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What a weekend! The weekend of April 16-17th had been stuck in my mind for months. As strange as that may sound, having the inaugural FIA GT1 Race weekend happen at Yas Marina is not only another major milestone and step forward for Motorsport in the Middle East but candy to a child for a petrol head and racer head like me.Now not only were the monster GT1 cars rolling into town, the UAE Touring Car Championship was sat securely on the support bill. Now sadly this put the crankandpiston team in a predicament as we were not only racing in the Touring Car race with our Golf GTi but we also had to get out there and catch the action through the looking glass.
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As the weekend drew nearer and the timings seemed to stack closer and closer we decided that the race was why we were there so camera action took a back seat. That is until all hell broke loose during qualification. That is another story all together and one we will get too however what it also meant was I could get the camera out and catch some of the action unfolding in front of us.So without accreditation as I had cancelled my application I took on the challenge of seeing what I could get from the confines of the pit lane with the only lens I had packed. Take the jump for the pics and some more rambles.
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The monumentally epic Vitaphone Racing Maserati MC12 are 5 year reigning Champions and officially not up to GT1 specs however the kind team at the SRO have granted the team access and they did not disappoint. Showing great speed all weekend and as always looking stunning.
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F1 refugee and eventual race winner, Romain Grosjean at the wheel of his Matech Ford GT. A great win for the birthday boy!
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Monster R35 GTR were the cars of the weekend for me. The Swiss Racing team outfit with Karl Wendlinger behind the wheel seemed to be really hampered by the last minute equalisation weight penalty brought on by the SRO. Let’s see what happens some Silverstone as there is potential hidden away in there.
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Reiter Racing and their sexy sounding Lambo R-SV trundling past me in the pits. Amazing to look at and incredible to hear they sadly didn’t pull the pace out of the bag.
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Dream material! Can you imagine how the drivers of this R-SV felt climbing aboard??
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The Young Driver Aston Martin making its way back to the pits post scrutineering on the Thursday afternoon.
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Nissan GTR’s seem to be getting everywhere. Now the official Safety car across the GT racing series…
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The Yas Hotel is still an awe inspiring piece of art and will stand as an Icon for a long time to come.
