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With just over a week to go before the first round of the 2010/2011 UAE National Race Season kicks off at the Dubai Autodrome, there was plenty of buzz at today’s media and test day. For reasons I won’t bore you with, your usual host and photographer at these kind of events – a Mr Phil McGovern – is currently enjoying the delights of the Paris Motor Show, so it was up to me to trek down to this track. Here’s a quick overview of what caught my eye…
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CYTECH UAE GT Championship
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There’s a lot of buzz in the paddock around this year’s GT championship, and some seriously heavy metal to boot. A lot of teams are still playing their cards very close to their chest as there’s still three weeks to go until the first GT round, but Gulf Sport wheeled out one of the GT4-spec Maserati Granturismos that will be competing this year. It’s nice to have a new brand on the grid to mix it up with the more established Astons and Porsches.
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KTM might be better known for their prowess in the UAE Desert Challenge, but the GT4-spec KTM X-Bow slots nicely into the local regs and Saad Salman was making the most of the available track time whilst scaring a few of the local media at the same time.
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Just the one car out today from the ARM boys, though if our spies are right, we could see a very healthy contingent of Porsches spread throughout the field come the first race on October 22nd.
The various motorsport workshops across town have got a busy three weeks ahead of them as cars, parts and in some cases drivers, need to be flown into town for raceday.
TOTAL UAE Touring Car Championship
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MSW’s 2009/2010 Championship-winning Seat Leon Supercopa was sitting proudly in the paddock, but we’ll have to wait another week to see the newly liveried car in action. There’s rumours of a big field of Seats competing in Class 1 this year, but there might be a few surprises in there too.
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Mohamed El-Arishi’s BMW is always well turned out thanks to the efforts of the guys at Gulf Sport and was out on track more than anything else during my time at the track today.
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The Moutran brothers have a new livery on their Clio this season – we’re sure the boys with be putting on a great show as they charge their way through the grid on race day.
Suzuki Swift Cup
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After being labelled the ‘mobile chicanes’ of the Touring Car grid last year, the Suzuki Swift Cup has been given its own standalone championship in 2010/2011. With equalised weighting and improved performance over last year’s cars, this series could prove to be a lot of fun. It’s a pretty cheap way of getting into motor racing, and series organiser Sean Stevens is hoping to get 30 cars onto the grid. More info at www.suzukicup.ae
UAE Sportscar Championship
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The long established local Radical racing series has now been encompassed into the UAE Sportscar Championship. Though it’s expected that the Radicals will make up a large contingent of the grid, the field is now open to other track-based sports cars.
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Cars like this Juno which is being entered by NFS Racing Dubai and driven by a certain Bassam Kronfli. This car is definitely going to be one to watch out on track.
Fun Cup Middle East
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Today was also the first time I had the chance to see the first Fun Cup car in the Middle East. The race formula is well-proven in Europe and local organiser Tony Burton has high hopes for the series here.
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Tony is looking for drivers and teams to compete in the first Fun Cup Middle East endurance race in January 2011, and anyone with a valid race licence is recommended to drop him a line to arrange some seat time in the car.
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These purpose-built racers might look a little bit twee, but are supposed to be rather lively out on track and the racing promises to be super close and competitive. More info at www.funcup.ae
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With these five championships, plus the local bike races, and FG1000 – not to forget the karting series – there’s a lot going on with motorsport in the UAE in the coming season. I only hope the Dubai Autodrome – and Yas Marina, who will be hosting a number of the rounds – will be able to put on a great show for the spectators who make it down.
With free entry to all – yes, free – there’s really no excuse for the grandstands to be as empty as they have been in the past. Let’s see what happens on the first raceday next Friday.
Full details of the upcoming season can be found on the Dubai Autodrome Website.
