is only too well aware of the size of the task. If he gets it right, he can expect to be showered with the plaudits that befit a national hero – but if the unthinkable happens and disaster strikes the AED 242 billion project, the buck stops firmly with him. It is simply the latest (albeit the biggest) challenge in an already eventful career. Overflowing with passion for the task ahead and oozing an air of quiet determination, Richard Cregan has never been a man to walk away from a challenge in his life.
“I did rally-cross for a couple of years, club level at the Mondello Park circuit in Ireland and that hooked me.” But ironically, it was Aer Lingus that shaped the man: “It gave me the opportunity to learn so much, and not simply bout engines. They helped me through college, but my main lessons came in working and learning about people and how to manage them and work with them,” he recalls. Cregan joined Toyota Motorsport in 1984 and took on many roles with the team including rally mechanic, workshop manager and later operations manager for Toyota’s championship-winning rally programme. Later he became part of the team that set up Toyota’s F1 project, and in 2004 he took on the role of Team Manager. “I suppose you could say that my only failure was that Toyota never won a Grand Prix. But there were lots of outside reasons for that, which I decided I could not live with. So I decided to leave,” he says. He does admit to an occasional flicker of trepidation about his current job. “It’s scary, the most challenging experience of my life,” he confides as we meet in ADMM headquarters in the centre of Abu Dhabi. “But I thrive on challenges and pressure. I think people need pressure to bring out the best in them.” The first week in September will see another milestone in the Yas Island project. Work on the track itself should be complete, so that testing can get under way – that is an essential part of the ramp-up to the inaugural Formula 1 Etihad Airways Abu Dhabi Grand Prix. But for Richard Cregan, the race is only the beginning for the Yas Marina Circuit. “The main task is to make this a successful and sustainable complex,” he says. “It’s not just about the Grand Prix, it’s about what happens over the next three to five years at this site. I want this to be the jewel in Abu Dhabi’s crown.” The outside world may be watching the progress of the Abu Dhabi adventure with interest. But one of Cregan’s major challenges is closer to home; he knows that as well as impressing the international audience, he must also win over the local community. “This project is for the people of Abu Dhabi. We want to use the entire project to enhance the lives of the people of Abu Dhabi. “We really have to get out there and find ways of educating the Emirati who knows nothing about the sport,” he says. “We are preparing plans to take the message and lessons of motorsport to schools and tell them not only about the sport itself, but all the aspects and benefits there are. “So we will be going out to schools to show how motorsport can provide career opportunities for so many and engage them, for instance. And we want to show how business can make the most of the site by using the facilities for conferences, hospitality and other corporate needs. “We also have a responsibility to get out there and show the outside world what Abu Dhabi is all about. There are so many people around the world who know so little about Abu Dhabi, whether it be its geography or its culture and history. This is our opportunity to educate them too. “Yas Marina Circuit is going to put the whole of Abu Dhabi on the world map, and not simply because of the Grand Prix.”
Cregan arrived in Abu Dhabi in January this year to take up the gauntlet of the challenge with firm support from a wide range of government groups, notably Abu Dhabi’s investment arm Mubadala. “It’s like having an expression of faith in me from those around me,” admits Cregan. “Having financial support is simply the means to an end. A successful project is all about involving the right people, and I have discovered that Abu Dhabi is rich in the kind of people who can get on with this job. There is a wonderful air of ‘can do’ here, and the place has a great sense of being organised. “I am a hands-on type of person, and I know that ultimately the responsibility for success and failure rests with me. But I also believe that having the right team is essential.” He certainly feels a strong commitment to Abu Dhabi. He insists that despite being involved in the greatest challenge of his career, he has ‘come home’ – “the minute I visited Abu Dhabi and saw what was going on I knew it was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. “It is going to be a long task, and it’s going to take at least six to eightyears to establish but I believe that we have the support of the Abu Dhabi government, resources and the right people working as a team to make this project a success. “ The CV: Richard Cregan 1976-84: Aircraft mechanic at Aer Lingus 1984: Joined Toyota Motorsport. Various positions including Test Team Foreman, Workshop Manager and Operations Manager for both Toyota Team Europe Rally and Le Mans projects 1992: Set up in-house manufacturing for Toyota motorsports 1999: Worked with Ove Andersson on Toyota’s F1 project, taking over as General Manager F1 Operations in 2001 2004: Assumed role of Toyota F1 Team Manager 2009: Became General Manager of ADMM and later CEO [Caption] As CEO, involving Emiratis in this project is a top priority for Cregan [Writer] Patrick Hill [Originally published in Abu Dhabi Week vol 2 issue 27] |
If anyone can be excused for having sleepless nights, that person is Richard Cregan. He is charged with overseeing one of the largest tasks since the birth of the UAE itself, the creation of the Yas Marina Circuit
Cregan’s love of all things motorsport began in his childhood, growing up outside Dublin. While other children were engrossed in sports such as soccer, rugby and even hurling, Richard’s passion for motoring received an early boost from his brother Andy. “He used to do a lot of motorbike trials, so I was introduced to motorsport when I was about five or six,” says Cregan. “That’s when I realised this is what I wanted to do, to be part of all of this.
Cregan certainly sees Yas Marina Circuit as the region’s premiere motor sport hub. He is investigating the opportunities for staging Le Mans style races as well as FIA GT; there will also be high-speed driving schools and motor sport education schemes as part of a year-round programme for the Aldar-developed circuit.
