UAE National Racing: Yas Marina Circuit hosts GTs, Supercars and Touring cars

Abu Dhabi, 14 Dec 2010 – The UAE’s leading drivers will be racing at Yas Marina Circuit this weekend when National Race Day comes to Abu Dhabi on Friday 17 December. The race schedule includes the Total UAE Touring Car Championship, the UAE Sportscar Championship and the Cytech UAE GT Championship and Suzuki Swift Cup.

“This is a big weekend for UAE motorsport at a national level,” said Malek Al Rashedi, Senior Director of Yas Marina Circuit. “In the past, UAE national racing has taken place at Yas Marina Circuit to support international racing events on the island. This is the first time we’ve had an event dedicated to national racing, and I know the teams and drivers are fired up and eager to impress.
“This is a great opportunity for people to see some of the best drivers in the UAE compete at Yas on the same track driven by the Formula 1 stars just four weeks ago. Spectators can get close to the action and wander through the paddock to see the teams and drivers prepare for their races. We can look forward to a day of close and exciting competition.”

Racing will take place on the 3.1 km North Circuit and the programme of events will run from 09:20 until 17:30, with the first race at 11.10. Admission costs AED 25, including grandstand seating, with children under 12 free of charge.

Cytech UAE GT Championship

After a disastrous first round in Dubai, when neither of their two cars finished, the House of Portier has bounced back strongly to become the team to beat in both the GTA and GTB Class of the country’s premier racing series, the Cytech UAE GT Championship.

In the cockpit of the striking orange, silver and white GTA car are multiple UAE champion Karim Al Azhari and French ace Fanien Giroix. Those likely to upset the form book include Julian Griffin in the NS Dodge Viper and the pairing of Raed Hassan and Bassam Kronfli in their nimble MSW Ginetta.
Sensational Emirati teenager Mohammed Al Mutawa has been the toast of the GTB Class and will line up with Jiri Skula in the second House of Portier Corvette. They face a big challenge from the MSW Porsche pairing of Jon Simmonds and Phil Quaife.

The GTC Class has proven to be the most competitive so far this season with several teams capable of snatching top honours. Leading the points standings is Joe Ghanam who has yet to win a race but has three second-place finishes in his Gulfsport Ginetta, while team mate Robert Cregan in the Gulfsport Maserati has won two out of three rounds but is lying second in the title chase after not finishing one round.

Also in the hunt is the pairing of John Denby and Harris Irfan in the ARM Porsche who have one win to their name and will be hunting a second at Yas. The class features a host of manufacturers such as Porsche, Aston Martin, Corvette, Mitsubishi, Seat, Maserati, KTM X-Bow, Ginetta and Renault, with great depth of driving talent making predicting a winner almost impossible.

Total UAE Touring Cars

For door-to-door racing, look no further than the UAE Touring Cars battle. In Class 1 Khalid Bin Hadher has been ruling the roost, winning five out of six races in his Performance Racing Seat Supercopa. His closest rivals, also in Seats, are MSW rookie Andre Ramdhanny and Nadir Zuhour who need to dig deep to curb Bin Hadher’s winning ways. The Seat trio face a three-way attack from BMW with Mohammed El-Arishy in a 330ci and the K&K Racing duo of Petr Valek and Macel Kusin at the wheel of two 130i models.
Class 2 is guaranteed to provide the biggest battles of the day with points leader Umair Khan looking to extend his championship lead in the Lap57 Honda Civic. Most likely to upset him on the day are the three Honda Integra drivers Aslam Moola, Zlatko Mulabegovic and Rupesh Channake.

The Renault Clio contingent will be headed up by Alexandros Annivas, who makes a return in the NFS Racing machine, and the likes of his NFS team mate Oliver Grimm, Youssef Bassil and Frederic Fatien.

UAE Sportscars

UAE Sportscars feature a smaller grid line-up but the quality of teams and drivers slugging it out for top spot on the podium is of the highest order. Leading the charge for victory will be reigning champion Jordan Grogor in the AUH Motorsport Radical, whose team will also field cars for promising UAE drivers Jassim Al Shamsi and Juma Al Dhaheri.
Out to upset the dominance of the Radical marque in this series will be British ace Rob Barff at the wheel of the sleek NFS Racing Juno which found pace, and winning ways, at the last round at Dubai. His squad will be looking for a repeat performance at Yas.

Suzuki Swift Cup
Motorsport made easy could well be the motto for the Suzuki Swift Cup. Arrive-and-drive racing at its very best, the series has all the ingredients for thrilling racing: a host of identical race-prepared Suzuki Swifts in the hands of an eager bunch of drivers. Run for some time as a class within the UAE Touring Cars, due to bigger fields, the series now runs as a standalone on race days and could well provide the biggest duels of the day. If past races are anything to go by, the man to beat will be former UAE Touring Car Champion Costas Papantonis.

Yas Marina Circuit is one of the most technologically advanced motor racing facilities ever developed. Located on Yas Island, the circuit debuted on October 30, 2009 with the final race of the FIA Formula One World Championship – the inaugural Formula 1™ Etihad Airways Abu Dhabi Grand Prix to a capacity crowd of around 50,000. Year round, Yas Marina Circuit hosts an extensive programme of leading international and national motorsport racing series as well as major entertainment events and corporate activities. Supplementary facilities include the Yas Drag Racing Centre, the Yas Racing School and the Yas Kartzone.