Round 2 / Enduro 2 - Race Report

The second weekend of the Gulf ProCar 2024/25 season featured the first visit to the stunning Yas Marina Circuit of the year, just 2 weeks after the season kicked off in Dubai.

This weekend included Round 2 of the championship season along with Enduro 2, which is part of the Enduro Cup. This Enduro event being a SuperEnduro format, which meant 2x 60 minute races as opposed to the 1x 60 minute that was seen at Enduro 1.

Saturday’s action was live-streamed across our official channels, allowing friends, family and fans around the world to witness a spellbinding weekend of racing. 

Rawad Sarieddine, Baron Motorsport - Class 2 / Car 37 / Porsche 992 Cup

Gulf ProCar, promoted by GulfSport Racing, supported the Radical World Finals event which curated a packed weekend schedule, with racing going into the night on the floodlit 5.5km GP layout of Yas Marina Circuit.

Naif Fakher Alshawaf, Car 31 (left) / Marios Giannoros, Car 75 (right) - Rowe by Trackdays.ae

Championship Season - Round 2

Increasing the number of entries from Round 1, 18 drivers began the weekend on Friday however Jim Geddie (Class 1) and Nadim Haddad (Class 86) only made it this far sadly, due to personal reasons. This meant that Saturday’s action featured 16 drivers, still a great field with a vast spectrum of machinery on show. 

Jonathan Cole / James Bourke - Class 5 / Car 5 / Honda DC5 K24

Class 5 saw Jonathan Cole and James Bourke make the switch to the Championship Series of Gulf ProCar, after a tough weekend out at Enduro 1. In the pursuit of gaining valuable seat time, Jonathan and James shared the driving duties of their vibrant Honda DC5 K24.

The car headed out for qualifying and showed pace that was knocking on the door of the Renault Clio Cup 5 cars, resulting in a strong mid-pack starting position of 9th place overall.

An alternator issue unfortunately meant that the car pulled off of the track on the first lap of Race 1, but Jonathan and James rallied together with their team to fix this issue before Race 2. The car ran faultlessly form this point onwards, coming home to collect the full points offering for first place in Class 5, looking great whilst doing so with one of the most striking liveries on the grid this year.

Krishna Reddy - Class 4 / Car 11 / Honda EP3

Class 4 featured a sole competitor in Krishna Reddy, returning in his Honda EP3 and retaking the reigns of the car from Ricky Coomber and Jonathan Mullan, who raced this at Enduro 1 on the opening weekend of the season.

Krishna immediately showed his previous experience at the Yas Marina Circuit, getting straight up to speed on his push for the Class 4 title.

A great points haul was on offer for Krishna, an opportunity somewhat presented by the absence of Daniel Jones for this meeting. However, technical gremlins overshadowed Krishna’s weekend, a very uncharacteristic situation considering how bulletproof his Honda EP3 has proven to be over the past years.

Despite this, Krishna showed great pace in qualifying, placing himself amongst the similarly paced Toyota GT86 cars. During Race 1, a gearbox issue emerged for Krishna and although he managed to power through to make the finish for Race 1 and collect the points, he was unable to take the start of Race 2. A great shame to see, but there is no doubt the car will be back up and running for the next round.

Omar Hiasat, Rowe by Trackdays.ae - Class 86, Car 16, Toyota GT86

Class 86 was a well contested and fiercely battled classification at Round 2, with 4 cars taking to the track on Saturday; Omar Hiasat, Naif Fakher Alshawaf, Marios Giannoros and Avik Anwar all took to the track to compete for the top honours in class.

Avik Anwar returned to Gulf ProCar after missing Round 1 due to his participation in the 2024 FIA Motorsport Games, representing Bangladesh. As expected, Avik came out of the gates flying, snatching pole position in Class 86 in Qualifying.

During Race 1, Avik quickly faced a gearbox issue with his newly refreshed Toyota GT86. As we have come to know very well with Avik, he is not one to give up easily, hence he persevered and took the car to the finish line using only 5th gear. Omar Hiasat showed that he was out for redemption after the car let him down at Round 1, driving through the field to claim first place in Class 86 for Race 1, whilst his fellow teammates Naif and Marios rounded up the podium.

After a last-minute car switch to his spare car, Avik did manage to make the start of Race 2 at the back of the grid, as is the penalty enforced by changing car during the weekend. However, it was Omar Hiasat that once again showed total dominance in the Race, followed by Marios in second place and Naif in third. The pace of Naif and Marios was close all weekend, as was the case at Round 1, and the on track battle between these two young drivers was superb.

Harry Hannam, EBCX Motorsport - Class RC / Car 19 / Renault Clio Cup 5

Class RC featured Gulf ProCar regulars Charlotte Simmonds and James Greenwood along with Harry Hannam, who is in the transition phase of his move from Karting to Car Racing. Harry missed Round 1 due to a clash with the Rotax Grand Finals in Sarno, Italy, but it was great to have him join us this weekend on the Gulf ProCar grid.

The weekend started off with Harry displaying blistering pace in his Renault Clio Cup 5, taking pole position in Class RC, with a laptime that was a staggering 3 seconds faster than closest class competitor James Greenwood, who is certainly no slouch behind the wheel.

Race 1 saw a close battle amongst Harry, James and Charlotte but by the chequered flag, the qualifying pace order remained for these three as Harry took the win in his debut race in Gulf ProCar. Charlotte unfortunately suffered from illness on Saturday, and her weekend was cut short as she made the wise choice to sit out of Race 2. We wish her the best and a speedy recovery and look forward to seeing her next time out. Harry’s car simply was not right from the get-go of Race 2, uncommon for a Renault Clio Cup Car, resulting in multiple control-alt-delete moments during the race as he attempted to clear the faults. Despite his attempts, the issue was terminal and Harry was forced to retire the car on lap 4 of Race 2. James Greenwood drove an excellently consistent race, keeping himself out of trouble to bring the car home to collect a maximum points tally from Race 2, bumping himself up to P1 in the Class RC Drivers Points Championship.

Ricky Coomber - Class 2 / Car 999 / Porsche 992 Cup

This weekend saw the Class 2 grid grow even further, reflecting the popularity of the classification of cars that sit in-between GT4 and GT3 spec cars in the current market. Not only did we see the full season entered Porsche 992 Cup Cars from Enrico Fulgenzi Racing and Baron Motorsport, but Greystone GT joined the party with their McLaren Artura Trophy driven by GPC returnee Ryan James, and Ricky Coomber debuted his new Porsche 992 Cup.

Alex G handed over the Saturday driving duties of the Enrico Fulgenzi Porsche 992 Cup to his Enduro Cup co-driver, Andrea Girondi, yet the stunning results continued from Round 1. Another truly dominating weekend for the number 44 car, taking Pole Position, victory and fastest laps in both Race 1 and 2.

Ryan and Ricky were both unable to make it out in qualifying due to technical issues, but both were able to resolve their respected problems in time for the races but were required to start from the very back of the grid. Despite this, Ryan achieved a P2 finish in Race 1 and a P3 finish in Race 2. Ricky found himself managing a temperature issue with the car for the remainder of the day, finishing P4 in both races.

Rawad Sarieddine and Shawki El Armali returned for Round 2 in the Baron Motorsport 992 Cup Cars, and it was great to see the continuing progression that both are making with their driving. Rawad picked up a P3 finish in Race 1 and P2 finish in Race 2, a great points haul for him which elevates him to the Class 2 Championship points lead. Shawki’s weekend was not as straightforward as he struggled to get his car up to pace, a P5 in Race 1 and then he did not take the start for Race 2. We know that Shawki will be back better than ever for Round 3, and we certainly look forward to that.

Vasily Vladykin, Continental Racing - Class 1 / Car 96 / Audi R8 GT3 Evo2

Class 1, the top class of Gulf ProCar, featured the returning Audi R8 GT3 Evo2 of Vasily Vladykin and the Lamborghini Huracan GT3 Evo of Andrey Solukovtsev, both run by Continental Racing. As mentioned previously, Jim Geddie was expected to take part in his Porsche 991.2 GT3R but was forced to pull out due to illness, nevertheless we wish Jim a speedy recovery and hope to see him back with us at Round 3.

Vasily Vladykin showed his pace early on by taking control from the first green light of the day, qualifying on pole position in class and overall, 9 tenths ahead of Andrey Solukovtsev.

Race 1 presented an interesting series of events. Andrey headed out of the pit box in his Lamborghini as the pitlane opened to allow the drivers to make their way around to the grid. But moments later, Andrey lost drive in the pitlane, specifically in the tunnel section of this at Yas Marina Circuit and causing a blockage. Andrey regained drive to make it out of the pitlane but soon stopped again on track. The safetly team scrambled to get him back to the pitlane, and fortunately his team was able to rectify the problem quickly after his return, which enabled Andrey to still take the start from the pitlane.

Vasily started Race 1 with an empty grid slot to his right, due to Andrey’s pitlane start, and an exciting prospect loomed with the potential of Andrey making his way through the field on fresh rubber. However, Vasily’s Audi blew a power steering hose on the first lap which forced him into a retirement, the car that has been one of the most reliable so far this season but this instance was purely a case of bad luck. Andrey made his way through the field and collected the first place honours as the only finisher in Class 1.

Race 2 went much smoother for the Class 1 drivers, a clean get away from both Andrey and Vasily into the dusk at Yas Marina Circuit. Andrey pushed hard to take the fight to Vasily, but his pace was unfortunately no match to Vasily who broke away and brought home a super controlled victory to extend his points championship lead in Class 1. We look forward to having Andrey and Vasily join us next time out, adding Jim back into the equation as they each chase the Class 1 Championship title.

Enduro Cup - Enduro 2

Enduro 2 marked the first event that featured the SuperEnduro format, 2x 60 minute races and the first of two SuperEnduros that will run as part of the Gulf ProCar Enduro Cup.

Unfortunately, 9 of the 12 cars that had signed up for Enduro 2 were forced to withdraw from Sunday due to driver illnesses or technical issues with cars. Nevertheless, drivers were still excited at the prospect of the extended track time in long format sessions, on the full GP layout of Yas Marina Circuit.

Andrey Solukovtsev arrived to the track on Sunday, looking to make a successful return to the Enduro Cup, after a technical issue with his Lamborghini Huracan GT3 Evo forced him to pull out of Enduro 1. However, it appeared that this was simply not to be for him, as another technical issue with the car emerged as his team warmed up the car ahead of qualifying.

Alex G and Andrea Girondi in the Enrico Fulgenzi Racing Porsche 992 Cup took to the track for qualifying, together with Ryan James and Oliver Webb in the Greystone GT McLaren Artura Trophy. Times were close, yet it was the McLaren that emerged on top, taking pole position by just over 4 tenths of a second.

Moving to Race 1, both cars started competitively. However, as Alex G followed Ryan James through Turn 16 of the Yas Marina Circuit GP layout, he lost control of his Porsche 992 Cup Car and made contact with the pit wall. Thankfully, Alex walked away from the incident without injury but the car suffered major damage, bringing their race day to an end. A replacement car is expected to be available for them at the next Championship and Enduro round, so we look forward to seeing them back on track soon.

Ryan James and Oliver Webb were able to make the most of the extended track time available to them, Ryan in particular utilising this to build familiarity with the Trophy spec McLaren Artura, which is new to him after mastering the GT4 variants of McLaren machinery in recent years. Ryan and Oliver took home a maximum points haul for Enduro 2. We wish them and the Greystone GT team the best for their upcoming European racing campaigns.

Alex G & Andrea Girondi, Enrico Fulgenzi Racing - Class 2 / Car 44 / Porsche 992 Cup

Another quick turnaround as we approach Gulf ProCar Round 3 and Enduro Cup Enduro 3 at the Dubai Autodrome on November 22nd - 24th. This will be on the 5.39km GP layout, and the last event of 2024 before a Christmas / New Year break in the calendar, with the season then resuming at the end of January 2025.

Ryan James / Oliver Webb, Greystone GT - Class 2 / Car 22 / McLaren Artura Trophy