Abu Dhabi, Saturday 7 January 2023

After three rounds of the Gulf ProCar 2022/23 Championship at Dubai Autodrome it was time to head to Abu Dhabi, and to race at the famous YAS Marina Circuit. With some newcomers to the grid it was expected to be a great event, but mother nature would play a part in that.

After a short break Ian Roberts (Praga) was back on the grid and was favourite for overall victory in his very fast prototype race car, but technical gremlins would put a stop to that.

After a memorable fight in the previous round between Sebastian Gorga and James Geddie; it clearly got the attention of two more Dragon Racing Ferrari 488 Challenge EVO drivers in the name of Tani Hanna and Maya Hartge, who joined the grid for this weekend

Following two days of (optional) testing, it was time for raceday, and first out was Gulf ProCar for Qualifying. However, early morning rain had left its mark on the track, making for a cautious start to the session.

But it was Gorga who managed pole position, however he knew Hanna would be a tough competitor to keep behind him, and soon after the start a fierce battle developed, resulting in a win for Tani Hanna, James Geddie in second and Sebastian Gorga in third, Maya would secure fourth position. The podium places for overall classification were the same for Class 2. Proof of how competitive this Class is that it was not race winner Hanna who had the quickest lap but James Geddie.

Other Class 2 racers Mohammed Al Hammadi and Wolfgang Reinl brought their Porsches home in sixth and ninth place overall.

Concern continued with the weather, and unfortunately with a shower during the second half of the race the wise decision was taken to finish the race under safety car.

The two TCR Class drivers, Alexandros Annivas (Cupra TCR) and René Münnich (Honda TCR) continued their battle which we saw earlier in the season with Annivas putting enormous pressure on Münnich but it was the latter who could validate his pole position and kept Annivas at bay. But also here it was not the class winner who recorded the fastest lap but it was Annivas.

Iskra Motorsports were again present with their Toyota GR Supra GT4 this time in the hands of Ivan Ekelchik who made good use of this potent Class 3 car claiming a top five spot.

Ricky Coomber was again dominant in his Mugen Honda FD2, whilst the other entered Honda in the hands of James Bourke wouldn’t make it to the race after mechanical issues during qualifying.

Jayan Karim swapped the Mini JWC from the previous round for a Renault Clio Gen 3 entered by R2RACE.

We also saw two other Renault Clio’s but in the Class RC, these were the new spec Gen 5 in the hands of Craig Thompson and Willie Morrison. Returning after participating in earlier rounds, it was Thompson who held the upper hand on Morrison who in turn took the fastest lap in the race.

UAE Motorpost veteran and fellow Clio race Jon Simmonds decided to enter his wonderful BMW E30 M3 in the specially created Class 5 Invitational in an effort to get this car out on the racetrack. Many seemed to appreciate seeing this car racing at the Yas Marina Circuit.

Class 4 is typically for the Toyota GT86 and it was Ahmed Al Majid once again who claimed first place before his teammate Scott Dimeler who was happy with his weekend’s performance and also took quickest in qualifying. VR1 Racing were present in full force with their two cars after Ishayat Hossain was sick for the previous round. It was team owner Avik Anwar who took third place.

After the first race, the weather conditions continued to worsen, with more heavy rain showers. It was the decision of the circuit officials to postpone Race 2 to another round due to the unsafe conditions. In the 18 years of GulfSport Racing running race series in the UAE, this was only the second time to have a race postponed, so very unlucky for all at Yas Marina Circuit.