Preview: UAE National Race Day 4
Battles resume as Championships get serious

Dubai, January 26, 2009:The second half of the UAE National Championships starts this weekend (Friday, 30 January 2009) at Dubai Autodrome with the TAM Auto Engineering UAE National Race Day 4. The Yellow Hat UAE Touring Car Championship with House of Portier, the UAE Sportbike Championship and Gulf Radical Cup feature on the Club Circuit configuration of Dubai Autodrome, with two races per category on the day.

The usual fireworks can be expected in the Yellow Hat UAE Touring Car Championship with House of Portier as the battle for overall victory is always a mouthwatering prospect, while skirmishes in other classes are virtually guaranteed. Karim Al Azhari (Al Nabooda Porsche) is proving hard to beat in the Class 1 title chase. Chasing him hard will be Mohammed Al Falasi (Corvette) who in turn will have to face stiff competition from Class 2 Championship leader Raed Hassan (Mitsubishi Evo) and Costas Papantonis (House of Portier SEAT) who dominates the Class 3 Championship.

Big news for the series is the debut of the DXB Racing Dodge Viper ACR with Julian Griffin behind the wheel of the Class 1 car number 55. The team hope to challenge the established front runners from the outset despite having had minimal development time with the new car. Jonathan Simmonds of DXB Racing commented, “The Viper project is an exciting one for our team and over the course of the next few months we will gradually develop it and assess the suitability of the car for future championships and racing formats in the region and internationally.”

Arguably the most exciting clash is in the highly competitive Class 4, a race within a race, which often features most of the paint scraping action in the UAE Touring Car category. Leading the Championship, going into the fifth round, is Mohammed Al Owais (Lap57 Racing Honda) who is proving hard to beat. Snapping at his heals are Zlatko Mulabegovic (Performance Racing Honda), the two House of Portier Renault drivers Khalid Al Mutawaa and Alexandros Annivas – all four, apart from slugging it out among themselves, are often taking on the more powerful cars in Class 2 and Class 3. The Class 4 brigade often number up to 16 cars (and growing) on the grid with some formidable driving talent in their midst including Spencer Vanderpal, Frederic Gaillard, Jason O’Keefe, Umair Khan - to name a few capable of mixing it up at the front. Class 5 is likely to be a contest between Abdulhamid Al Awadi (Honda) and Abbas Alawi (Lap57 Racing Honda).

Last time out in December the regulars contesting the 1000 Class in the UAE Sportbike Championship received a rude wake up call as Qatari Champion Meshal Al Naimi (Honda) and South African Champion Arushen Moodley (Aprilia) came, saw and conquered. Best of the usual local riders was Abdul Aziz Bakr (Liberty Kawasaki) with Juzar Motiwala (Honda) not far behind. Reigning Champion Rod Scott (Al Yousuf Yamaha) should be going all out to make amends for a below par weekend by his high standards. One of the highlights, last time out, was the impressive return to competitiveness of veteran Grant Yake (Al Yousuf Suzuki) who has factored himself in as a race winning contender, providing the local riders can contain the pace of the foreign invaders. An interesting addition to grid is Hennie Sauerman who is being drafted in to the Liberty Kawasaki onslaught on the title. His performance will be one to watch as he, the reigning Sprint Challenge Champion, is a highly capable rider and could be a rider to upset the apple cart. Watch this space…..

Hussein Al Kooheji (Al Yousuf Yamaha) has made the 600 Class his own with five out of six wins so far this season. He will again be hard to dethrone at the top of this pack. The man most capable of an upset is Jason Burnside (Honda) while the likes of Andrea Capoccia (Yamaha), Steve Blackney (Honda) and Vendetta Racing Yamaha riders Alan Boyter and Mahmoud Tannir are not far behind.

In the Superstock Class Pascal Grosjean (Liberty Kawasaki) trails Nicolas Pecresse (Yamaha) in the championship. Grosjean is suffering the consequences of a DNF in the opening race of the season which saw him drop 15 points allowing Pecresse to lead the Class title race since Race Day 2. Grosjean has won every race since his mishap and it is hard to see anyone stopping him – apart from himself.  

The Gulf Radical Cup has been a two way battle in Class A at the front between John Stanley and Bassam Kronfli (Team Evo-ME) but this weekend Kronfli is campaigning in Class C where he will be taking on Saudi teenage
sensation Fahad Algosaibi who has been the revelation of this season simply dominating. As a result he comfortably leads the Class C Championship and is tied at the top of the overall standings. Kronfli aims to test the young ace, “The leading Class A drivers are away this weekend so I figured it would be good to drop into Class C and maybe deprive young Fahad of some points. It is going to be interesting”. Fawaz Algosaibi – Fahad’s father -  has emerged as best of the rest in Class C along with Kaverne McShine who alternates races with Andrew Lemon.

Practice on Friday starts at 9.30am, with qualifying at 10.50am and the first race due to be flagged off at 13.30pm. With the season going into the “second half” action is guaranteed at Dubai Autodrome. For race fans, teams and competitors VIP hospitality and catering will be available on the day - see www.dubaiautodrome.com or www.tracktalk.ae for more information.