UAE National Race Day 4 at Dubai Autodrome^® presented by TAM Auto Engineering
Drama filled race day as UAE National racing season resumes

Dubai, January 30, 2009:Race Day 4, presented by TAM Auto Engineering, of the 2008/2009 UAE National Racing season was an action packed affair with drama in all three categories that featured on the day. Fog delayed the start of proceedings but once it lifted the heat generated on track by the competitors made for an action packed day of motorsport at Dubai Autodrome, with some surprise results on the day.

UAE Touring Cars: Spectacular debut for Julian Griffin and his DXB Racing Viper
Karim Al Azhari’s stranglehold on Class 1, of the Yellow Hat UAE Touring Car Championship with House of Portier, ended when veteran British driver Julian Griffin (DXB Racing Viper) powered to a debut victory in Race 1 and followed it up with another win in Race 2.

Race 1 started with 31 cars on the grid but by Turn 1 three were eliminated including Jonathan Simmonds (DXB Racing SEAT) and Omran Al Owais (Honda) who collided. After a delay to clear debris it was Al Azhari (Al Nabooda Porsche) who took the early lead from pole position and appeared to have the race in the bag while Griffin was fending off Emirati ace Mohammed Al Falasi (Corvette Z06) in the battle for second place. On lap 11 the leading Porsche was suddenly devoid of power allowing Griffin and Falasi to pounce with the former taking victory and the latter second place, with Al Azhari relegated to third. Behind this trio Raed Hassan (Mitsubishi) and Costas Papantonis (House of Portier SEAT) battled it out for fourth place overall. Chris Wishart (Nissan) was also in the mix until mid-race when he succumbed to technical problems. Fourth overall went to Hassan took who also took Class 2 top honours ahead of Jon Sinders (Porsche) and Robert Galotti (SEAT) while in Class 3 victory went to Papantonis ahead of Steve Adams (Porsche) and visiting Czech driver Petr Valek (BMW) in third.

UAE driver Mohammed Al Owais’ dominance of Class 4 in his Honda appeared to be under threat from Khalid Bin Hadher (Honda) as the two battled it out for the lead in Race 1. Drama struck with a handful of laps to go when Bin Hadher was forced to park his car, after the dashboard started to melt due to the heat generated from his Honda’s engine, allowing Al Owais to claim yet another class victory. Zlatko Mulabegovic (Honda) took second place after a gritty drive which saw him making his way through the field and taking on a number of more powerful cars on route. Frederic Gaillard (DXB Racing Renault) and UAE’s Khalid Al Mutawaa (House of Portier Renault) had a race long duel for the final podium position which Gaillard nicked by less than a quarter of a second from Mutawaa who notched up fourth in class. Alexandros Annivas in the second House of Portier Renault took fifth place. Abdul Hamid Al Awadi (Honda) was the unchallenged winner in Class 5.

Griffin took the lead from the start of Race 2 with Al Falasi filling his rear view mirrors as he tried everything to get past. Absent from the lead battle, for the first time this season, was Al Azhari who was suffering the ill effects of an underpowered car. Falasi threw everything at the leader, overdoing it at one stage, losing almost 10 seconds due to a spin. He nevertheless persisted in his tenacious chase but to no avail as Griffin claimed a double win with Falasi settling for second place by a mere half a car length. Wishart recovered from his Race 1 mishap to finish third in Class 1 ahead of Al Azhari. Griffin said of his double win, “I am really pleased to have come here and win first time out with the Viper. Things are well organised and the competition was tough. It was good to win because the car was difficult to drive and is in phase one of the evolution. It is a good result for DXB Racing.”

Class 2 pace setter Hassan suffered gearbox problems in his Mitsubishi which sidelined him on lap 5 of race two which handed Harris Irfan (Alex Renner Motors Porsche) Class 2 victory over Sinders and Galotti. Third place overall for Papantonis was enough to make it a double win in Class 3 with Adams taking second ahead of Valek in a repeat of the first race.

Al Owais again annexed the top step of the podium in Class 4 despite spinning on the first lap, causing chaos all around him as several drivers took avoiding action, luckily no contact was made but the race order was in disarray. The Emirati proceeded to make an astounding comeback drive through the field which ended in a well deserved victory and entrenching him as the class of the quality Class 4 field. Gaillard finished second with Mulabegovic third, the latter deservedly bagging the prestigious House of Portier Driver of the Day award for his efforts, which included his drive to third place from the back of the grid in Race 2. In Class 5 Al Awadi notched up his second victory of the day.

UAE Sportbike Championship: Arushen Moodley untouchable as he wins for Aprilia
South African guest rider Arushen Moodley notched up two comfortable victories in the Stock 1000 Class, in the UAE Sportbike Championship, on the glorious sounding Aprilia RSV. On both opening laps, which he started from pole position, he was briefly challenged by Grant Yake (Al Yousuf Suzuki) but it did not take long for the South African Champion to take command which he never relinquished in both races. The serious action was behind the race winner……

In Race 1 Yake settled into second place with Saudi rider Adbul Aziz Bakr (Liberty Kawasaki) giving chase ahead of a massive battle between Juzar Motiwala (Honda), Championship leader Rod Scott (Al Yousuf Yamaha) and debutant Hennie Sauerman (Liberty Kawasaki). Motiwala gradually pulled away to chase down Bakr while Scott and Sauerman circulated in tandem. By mid-race Motiwala was into third place when he overtook Bakr who appeared to have problems, behind them Sauerman managed to get the better Scott. At the front Moodley took the chequered flag with Yake taking second after fending off a concerted challenge from Motiwala who had to settle for third. Sauerman took fourth by less than half a second from fifth placed Scott. For Bakr, who looked set for a podium finish, it was disappointment as with a couple of laps to go he inexplicably ran out of fuel terminating his race and striking a blow to his Championship ambitions.

There was no stopping Moodley again in Race 2 where, by the second lap, he went off into the distance with Yake ahead of Bakr and Motiwala chasing, while Scott trailed the pace setters in what was another out of sorts weekend for the reigning UAE Champion. Engine problems dropped Bakr down the field allowing Motiwala to reel in Yake. Drama struck  on lap 13 when Yake crashed, in a corner where Peter Devlin had slipped out a lap earlier, bringing out the red flag to terminate the race prematurely – both riders escaped with bruises. Results from the previous lap 12 stood which gave Moodley his second win of the day, Yake second with Motiwala third and fourth going to Scott.

Bakr suffered his worst weekend in memory with a DNF and twelfth place. He sums up his weekend, “We ran out of fuel and had engine problems which is a big blow because the Championship is so close and not scoring points makes it very difficult to stay in contention,” said Bakr afterwards.

A clearly delighted Moodley said of his double, “It was a great day and always a great feeling to win. Aprilia gave me a fantastic motorcycle and my mechanic Dean is a wizard. Not much I can say except I am very happy. I have noticed the local guys have raised their game and I would like to think this is because of our presence on the scene.”

Bahraini Hussain Al Kooheji (Al Yousuf Yamaha) continued his dominance in the Stock 600 Class taking yet another two lights to flag victories while behind him Jason Burnside (Honda) took two second place finishes. Battling for third were Alan Boyter (Yamaha), Andrea Capoccia (Yamaha) and Steve Blackney (Honda) with Boyter taking two third places beating Blackney in Race 1 and Capoccia in the second race.

In the Superstock Class Pascal Grosjean (Liberty Kawasaki) notched up another double win day, beating Tony Jordan (Yamaha) and Peter Devlin (Honda) respectively in Race 1. In Race 2 it was Andrea Fusillo (Yamaha) who was runner-up with Jordan third.

Gulf Radical Cup: Bassam Kronfli proves a point in style
A small field lined up for the Gulf Radical Cup races with a number of drivers failing to make it on the grid. Most notably was the absence of John Stanley and Harvey Boulter, the latter having a big moment in testing the previous day when his rear tyre blew on the main straight. Class A front runner Bassam Kronfli dropped into Class C to take on young Saudi ace Fahad Al Gosaibi who has dominated the class this year. If Kronfli was out to prove a point he did so emphatically by winning both races. Teenager Al Gosaibi ran Kronfli close in the first race but a bad start in Race 2 did little for his cause as he had to carve his way through the field to take second place but had no answer for Kronfli. The battle for third place between Kaverne Mcshine and Humaid Al Masaood was the highlight of both races with McShine taking third in Race 1 and Al Masaood reversing the result to claim third in Race 2. Kronfli said of his victories, “It was important for me to measure myself against Fahad Al Gosaibi who has been amazingly quick in Class C. I am satisfied with the result all, I can say is that it went perfectly.”

UAE National Race Day 5 takes place on 27 and 28 February when the local Championships share centre stage with the Speedcar Series aces for a two day feast of motorsport at Dubai Autodrome.