A Quick Chat With…The Champs. Dubai, UAE

Umair Khan: UAE Touring Car Champion, Class 2

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You’ve very much been the yardstick in Class 2 this season Umair, and seemingly things couldn’t have gone any better…

“It’s been an excellent season. The start was a bit tough but after that I just wanted to maintain pace and stay on the podium. That’s what I did last year. This season the competition was a bit slimmer, especially in the latter half. But the car’s been great, and I’ll give full credit to my team. They built the car in a way that it doesn’t wear tyres, brakes, engine, or anything. They’ve basically learnt how I drive and they’ve developed everything around that.

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Considering there’s hardly been any development on the Honda Integra this year, reliability has been astonishing…

“I haven’t broken anything this year: haven’t blown an engine or…yes, a gearbox in the beginning, but it’s been much better than say three years ago, where we used to blow several engines and a couple of gearboxes during the season. Even during the Dubai 24Hrs, we finished second in-class without any troubles. I drive, but let’s be honest, it’s the team that really does the work.”

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What have you learnt from this season that you can take into the next?

“I keep telling my friends that every year you learn something new. Today I raced with old tyres, old brakes and I wanted to see what I could do with that. Every race is different though. The incidents we face….I mean the accident we had at Yas Marina was pretty big!  These are the things we face, it’s just the way it is. And interestingly, it’s made me a much calmer driver on the road!”

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Will we see you back in Class 2 next year for Championship number four?

“Next year I don’t think I’ll do Class 2 again. We’ve had three great years, but now we’re looking for something bigger and better. Fingers crossed!”