Round 7, the Final Round of the Gulf Radical Cup took place at the Dubai Autodrome. Alex Bukhantsov was now ahead in the points table, but, with double points for all three races at this last race, anything could happen.
Timo Recker was also racing in the Gulf ProCar series, so his focus could be shared, but with the likes of Ian Loggie out on track there was plenty of competition for the two series leaders to think about.
So the final Sprint Race Qualifying session of the season got underway, and in usual style it was Alex Bukh who posted a pole time, ahead of Mazza and Loggie.
At the race start Bukh took the lead from Mazza, but it was rookie Alim Geshev who slotted into third, followed by Loggie and Amir Feyzulin. But after his initial bad start, Loggie got up to speed, posting fastest lap of the race. He was able to get the better of Geshev, but the two leaders were too far away and he had to settle for third. Bukh taking the win from Mazza.
This was a perfect start so far for Bukh, however for Sprint Race two Mazza got a flying start and took the lead. The pair were nose tail pretty much for the whole 12 laps race, with Mazza crossing the line first, from Bukh. However, during the race a note from the stewards had stated that Mazza was under investigation for “excessive weaving” while trying to stay ahead. As the race came to a close this investigation turned into a 10 second penalty, putting Mazza back to second.
So after day one the title was looking good for Alex Bukh, but it was still all to play for with the final Endurance race of the season to come.
Out for qualifying, and again Bukh posted a pole time, with Mazza second. However the very experienced Amir Feyzulin had posted a time only 0.199s behind, for third.
Bukh took the lead and showed the rest of the field the way around up to the pitstops. Mazza and Feyzulin staying in close contention. Non of the top three had any pit penalty from the last race at Yas, so it was going to be down to the drivers and their teams to get them back out as quick as possible, but within the constraints of the pit stop regulations. Remarkably Amir Feyzulin was showing P1, and was fast! Mazza had been given another penalty for speeding in the pitlane, but Bukh was in second and chasing down Feyzulin for the win.
As the race got towards the 45 minute mark it became clear that Bukh did not have the pace to get on to Feyzulin and make a pass, meaning that he took his first victory in the Gulf Radical Cup (a very popular win amongst the paddock!). Alex Bukhantsov crossed the line just behind in second to take the Gulf Radical Cup title, with Mazza in third to take the Vice Champion spot in the series. There was a notable 4th place for season newcomer Igor Sorokin who had stayed out of trouble and driven a very consistent race.
Feyzulin’s win, also elevated him to 3rd overall in the series standings.
Later that night Alex Bukhantsov was crowned as the Gulf Radical Cup Champion at the end of season awards. He was also handed the prize of a funded drive in the UK Radical Cup driving the latest SR3 XXR.
