Race 1 - Rahul Mayer took the lead and then set the fastest lap of the race to take his first win
Dubai, 26th January 2013-Team Report – Formula Gulf 1000 – Rounds 7 & 8
The Yas Motor Racing Club hosted Rounds 7 and 8 of Formula Gulf 1000 (www.FG1000.net) on their short South Circuit, producing the most competitive racing over a busy weekend.
Throughout practice on Thursday it became clear that the races would be extremely close. After the first 20-minute shakedown session things got serious with fastest time going to Emirati driver Haytham Sultan Al Ali who was clearly motivated by a new personal sponsor for the weekend in the form of SKYDIVE DUBAI (www.skydivedubai.ae). On worn Dunlop slicks that he had raced with at the previous event in Dubai he set the third fastest lap of the whole weekend at 1:01.116 demonstrating his intent very clearly. In the last practice session it was 16 year old Rahul Mayer who set the pace with a blisteringly quick lap of 1:01.375 just ahead of the impressive Natasha Seatter on 1:01:422. With the four fastest drivers separated by only four tenths of a second around a 2.234 kms circuit we were in for an exciting qualifying session the next morning.
Haytham Sultan Al Ali motivated by a new personal sponsor SkyDive Dubai
Although Friday’s track activities were delayed by sea mist until 10am, which left part of the circuit damp in places (especially as the race circuit goes underneath the Yas Viceroy Hotel), this did absolutely nothing to dampen the enthusiasm of the region’s top young racers.
As they explored the track for grip during their 20 minute qualifying session, the leaderboard changed constantly with no less than four different leaders taking provisional pole. But it was the fast improving 18 year old Spanish/American Nick Canal who managed to run the very last lap of the session to record a 1:01.588 lap on new slicks, just 120 thousandths of a second faster than ‘Superlady’ Seatter, setting up an electrifying front row for the first of two 22 lap races.
Round 7 got underway with Canal setting the pace whilst Seatter got tangled up with another car whose front wing inflicted a slow but ultimately fatal puncture to her rear left tyre. So nine laps later, having regained the lead and now coming under pressure from Canal, the rear tyre deflated enough to pitch the right front of the car up in the air as she was braking from over 200kph into the left handed Turn 11 just as Canal made his move for the lead. Contact was made which resulted in Canal slowing, Rahul Mayer taking the lead and then setting the fastest lap of the race to take his first win and Seatter retiring after her tyre disintegrated as she tried in vain to finish the race.
Haytham Sultan Al Ali was on the pace taking third place and a trophy to give to his new sponsor! Of note was the impressive lap time of the Yas Marina Circuit supported rookie driver Saeed Bintouq who recorded a 1:02.003 in only his fourth event. We also saw a great drive from Indian driver Harsh Rajpal who finished the race in 4th place with a best lap of 1:02.158.
Round 8 was even more eventful with Canal getting the holeshot at the start, but then braked too early for Turn 1 which allowed most of the pack to get by him. Seatter, now with some 10 years of racing experience behind her took full advantage of the chaos and went from last to first place by the time they got to Turn 4. The race turned into a Seatter demonstration of perfect driving except for one thing; Canal set the fastest lap of the race (and the weekend) at 1:01.022 whilst hurriedly making his way back through the pack to finish in an amazing 2nd place. Mayer had to settle for 3rd place after struggling with a soft brake peddle.
The fact that all of the Formula Gulf 1000 drivers were able to race flat out for 50kms with fastest laps that varied by less than 2 seconds was not lost on spectators, teams and organisers, and bodes well for the future of single seater racing in the UAE.
Abu Dhabi’s Khaled Al Qubaisi, former kart racer, GT racer and two-time Winner of the 24Hours of Dubai said “Abu Dhabi invested heavily in the development of what is now widely considered as the best Grand Prix facilities in the world. We have since hosted four Formula One World Championship events. These races were won by Vettel, Hamilton and Raikkonen who had all graduated from kart racing to junior single seater series before progressing to higher level competition. Formula Gulf 1000, a world-class driver development program for our ambitious kart racers, provides the first step on the ladder to International racing and hopefully to F1. The one-make / one team approach with shared data and a top driver coach working with all the drivers will for sure fast-track our brightest young drivers on their way to stardom and I wholeheartedly support this exciting initiative by the very experienced GulfSport Racing team.”
Round 7
1st Rahul Maher
2nd Nick Canal
3rd Haytham Sultan Al Ali
4th Harsh Rajpal
5th Saeed Bintouq
6th Natasha Seatter
DNS Weiron Tan
Round 8
1st Natasha Seatter
2nd Nick Canal
3rd Rahul Mayer
4th Haytham Sultan Al Ali
5th Harsh Rajpal
6th Saeed Bintouq
DNS Weiron Tan
