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Rounds 11 & 12– Dubai 14/15th Feb

Throughout the weekend, there was nothing to separate the top three protagonists for the Gulf Radical Cup title, namely Bassam Kronfli (Evo Middle East), Maurits Knopjes (Nivea for Men ARC Racing) and Sheikh Salman bin Rashid Al-Khalifa (Team 777) from the Kingdom of Bahrain. Making his presence felt too was Bob George (Slipstream Racing) but in the end it was the former trio who battled it out for victory.

Qualifying got off to a nail biting start with Kronfli setting the pace at 1:01.247 with George and Knopjes fighting for the other front row slot separated only by two thousandths of a second. Meanwhile, the Team 777 car was still in the pit garage with a technical problem that only allowed Al-Khalifa a few minutes of the qualifying session.

So for the start of race one, Al-Khalifa was at the back of the grid whilst Kronfli took the immediate lead from pole position with George and Knopjes in his wake. British Formula 3 driver Al Khalifa made a superb start from the back of the grid as expected, and was up to fourth by the end of the first lap. By the fifth lap he had dispensed with both Knopjes and George, and set his sights on Kronfli who had by now established a gap of nearly seven seconds. But in the end the gap was not enough as on the final lap Al Khalifa took the lead under brakes at the end of the main straight and hung on to claim an astounding half second victory over Kronfli. Knopjes eventually got the better of George to take the final podium spot. David Moran finished a creditable fifth ahead of television presenter / producer Lex Akehurst who was making her debut in the Khaleji Motorsport Radical SR8 and Andrew Lemon (GulfSport Racing). A very exciting race, but a disappointment for Championship leader Kronfli.

In race two Knopjes made a lightning start from the second row snatching the lead into turn one with Kronfli and Al-Khalifa right on his tail, with George tucked in behind them. Soon Knopjes and Khalifa had established a cushion over the others as they tussled for the lead. On lap 4 a collision between Andrew Lemon (Gulf Sport Racing) and Eric Charles (continental-circus.com), which saw them retire on the spot, prompted a safety car period which grouped up the field once again. At the restart Al-Khalifa jumped Kronfli and got straight on the tail of Knopjes with Kronfli no doubt re-doubling his resolve to get back into the race. His opportunity came as Al-Khalifa made a ‘last lap lunge’ on the brakes going into the tight right hander leading onto the Club Link. But Knopjes was having none of it so the two slowed one another and slid wide, and this was the signal to Kronfli to pounce, admittedly now way off line to avoid the two scrapping cars to take the lead and claim an opportunist victory. Al-Khalifa recovered to finish second, Knopjes took a very disappointing third and George came home fourth ahead of Akehurst and Moran. Emirati drivers, 16 year old Mohammed Al Awadi (Palm Yacht Charter) and Abu Dhabi’s Mohammed Al Qubaisi (GulfSport Racing) both put in a stunning performance setting excellent and consistent lap times at their first Gulf Radical Cup meeting and look set for a bright future in UAE motor racing.

Series organiser said, “Radical racing here is now of a very high quality as you can see. Salman is a very quick driver and one of the stars of the future for Middle East racing and he set the benchmark for our drivers. However, he’s not unbeatable, as Bassam and Maurits have proven recently. The beauty is that these same cars compete in the FIA sanctioned Radical European Masters – and we will now start to see some of our drivers taking on the more established Radical drivers in Europe.”

The next two Rounds of the Gulf Radical Cup take place on 6/7th March in Dubai.