Pokerface 1 // UAE GT Racing Season 2009 – 2010 // A Look Back

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It’s summer right now in the Middle East and while racetracks around the rest of the world are packed with action we are deep in the hibernation of the off season.

Beneath the calm surface there’s a serious high stakes poker game underway though and make no mistake – this is one serious game we’re talking here. Serious as in there are egos, reputations and many tens (and often hundreds) of thousands of dirhams on the table, with and each player deadly serious about one thing and one thing only – winning.

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It wasn’t always quite so serious. Not so long ago everybody was racing around in whatever hopped up road going car they could convert for track use and having at it. Those days are long gone though. As we write this right now deals are being signed, race cars and mechanics are being sourced and flown in from top teams all around the world and many local drivers are off in Europe fine tuning their skills in European championships. Everyone is looking for an edge, and the veil of secrecy is impenetrable.

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Let’s rewind a bit though. The past 2009-2010 season saw the announcement of the new National GT Championship, which introduced pseudo-endurance style GT3 level racing to the Middle East for the first time ever. During the great Summer Speculation of 2009- 2010 following the announcement it was anyone’s guess as to what kind of machinery would actually show up to contest this brand new series given the budgets involved. Much speculation and cloak-and-daggers activity ensued.

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When it was finally time for everyone to lay their carefully guarded hand of cards on the table a surprisingly wide collective arsenal of exotic weaponry was revealed and it became apparent that certain folks were very serious indeed about not only taking part in, but ruthlessly dominating this new Championship.

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The 2009-2010 National GT Championship that followed ultimately proved to be a huge success, with a healthy level of interest and innovation on show as the cut throat pace of competition forced the local teams to continually raise their game in order fight off not only one another but a handful of international level teams that made an appearance on the grid.

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The 2009 – 2010 season was something of a revolution then – a complete paradigm shift from club level to international levels in terms of how motorsports is run in the region, and all in the span of one year. The stage is already being set for another epic battle to come in 2010-2011 but as we wait for this year’s winning hands to be revealed let’s take a look back at the UAE GT weapons of choice in 2009-2010 and just what made last season such a turning point.