The second round of the national raceday, the UAE’s premier motor racing series, is all set to get underway at the Dubai Autodrome on the 1st of December 2006.
After an extremely successful and highly competitive first national raceday in October, the event will once again feature the three Championships – the Motorworks GTI Cup, Bartercard Gulf Radical Cup and the UAE National Superstock Bike championship. Since October the GTI Cup and the Bikes had a non championship races at the MotorCity GT 500 meeting and the Radicals raced at the Desert 400 event in Bahrain last weekend.
With the promise of a tight race to the finish, the day will start in the morning with practice sessions followed by the qualifying sessions that will determine the grid positions for the races later in the afternoon.
Another page in the UAE motor sport history was written in the opening round when Omran Al-Owais became the first UAE national to stand on the podium of what is rapidly becoming the Gulf’s fastest motor racing series - the Bartercard Gulf Radical Cup. Al Owais finished second, behind race winner and ex-Olympian athlete Jean-Yves Mallat, who enjoyed a fantastic race win after fending off the close pursuit of 2006 Champion, Karim Al Azhari in one of the best races ever seen at the Dubai Autodrome. Al Azhari set the fastest lap of the day at 1:42.552 whilst chasing Mallat before spinning off at Turn 1 on the last lap to record a DNF. This latest round promises to be as thrilling with the five drivers Jean-Yves Mallat, Omran Al Owais, Karim Al Azhari, Robert Simpson and John Stanley competing for the top spot.
The Motorworks GTI Cup Championship current standings go respectively to Costas Papantonis, Yazan Rijleh and Rayan Trutch. Round one picked up where it left off last season with close head-head racing with Papantonis winning the first and second race of the day. But it was last season’s champion Yazan Rijleh who made a storming start moving from fifth on the grid to second and maintaining this position till the end in the first race and with Trutch managing to finish second with a mere margin of 0.275 in the second race.
A fierce battle is also expected in the UAE National Superstock Bikes between Abdulaziz, who showed an impressive performance as he won the opening two races of the season and last year champion Yake who he kept behind in second place. Third place in both races went to South African Johnnie Piennar.
With all this excitement and the challenges already laid down in the first leg of the championships, the coming national raceday promises even more. General public are invited free of charge to enjoy a jam-packed day of thrilling motor racing action.
About the Dubai Autodrome
Dubai Autodrome is the region's first fully-integrated motorsports facility. The Autodrome is a state-of-the-art complex featuring an FIA sanctioned 5.39 km track, There are six track permutations, with three of them being able to work simultaneously, giving unparalleled options for track users. The complex, part of the Union Properties MotorCity development, includes a Race & Driving School, a CIK-approved Kart track; is ideal for concerts and corporate entertainment. Dubai Autodrome also acts as a social destination and tourist attraction for overseas visitors.
