Round 5 of the Maserati Trofeo JBF RAK at the Dubai Autodrome saw highs and lows for a number of drivers and some of the most spectacular racing seen so far in the Middle East’s only factory-backed race series.
The UAE’s Humaid Al Masaood and Italy’s Patrick Zamparini took a win each during the 30minute races in the afternoon, but it was Lebanon’s Joe Ghanem who triumphed the most over the weekend as he secured enough points to clinch the overall Trofeo Championi prize for the 2011-2012 Maserati Trofeo JBF RAK series.
The morning session saw the 12 Maserati GranTurismo MC Trofeo race cars take to the challenging International Circuit configuration for two 20minute qualifying sessions which saw Lebanon’s Joe Ghanem and Patrick Zamparini post the fastest times of the day.
Both drivers capitalized on this great position during the first of the afternoon’s races with Patrick Zamparini taking the chequered flag after Joe Ghanem retired due to a puncture incurred after contact with the Italian driver. However, the final result was left in the balance as both drivers were called into the Stewards Office at the end of the race.
This resulted in both drivers being excluded from the race and demoted to the back of the grid for Race 2. This meant that Humaid Al Masaood took victory in his first outing in the Maserati Trofeo JBF RAK with Faisal Shaker from KSA taking 2nd and Lebanon’s Zeehog finishing 3rd.
After the drama seen in Race 1, the second of the day’s races was no less exciting as both Ghanem and Zamparini quickly overcame their penalties and worked their way through the field. The other drivers in the series didn’t make the task easy for them with Zeehog and Venezuela’s Justino de Azcarate Riiveroll putting up strong competition.
With the sun setting over the Dubai Autodrome at the end of Race 2 it was Patrick Zamparini who took the 1st position after a clean and clinical drive with Joe Ghanem following in close company. Zeehog received his second 3rd position of the day with another sterling effort.
Faisal Shaker from Team GR8 Racing in KSA had his best weekend yet in the series taking the 3rd step on the National podium in both races – an impressive achievement considering it was his first time racing in Dubai.
Further down the field Kuwait’s Khaled Al Mudhaf fought hard with Osamah Shaker in both races and took 6th in Race 1 and 8th in Race 2 with the Team GR8 Racing driver following just behind. Mohammed Jawa, the third member of Team GR8 Racing, also had a good weekend securing a 4th position in Race 1 and 6th in Race 2.
The Maserati Trofeo JBF RAK series makes its way to Yas Marina Circuit for the final round on March 22nd-23rd 2012 where the drivers will have one last chance to add to their points tally.