The Gulf ProCar 2024/25 Championship returned to the Dubai Autodrome for Round 6, and for the first time in 2025.

This Round took place under the lights of the 4.29km International Circuit, making it 3 different layouts in 3 rounds at the Dubai Autodrome; a highlight of the Gulf ProCar series which keeps the drivers on their toes with constantly changing layouts.

Stanislav Minskiy / Kim André Hauschild #91 - ARMotors / HRT Performance

5 classes were represented at this round and most notably, the debut round for the new Class 2Cup. Class 2Cup has been introduced to accommodate the Porsche Cup Cars exclusively, this being the first restructuring phase of the traditional Class 2 category. The long-term aim of this is to boost competitiveness and attractiveness for competitors in Class 2 machinery, by introducing more relevant and applicable sub categories.

Class RC included 3 entrants, the first of which being Alex Klebanov #8 who made his Gulf ProCar Series debut at Round 5, again with the support from Continental Racing. The second of the Class RC entrants was Ilya Gorin #77, also run by Continental Racing, making the transition from the Clio Cup series to Gulf ProCar at Round 6. Finally, Marcel Kiefer #88 made his debut in the Gulf ProCar Series with support from ARMotors / HRT Performance. Marcel is well known for his e-sports racing efforts, representing Red Bull and Mercedes Formula 1 teams and winning the official Formula 1 e-sports Championship in 2019.

Class 4 included the series regular Krishna Reddy in the #11 Honda EP3, continuing his push for the Class title with another big points opportunity presented at Round 6, due to the unforeseen absence of Daniel Jones and a late withdrawal from another Class 4 competitor. Class 5 featured the #5 Honda DC5 of James Bourke and Jonathan Cole, who were forced to sit out of the past two rounds due to technical issues with the car. With these struggles behind them, the striking #5 arrived at the circuit rearing to go for Round 6.

Class 86 featured Nadim Haddad in the Desert Fox Racing #47 and Naif Fakher Alshawaf in the #31 run by Trackdays.ae. Avik Anwar returned in the #71 run by Racing DNA / ROWE by Trackdays.ae, renting a spare car from the Trackdays.ae team; a showing of Aviks’s commitment to his championship push.

Class 2CUP featured five Porsche 992 Cup cars. The first of which was championship leader Alex G in the #44 Enrico Fulgenzi Racing car, followed by his closest points competitor, Rawad Sarieddine, in the #37 Baron Motorsport car with his teammate, Shawki El Armali in the #82. Alex Renner Jr. prepared for his second weekend in Porsche Cup machinery in the #9 ARMotors car, after a successful weekend of development at Round 5. Stanislav Minskiy was another newcomer to the Gulf ProCar series this weekend, piloting the #91 ARMotors / HRT Performance Porsche together with the vastly experienced Kim André Hauschild.

Class 4 & Class 5

Qualifying

The sole Class 4 entrant, Krishna Reddy #11, posted a best lap of 2:01.922 in his Honda EP3, putting him amongst the Toyota GT86 field. A competitive lap time, reaping the rewards from the extensive refresh that Reddy’s Honda EP3 underwent earlier in the season.

In Class 5, Jonathan Cole / James Bourke #5 clocked a fastest lap time of 2:00.528, a lap time that placed the Honda DC5 in 10th place overall and in a prime location to challenge the Toyota GT86 and Renault Clio Cup competitors.

Race 1

Unfortunately, due to technical issues, Krishna Reddy #11 was unable to take the race start, and this was where his weekend ended. A big shame for Krishna after a lot of hard work on and off the track, but it is with no doubt he will be back even stronger for Round 7.

In Class 5, James Bourke was the nominated driver for Race 1. The #5 car ran into technical difficulty on the reconciliation laps to the grid, forcing an emergency pitstop and a pit lane start. Bourke joined the race with determination, beginning to make his way back through the pack until a loose exhaust added further implications to his race. Another pitstop to fix this was carried out and Bourke perceived, making it back out to take the chequered flag in 10th place overall.

Race 2

For the Class 5 #5 Honda DC5, all things went much smoother for Jonathan Cole than it did for his co-driver James Bourke in Race 1. Cole ran a consistent and smooth race under the lights of the Dubai Autodrome, enjoying the close battles with the Toyota GT86 cars. After a trouble free stint, Cole brought the car home in 8th place overall, rounding off a successful return to the series.

Class 86

Qualifying

In Class 86, Nadim Haddad #47 topped qualifying with a 2:00.144, narrowly ahead of Avik Anwar #71 at 2:00.365. Naif Fakher Alshawaf #31 followed at 2:03.035. All three drivers arrived at Round 6 with a mere 10 points separating them in the championship points standings, and qualifying showed that all three cars would remain competitive as the day progressed.

Race 1

Avik Anwar #71 took the fight to Nadim Haddad #47, posting the fastest lap of the race and leading Class 86 in the early stages. Despite this, Haddad’s consistency prevailed, making the deciding move on Anwar under the brakes into Turn 1, crossing the line 3.1s ahead of Anwar to take the win in class. Naif Alshawaf #31 ran a consistent race, but did not have the pace to match that of Haddad and Anwar. Alshawaf finished half a lap down to the front two, but resisted the charge through from the quicker James Bourke in the #5 Honda DC5, to finish 9th overall.

Avik Anwar #71 - Racing DNA / ROWE by Trackdays.ae

Race 2

In Race 2, Avik Anwar #71 and Nadim Haddad #47 engaged in a thrilling back and forth battle, close but fair racing saw the two drivers trade positions throughout the race. Unfortunately, this battle was cut short after a technical failure on Anwar’s #71 Toyota forced him to pull over at the exit of Turn 1 and retire the car. Haddad finished Race 2 as the winner of Class 86. It is without doubt the Haddad and Anwar have brought the excitement this season, with this being only one of their many great battles this year. Naif Alshawaf showed great development in Race 2, shaving over 2 seconds off his best lap time of Race 1. Naif unfortunately did not have the pace to challenge Haddad, but delivered a calm and collected performance to finish second in class 86.

Naif Alshawaf #31 - ROWE by Trackdays.ae

Class RC

Qualifying

Class RC Qualifying saw Marcel Kiefer (#88) lead the pack, putting in a blistering best lap of 1:57.686. Alex Klebanov (#8) followed with a 1:59.043, Klebanov struggled for pace, so he was determined to make up this deficit during the races. Ilya Gorin failed to register a lap time, unfortunately due to an engine failure early in the session which ultimately ended his race day.

Race 1

Alex Klebanov #8 was forced into a change of car moving into Race 1, after the discovery of a technical issue with the car which was the cause of his struggles in qualifying. Klebanov was straight back up to pace in the new car, taking the race win after Marcel Kiefer’s #88 Renault Clio ground to a halt midway through the race. A shame for Marcel after a solid performance leading the class up until this point, impressive considering this was his first weekend in machinery of this sort.

Marcel Kiefer #88 - ARMotors / HRT Performance

Race 2

The ARMotors / HRT Performance crew hustled to get Kiefer’s #88 car fixed, successfully doing so to allow him to take the grid for Race 2. After loosing ground to Klebanov #8 at the race start, Kiefer pushed hard to challenge Klebanov but had to settle for second place, only 2 seconds behind the #8 car who made it two out of two for race wins at Round 6.

Class 2CUP

Qualifying

It was an intense battle in the Class 2Cup class during qualifying. Alex G #44 set the fastest lap of 1:39.751 to secure pole position, a strong showing from the Enrico Fulgenzi Racing crew despite limited running on Friday and a last minute switch to a spare car. Rawad Sarieddine #37 was second-fastest with a 1:41.696, followed closely by Alex Renner Jr #9 with a 1:42.362. Shawki el Armali #82 and Stanislav Minskiy/Kim André Hauschild #91 rounded out the top five, all cars were within close range of each other and traded positions as the session progressed. It was a tough session for Hauschild, narrowly exceeding track limits on his only flying lap, meaning that he did not register a time and would start from the back of the grid for Race 2.

Rawad Sarieddine #37 & Stanislav Minskiy / Kim André Hauschild #91

Race 1

Alex G #44 dominated the first race, leading from pole and setting the fastest lap of the race with a 1:40.815. Rawad Sarieddine #37 was second, 27.048s behind, with Alex Renner Jr #9 completing the podium after a strong drive. Shawki el Armali #82 took the fight to Renner and posted faster laptimes however, settled for fourth position in the final classification. Stanislav Minskiy #91 finished fifth, chipping away at the lap times as he builds familiarity with his Porsche. The times of all cars between Sarieddine and Minskiy were close and positions were exchanged amongst them, but it was evident that it would be an uphill battle for any driver to challenge the blistering pace of Alex G in Race 2.

Race 2

Alex G completed the clean sweep in Race 2, delivering another unstoppable performance to take victory in Class 2Cup and overall. Kim André Hauschild took the reigns of the #91 ARMotors / HRT Performance car for Race 2 and quickly made his way through the field, up to second place by Lap 3. Despite his lightening start, Hauschild was also unable to match the pace of Alex G and therefore settled for a second place finish. Rawad Sarieddine and Alex Renner Jr. tucked in behind Hauschild as he made his way past them in the early stages, but the order of the #37 and #9 remained with Sarieddine crossing the line with a 9 second buffer over Renner. Shawki El Armali #82 had a difficult race, losing ground at the start and struggling to match the pace of the cars ahead of him.

Looking ahead to Round 7

As we approach the final championship round of the 2024/25 Gulf ProCar season - Round 7 - the top honours for championship points are still wide open in each class. Round 7 will offer double points for all competitors, meaning that the drivers could take a maximum of 108 points from the weekend, should they take pole position, fastest lap and the class victory in both races. A thrilling season ending event is guaranteed.

On this same weekend, the Gulf ProCar Enduro Cup will return for Enduro 4. This Enduro event will feature a single 60 minute race on the Sunday, a test of driver and machine in the longer format racing that the Enduro Cup offers. This will be the penultimate Enduro Cup event of the season ahead of the standalone weekend for Enduro 5, which will be a SuperEnduro format of a single 120 minute race.