Alex Annivas versus Ramzi Moutran
29 March 2013-The penultimate UAE National Race Day of the 2012-2013 season took place at Dubai Autodrome on Friday, 29 March with races for Motorcity UAE Sportbikes, NGK Racing Series and Formula Gulf 1000.
With only two races left to run this season Costas Papantonis continued unchallenged to the title, taking a double win on the day at the wheel of his Gulf Petrochem SEAT.
Behind him it is quite the opposite as both the Class 2 and Clio Cup titles were and remain up for grabs and racing was as close as it gets.
Rupesh Channake in the Lap57 Honda did the business, taking wins in both Class 2 races and keeping his title chances alive for the season finale.
Channake said, “It is good to have the car going strong after the problems we had earlier in the season. It is good to win both races, and of course the target is to win the title again. But there is still some work to do. We will see what happens.”
Chasing hard in both races were Renault Clio duo Alexandros Annivas in the Gulf Petrochem backed car and Ramzi Moutran in the Duel Racing machine. There was nothing to separate the two all day long, as they slugged it out not only for Class 2 points but also for the ‘race within a race’ Clio Cup.
Annivas did his championship ambitions no harm as he won his categories in both races albeit by the smallest margins from Moutran on each occasion. In race one the difference as they crossed the line was 0.201 seconds and in the second race a mere 0.145 seconds was the gap.
Annivas said afterwards, “It was a tough day out there. It is getting hotter and hotter, so really we had to work hard and minimize the amount of mistakes. Two wins is good for the us in the championship and with only two races remaining the target is the Clio Cup title. Winning the Class 2 championship would be a bonus.”
Rupesh Channake leads Ramzi Moutran and Alex Annivas during the NGK Racing Series race battle for Class 2 honours
