Round 1 & 2 Race Report

After a long and nervous summer waiting to see if the world would allow racing again, it finally arrived - the 2020/21 Gulf Radical Cup at the Dubai Autodrome!

11 drivers, from 7 different countries were on the entry list for Round 1 and 2 on the 3.5km Dubai Autodrome National track.

In testing on Wednesday and Thursday it was Alex Khateeb posting the fastest times, but there were plenty of seasoned drivers and some very impressive new drivers close behind him, only time would tell, with all to be revealed in Q1 Friday morning.

Weather in the UAE from November to March is about as good as its gets,  and Friday morning saw air temperatures of about 27 degrees, but the wind had picked up, bringing some dust to the track.

All 11 cars rolled out at 08:45 for Q1. Drivers are only allowed to use one set of tyres for Q1, Q2, Race 1 and Race 2, so keeping the laps to a minimum in qualifying is really very important, if you want a compliant car at the end of race two some 200km of race pace driving later.

Al Hameedi (UAE)

But with new, un-scrubbed tyres, and dust on the track it would take a few laps to see the times fall into place. But in the end, the top three all placed their best lap on lap 8, with Khateeb (UK) posting a blistering 1.24.557, Francis (DEN) putting in his best lap ever on a 1.25.630 for second, and first time qualifier Al Hameedi from the UAE posting an amazing 1.25.701 for third. However, with 2nd to 7th all being covered by only 1 second its was going be close!

Only 10 minutes separate Q1 and Q2, no changes or refuelling allowed, drivers just wait in the car, take on a little water and are straight back out to show what they have! 

With tyres at near operating temps from the first lap, it was expected to see the drivers posting their times early on, and so they did! On lap three the front two rows were set!. That was Khateeb on a 1.24.485, Francis going faster again on a 1.25.363, with another new comer, Tarik Kerbouci in his new SR3 XX on a 1.25.445 and Ian Roberts (UK) for fourth on a 1.25.680. Again, 2nd to 9th place was covered by just one second!

A couple of hours later, saw the start of Race 1. All 11 cars were flagged off for the formation lap, but as the cars came round turn 16, it looked like formation had been thrown out the window! Approach speed is meant to be 50 km/h set by the pole sitter, but the cars came flying round the last corner and not in formation, however the starter turned off the red light and they race was on.

Khateeb took an early lead, with Roberts, Curtis (UK) and Khazzoum (LEB) chasing him down. However Khateeb was able to get up to speed quick and pull a comfortable gap. This left a group of drivers jostling for 2nd to 5th. Another newcomer James Sweetnam (UK) had a spin and took a hard knock to the side of his car, taking him out of the race on lap one, but he was able to get away from the track so racing could continue.

Khateeb (UK)

Into the mandatory pitstop it was Khateeb with a decent lead and with all drivers having to stop for the same 45 seconds in the pits the race was his to take!

However about 10 laps from the end of the race the flying Emirati Al Hameedi suffered a technical problem leaving his car marooned just off the track going on to the last corner, forcing the officials to deploy the safety car. After what seemed like an age, the car was finally removed and racing could resume with just three laps to go. But with all the cars now bunched up it would be very close. Khateeb was able to get the jump, followed by Roberts, Curtis and Kerbouci! With Roberts struggling to get past a back marker Curtis and Kerbouci slipped through, and on the penultimate lap Kerbouci made a pass on Curtis for second. So that meant Khateeb took the first win of season, Kerbouci for an incredible second and Curtis taking third.

Kerbouci (FRA)

However, and despite the very fast and messy start, Kerbouci was handed a very tough 30 second penalty pushing him back to 8th on the official results, and promoting Roberts to the last step of the podium. This was a crying shame for Kerbouci given this was his first race in any formula - but no one ever said racing was fair and race 2 was only a matter of hours away!

Race 1 - 1st Khateeb, 2nd Curtis and 3rd Roberts

Race 2 took place a coupe of hours later (normally held the following day), this time the first 4 drivers had had a talking to from the Clerk Of the Course and were under strict orders to keep formation at the start. Again Khateeb formed up at the front of the grid, and sure enough he came round the last corner at a nice steady pace, but it was Francis on the front row next to him that lagged behind, leaving Khateeb to again take the advantage at the start.

Ex A1 GP racer used his experience against the rest of the field to again pull an early lead, he now had an extra 15 seconds to make up for given the success pit stop penalty he picked from from his race 1 win. He was being pushed hard though by new comer and very determined Kerbouci in his fluro yellow SR3 XX. Hot on his heals was also Roberts and Francis! However on lap 10 Khateeb slowed and was passed by Kerbouci, and then Roberts and Francis. This lead to great excitement on the pit wall from the GulfSport team as this saw their three drivers first, second and third going in to the pitstops. 

Francis (DEN)

However their attention was turned quickly to the pit lane when all three GulfSport cars came in for their pitstops together. Kerbouci first, followed by Francis and Roberts who was carrying a 5 second success penalty from race one. But with Kerbouci stalling leaving his pit box Roberts was right behind him, closely followed by Francis. So the three of them set off to race out the last 15 laps. However Roberts would loose control of his car through the tricky turn 6 while trying to chase Kerbouci letting past the charging Francis and Russian driver Amir Feyzulin.

Kerbouci drove a remarkable race from start to finish, setting the record straight from his first race penalty, and taking a win in his new SR3 XX on his second ever race. A well deserved second for Nicolas Francis who had proved great pace all weekend and also a fantastic third for Feyzulin, who was also driving better than ever in his SR3 this weekend. However Amir was initially denied the podium given a hasty penalty handed out by the stewards which was later corrected - but this gave Khazzoum a rather pointless trip to the podium, only to be told he could not keep the trophy - he offered to sell it back!

Talking to Tarik Kerbouci the race he added:

“I would like to thank the Gulf Radical Cup. The race weekend was organised with great detail and care. I was happy to have my first race at the Dubai Autodrome and the result I had to take a win was amazing. This really would not have been possible without the amazing support and possibilities given to me by my sponsor of Ellington Properties (https://ellingtonproperties.ae). Also, i’d like to thank my team GulfSport Racing, family and friends who were there to support us!”

Race 2 - 1st Kerbouci, 2nd Francis & 3rd Khazzoum

Series sponsor Meritus Developments were on hand to present trophies, interestingly there were 6 different drivers on the podium for both races!

Khateeb narrowly leads the overall standings from Kerbouci by just two points, with Amir Feyzulin in 3rd.

Roberts (UK)

Pre Season Test Review

Ian Roberts posted the second fastest time at the Pre Season Test

The Gulf Radical Cup Pre Season test took place yesterday at the Dubai Autodrome, with 7 of the championship drivers taking the opportunity to get a step ahead of the rest of the field before next weeks first event.

Running on the National Circuit (the same track for the first rounds next week), saw three drivers dipping into times in the 1m25s, getting close to race pace! This also proved as a very valuable 3.5 hours of Radical only test time for a couple of drivers that will be making their racing debut next week.

Johnny Khazzoum who took part in the test commented:

“It was a wonderful experience to be a part of the Gulf Radical Cup Pre Season Test, it was highly productive having the track exclusive for Radicals and very well organized by GulfSport Racing. The 3 and a half hours were more than enough to test and help us get ready for the race. It's electrifying to know that there will be more cars on the gridline on the first race. 

My personal experience with three events last season was absolutely phenomenal; hence I decided to participate in the full Championship 2020-2021! Gearing up with full-throttle practice sessions and a month-long preparation, I am truly thrilled and excited for the upcoming races. I am looking forward to a challenging and competitive race with the gentlemen. I would like to wish everyone all the best and a safe Racing season this year. Of course id like to thank my sponsors this year Fusion5 Advertising, Steppi, Food to Go and Supercarsmajlis.”

Johnny Khazzoum - last racing at Yas Marina last season.

The latest SR3 XX on track at the Pre Season Test

Including the Dragon Wednesday test on the 11th prior to the event, there is a total of 8.5 hours of track time available to drivers for the first event!

Rounds 1 and 2 see both races and qualifying take place on the Friday (13th), so it will not only be important to be quick but maybe the fittest drivers might emerge first at the finish line!

Below is the provisional entry list for Round 1 and 2 at this stage. Also here is a link to the event timetable.

New Drivers, Series Partners & Pre Season Test and Final Date Confirmed!

Its just over 5 weeks to go until the start of the 2020/21 Gulf Radical Cup (GRC), and it's very exciting to make some announcements!

Firstly, Meritus Development (www.meritusdevelopment.com) have signed as a new series sponsor. Their financial support to the series will allow the GRC to keep a check on ever escalating costs handed down from the circuits and also make some other enhancements to trophy’s and awards.

CEO of Meritus Development, Andrew Lemon (ex GRC competitor 2006 to 2008) said:

“Ever since I took my last chequered flag in the 2008 Gulf Radical Cup, I have wanted to be back there soaking up the great atmosphere that is always in the GRC paddock. To have Meritus Development involved to help support and improve the series is a pleasure.”

To help kick the season off, there will be an exclusive Gulf Radical Cup Pre Season Test at the Dubai Autodrome, in the morning of the 2nd of November. This exclusive, Radical only track time will be great testing for the first round, a couple of weeks later. The entry fee will be AED 2,950 for this exclusive track time, on the National layout, the same as Rounds 1 and 2. Entry link HERE.

Yas Marina Circuit have confirmed another race date in March 2021, meaning that we can formally announce that rounds 13 and 14 will take place on the 18th to the 20th of March, now meaning that the 2021 Gulf Radical Cup Champion will be crowned at the Yas Marina Circuit for the first time in many years.

Even with just over 5 weeks to go, there is a provisional entry list of 10 drivers for the first race in November, with new cars on the way (an SR3 XX arrived on the UAE two weeks ago), we are looking forward to a great grid, despite the current global difficulties.

New drivers to be announced are the likes of racing ace Alex Khateeb, last season sharing with Johnny Khazzoum (also returning this season) on occasion. Now with his own car, Alex is out there to try and take full honours! Another new addition to the grid is UK businessman James Sweetnam. Both Alex and James will be running with AUH Motorsports. In addition, GulfSport Racing will be running the latest SR3XX and SR10 (in its own class) with two new drivers hailing from France.

Fred Jacobs from Gulf Radical Cup said:

“We are getting pretty excited as the season approaches, and are really pleased with these announcements and progress being made given the world we live in right now. I think its testament to the reputation the Gulf Radical Cup that people keep giving their support year on year!”

Click the link here to take a look at the latest season race schedule and also click here for the online entry form for the November 2nd Pre Season Test.

Save the date!

It’s true to say we live in a somewhat uncertain world now, however as the world get used to the new normal a lot of work has been going on with the race circuits, the motorsport federation EMSO and ourselves to get back on track and racing.

There is now a slightly revised 2020/21 race schedule on which we can at this point confirm 6 of the 7 events. The 7th event (likely to take place at Yas), will be confined in due course. We felt it better not to wait for that, but to publish these 6 dates to allow drivers and teams to start planning ahead.

For the first time in many years the racing season will kick on in Dubai and not at the usual event at Yas Marina Circuit at the end of October. This is due to the changes in the F1 schedule, with that event now being run in November. However with continued difficulty in travel to Abu Dhabi we have taken the decision to not start racing at Yas until the start of 2021. There are a lot of discussions going on behind the scenes but again we felt it best to commit to what we have and that means starting the season in Dubai in November and then again back there in December.

Sereis Co-ordinator Fred Jacobs added:

“Its been a really odd time of course, but it's looking really great for the new season. We have a slightly delayed start to the season, but given the way the world is now we are all a little more conditioned to being flexible! However, the season will get underway at the Dubai Autodrome and we look forward to welcoming everyone back”

As usual we are welcoming back faces from last season but are also pleased to see new faces signing up for the first race in November. We will start to release driver and team details over the coming weeks.

For now we hope to see you at the track in the lead up to the start of the racing season, many drivers have continued to do trackdays throughout the summer. 

If you have not entered the series yet, and are looking to, or are indeed new to the Gulf Radical Cup community, then please get in touch and let us now how we can assist you.

Entries Open for Gulf Radical Cup

The Gulf Radical Cup is scheduled to re-start after the summer in the UAE. 

With the 2019/20 season coming to an end right before the COVID-19 lockdown everyone looks forward in anticipation for the new season!

Organiser of the series, GulfSport Racing have in place a provisional calendar and have started taking early entries.

GulfSport’s Martin Hope said:

“We are very pleased that we are able to schedule our 2020/21 calendar, we expect there to maybe be some tweaks but with the Gulf Radical Cup is the only series in the region running 7 events, we are looking forward to a busy winter of racing, all the drivers are keen to get back out there after this long break.”

Already signed up, and taking advantage of the early entry offer (closed end of June), is new comer Marcus Bamberg. Having bought his Radical SR3 RSX last season he very diligently spent the winter testing making sure he was up to speed, by the time he made his debut in the 2020/21 season he was right on the pace.

Marcus said:

“I have been doing trackdays in the UAE for a few years in my Lotus. However I was constantly being overtaken on track by very quick Radicals. So naturally as a driver you are always looking to go faster. It was actually significantly cheaper to get my hands on an SR3 than start to look at big Supercars, even then I think the Radicals would still come pass me. But more than the speed is the racing! The Gulf Radical Cup community is very friendly, but also great competitors out on track! Im looking forward to my first full season!”

Another new comer from the previous season is Johnny Khazzoum, he also came from many trackdays in his Radical, but also put in some great performances last season.

2020/21 Vice Champion and going for the crown this season is D5 Racing’s Jeff Curtis. Having finished 3rd over all in the season before Jeff is on track for his best season yet.

With some new drivers testing in the off season we hope to see one new faces.

Entires remain open and GulfSport are working closely with drivers to make sure they can cater for local and foreign drivers.

Series regulations are also with the UAE Federation and are hoped to be published soon.

If you are thinking at racing in the Gulf Radical Cup or want to take part in a Radical trial day with GulfSport Racing, then please get in touch.

Race 13 & 14 Report

Due to the global Issue of the Corona virus a few drivers were forced to drop out from the last race of the season. In fact a directive from the Dubai Sports on Thursday temporarily had the weekend cancelled due to concerns over the virus, however this was later retracted. We were unable however for unknown reasons to hold any podium presentations has a result.

Non the less the main championship contenders were all still there and ready to race!

Going into the weekend Jani Hjerppe had a lead of 44 points, but with double points for both races at the last event it meant that 112 points were still to collect, it was wide open! Even Sean Simpson sitting in third could jump up the order with a good weekend and take the honours!

So in Q1 series leader Hjerppe was on track (this weekend sharing with GRC regular Mantyla). Also out in Q1 was James Edmeades sitting second place with his co-driver Jeff Curtis on 198 points. With only 15 minutes to put down your best lap its was going to come down to the wire. Seven laps in it was Hjerppe to show his hand with a 1:25.018, he seemed pretty safe with that until on the last flying lap Edmeades dropped a 1:24.837 to take the pole!

Ten minutes later Q2 started, those with a two driver pairing had to switch. Sean Simpson was very quickly on the pace setting a pole laps 6 in with a 1:25.549. Showing real pace for the first time was Steve Adams posting the other front row time. However, Jeff Curtis on the penultimate lap denied Steve that glory, initially pipping him by just 0.05 of a second, and then finding 0.3 more on the last lap.

Race 1 started a few hours later, at the start a bunch of cars ran wide while jostling into position, James Edmeades emerged in the lead with Hjerppe right behind him. Newcomer (and on his first ever race start) was Marcus Bamberg, doing very well in the middle of the pack.

Steve Adams in third had Konstantin Gugkaev chasing him, with the gap never any more than 0.3 of a second it was certainly Adams feeling the pressure. For 11 laps they were nose to tail, but when Adams came into turn 16 just a little too hot he span out and gifted the place to Gugkaev.

Coming into the pitstops Edmeades handed over to Curtis and Hjerppe handed over to Mantyla, but after two laps the Dream Racing car of Manyla did not come around. The car had been retired on track with a suspension failure! This potentially opened up the race for Jeff to walk of in to the lead. 

However, Sean Simpson had other ideas, lapping consistently faster than Curtis, putting him on course to be right behind Curtis on the last lap, if Curtis did not falter! Falter he didn’t, and sure enough Simpson was right in his mirrors on the last lap, but it wasn’t enough, and Curtis sailed over the line 0.0365 ahead for victory. This meant that Edmeades/Curtis now took the lead of the series!

So, the last race of the season was about to start, and technically Hjerppe, Curtis/Edmeades and Simpson could still take the honours!

Indeed, it was Simpson that had the bit between his teeth and lead away from the start, a lead that he would maintain all the way to the flag, great effort, but would it be enough! 

It was Adams who got the jump on Curtis and was running second. This would remain until the pitstop with Curtis unable to find a way past. Due to the pit penalty Curtis & Edmeades had picked up in race one Adams was able to extend his lead over them, but Hjerppe had slip passed him in the pitstop. So, it was Simpson out front, followed by Hjerppe, Adams and Edmeades some 8 seconds down the road. 

Edmeades was able to pull in Adams over a couple of laps, but struggled (as did Curtis) to get past. Nearing the last few laps of the race he found a way past, but Edmeades did not have the pace to get close to Hjerppe. Fastest lap went to Hjerppe and this would prove critical, as that pulled him level on points with Curtis & Edmeades as the crossed the finish line. In this situation Sporting Regulations dictate that points ties are resolved by the driver that has won most races, and in this situation that means Hjerppe takes another series title with 5 wins, over Curtis & Edmeades 3.

By winning the 2019/20 Gulf Radical Cup in his 240kph, 226bhp two seater Radical SR3, Hjerppe wins the opportunity to race on the famous Silverstone Grand Prix with the Radical UK Factory Team, and Curtis/Edmeades receive a fully funded test in an LMP3 car in Spain with Virage Racing. The 2020/21 Gulf Radical Cup, one of ten Radical championships that run in  will commence in October and will be the 15th continuous season of this very popular, and the UAE’s longest running circuit, race series.

Round 11 & 12 Race Report

Race 1 got underway with Hjerppe on the Pole with Edmeades second. However it was the storming Khateeb that took the lead by the end of the first lap, the three of them were nose to tail. Along with Gugkaeve and Simpson chasing hard to latch to the back it was pretty much 5 cars nose to tail. Meanwhile Francis had run off the road and left himself with some work to do. Clark and Feyzulin were also matching each other’s times chasing the lead pack.

Coming close to the pit stop window the leaders stayed out for as long as they could, but with some penalties left over from the last race it was Gugkaev that was able to pick up the lead from the pitstops. Curtis had taken his seat in the No4. D5 SR3 and was running third on the road with Aalerud taking over from Hjerppe. Khazzoum had taken over from Khateeb, but after a couple of laps out of the pits he can back in with a mechanical problem. Disaster also struck for Gugkaev who was given a drive through penalty for a pit stop infringement. Turns out of came in to the pits 7 seconds after the pit stop window had closed.

Drivers are allowed to exit the pits after the window has closed but must have entered it before so.

Anyway, this handed the lead to Curtis, with Aalerud chasing. Simpson had made it up to third and holding it well.

Curtis held his nerve, and kept putting in consistent laps to take a well earned win, Hjerppe/Aalerud took second with Simpson third.

Race 2 took place the next day, Gugkaev took an early lead chased by Curtis, but it was Khazzoum that got a great start from the back of the grid to get up to fifth. His start was under investigation for some laps, but it was deemed good and he continued with no penalty. Pushing hard Khazzoum was able to pass Curtis before both handed over to their co-drivers. But with a win in Race 1 Curtis & Edmeades had a 15 second “success penalty”, so dropped down the order. With no penalty Gugkaev he was able to extend his lead even more, now chased by Hjerppe and Simpson with Khateeb closing fast. 

After few laps Khateeb was close enough to Simpson to make a move at turn 12, but they came together and Khateeb slipping through. However the stewards deemed it a little too optimistic and penalised him 10 seconds for the contact.

Meanwhile Edmeades had caught with Simpson, but was unable to get past. Post race it was apparent that Simpson had an oil leak as the front of the D5 Car of Edmeades was covered in oil

Hjerppe leads the series from Curtis/Edmeades but with double points available it can still go either away. 

Round 9 & 10 Race Report

Only a short two week break since the last Gulf Radical Cup event and it was back to business at the Yas Marina Circuit again.

Again, testing took place on the Thursday with three hours of open pitlane running with a GRC only test later that afternoon, and it was there James Edmeades set a new “un-official” lap record (series now running on Hankook tyres) of 2:15.700, certainly setting the pace for the weekend to come.

The next morning it was actually new comer, but very experienced racer Alex Khateeb (sharing with Johnny Khazzoum) who took the pole with a 2:16.881.

The race got underway with good start for Khateeb taking the lead with Hjerppe chasing hard, but Khateeb held good pace to keep the lead when handing the car over to his team mate. Curtis who had a spin on the opening lap and dropping to the back was able to get back up to 4th when he handed the car his team make Edmeades. Khazoom tried his hardest to keep up the blistering pace of his team mate to keep Hjerppe behind him, but it wasn’t enough and Hjerppe passed to take the win. Also showing great pace was Nicolas Francis who was able to snatch second place in the closing laps. Edmeades had managed to get to the back of Khazoom, but threw the car off on the last lap trying to make a last map manoeuvre for 3rd!

The next day is was Edmeades on pole. However at the start there was contact between Edmeades, Hjerppe and Francis. The stewards decided that the contact had originated from Francis, and the damage at the front of his car certainly seemed to confirm that. He was handed a drive through penalty. Meanwhile Sean Simpson got his head down and lead from the front, putting in a string of consistent laps. Edmeades and Hjerppe were charging hard to get back as far up the field as they could.

Steve Adams and Amir Feyzulin were nose to tale with Feyzulin taking advantage of a slow get away for Adams to get ahead in the pits stops, however Adams was able to pass Feyzulin on track going into turn 8. The move seemed to get the attention of race control initially, but was later deemed and legal overtaking move! However Adams had the charging Francis on his tale but was able to keep him behind all the way to the end of the race.

It was indeed Simpson who took a well deserved win, running a faultless race! Hjerppe had made it back to second and Curtis continued the good work of his team mate Edmeades to take third.

Round 7 & 8 Race Report

Rounds 7 & 8 took place at the Yas Marina Circuit, under the lights on the full F1 track.

As usual Gulf Radical Cup drivers were the first to roll out when the pit lane went green for the usual three hour open pitlane on the Thursday morning. GulfSport Racing driver coach Tommy Erdos was in Ian Roberts’s 2019 SR3 to help improve the balance of the car around the 21 corners of the Yas Marina Circuit, and within 8 laps he had posted some fantastic times and given great feedback to the team. Ian then jumped in the car setting a personal best time, unfortunately for Ian he would not be able to race the weekend due to work commitments.

Meanwhile the rest of the field were honing their skills and setup in preparation for Q1 the next morning. Fran Cush had an incident into turn eight hitting hard the wall and damaging the front and rear of his car, he as fine and the car was rebuilt over night to allow himself and co driver Neil Clark to make the qualifying session.

The first race got underway with reigning champion and series leader Jani Hjerppe on the Pole. The safety car was deployed due to a stopped car on track (Ben Freer), after two laps the race was restarted but with current leader Jeff Curtis closely following the safety car he was handed a questionable drive through penalty, which was served by his team mate James Edmeades just as they came out of the pit stops. This put Steve Adams in the lead but he was being chased hard by Hjerppe and Francis, they passed him into turn 8, shortly after Steve saw an opportunity to re take the lead but a little too eager on the loud pedal saw him rotate the car and come to rest blocking the track. With an apparent clutch issue it took him time to get the car restarted and by the time he did the safety car had been deployed. 

This meant Francis lined up behind the safety car, and this is how the race finished as the safety car only pitted as the car approached the chequered flag. However controversy continued in Parc Ferme as news broke that Francis also appeared to also breach safety car conditions and was penalised the equivalent time penalty for what would have been a drive through penalty. This handed victory to Hjerppe, second to Amir Feyzulin and third to Konstantin Tutulov. However after closer scrutiny of the series Sporting Regulations and protest of the penalised drivers the stewards took the unique decision to reverse time lost from the drive through penalty given to Edmeades/Curtis and time penalty to Francis, instead, handing a much lesser 5 second penalty. Given the all cars were bunched up due to the second safety car this of course handed a significant victory to Edmeades/Curtis. Needless to say there was some head scratching in the paddock post race trying to unpick the ASN Stewards decisions!

Race 2 took place the next day under slightly more settled circumstances with Hjerppe taking a win from Edmeades/Cutis and Francis third.

With only a short 2 week break everyone would be back for GP circuit again for Rounds 9 and 10.

Round 5 & 6 Race Report

With only a short gap of 11 days after Round 3 and 4, and on the same glorious Dubai Autodrome GP circuit everything was still fresh in the minds of the teams and drivers going into Round 5 and 6.

It was set to be a packed schedule with both qualifying and races on Friday, and first out at 0840 for Q1. As the cars started rolling over the line at the end of 15 minute session it was Ian Roberts holding pole with a 2.05.110 with Sean Simpson on a 2.05.140 for second. But last over the line was Jeff Curtis putting a 2.04.673 to claim his first ever pole in the GRC!

Only 5 minutes later the siren rang out to indicate the start of Q2, and with tyres still hot the quick times came fast. James Edmeades very quickly made his mark with a 2.03.400, Ian Roberts upped his game putting in a 2.04.078, as did Sean Simpson on a 2.04.581 for third.

Race 1 started with a great start from Ian Roberts, but a poor start from pole sitter Jeff Curtis, dropping to 4th. It was pretty much nose to tail up to the pits stops with Roberts, followed by Hjerppe, Smith and Simpson. Curtis had dropped to sixth and was applying pressure to Ben Freer, it seemed to work and he span out at turn 11. Ian came in at the first chance, and with no pit penalty carrying over from the last race he stood a great chance to get back out in the lead, with his closest rival Hjerppe having the full 15 second penalty from Round 4. So after the pit stops were done it was indeed Roberts out front, but with the charging Edmeades behind.

Roberts was holding his nerve with Edmeades edging closer and closer, into turn 16 on the last lap he saw his chance and lunged to try and take the lead. However carry a little too much speed meant Edmeades car slid sideways and in a bizarre moment their rear wing endplates interlocked, spinning them both off the track. Roberts ended up facing the right way starring at the waving chequered flag, while Edmeades had a nice view of the Hotel but looking the wrong way. Roberts quickly got going again and still managed to cross the line in first, with Edmeades just behind. Luckily for both of them Simpson had an off track moment a few laps earlier opening up a bigger gap, otherwise it would have been a win for him for sure! Smith had pulled up a few laps earlier with a gearbox issue. Lower down the pack, the driving combo of Clark and Cush had found some pace and for many early laps were pursuing Feyzulin, while new driver Francis showed great pace getting into the 2.05’s!

All eyes were on Edmeades and Roberts as they pulled into Parc Ferme to see the reaction from the incident. However, hugs was the reaction, laughter and congratulations! It shows the great respect amongst the GRC drivers to see fair, close but hard racing! 

Race two got underway a few hours later with Pole sitter Edmeades looking to set the record straight from the last corner action in Race 1 (considered a racing incident by the officials), and that he did, taking a commanding lead in the early laps. Roberts followed in second but with Hjerppe in hot pursuit. However this time the tables were turned and it was Roberts who had the pitstop penalty from Race 1. So, after the pit stops and completed it was Curtis (who had taken the car over from Edmeades), followed by Hjerppe, then Simpson and Roberts.

Hjerppe caught Curtis, but then followed lap, after lap of cat and mouse between the two, both holding their nerve. Incidentally this weekend had seen some of the best driving from the D5 sponsored driver of Curtis! 

Simpson fell foul a few laps later to the ever growing bumps at the exit of turn 12, and he found himself pirouetting over the exit curb. But Roberts that was on a charge, trying to make back the 15 seconds extra he had to endure on the pits. He was the fastest man on track lapping about a second a lap faster than the leaders. But with a 6 second gap and 6 laps to go, maybe we were heading for a last lap lunge as we saw in Race 1!

Never was it truer to say, but ‘one more lap’ and Roberts may have had his chance for a double, but it was not to be. The three crossed the line nose to tail, with Hjerppe wining from Curtis and Roberts in third!

A great days racing! A break now, until the middle of January when the GRC returns again to the full GP circuit at Yas Marina.