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Rounds 11 & 12– Dubai 14/15th Feb

With only six races left to determine who will be the 2008 Gulf Radical Cup Champion, this weekend’s event was to prove crucial. However, there is a sting in the tail of this popular pan-Gulf sports racing car series. Firstly, drivers can only count their best 16 of 18 points results, and secondly, the last round in April is a ‘double points’ scoring round! So it’s still wide open.

In the non-points scoring ‘Invitation Class’, we had the spectacle of two V8 engined Radicals in close formation. Making its debut in the Middle East was the Jamal Al Habtoor Real Estate sponsored 455bhp SR8 LM driven by Harvey Boulter. Also making his debut in the Khaleji Motorsport SR8 was American racer, Cabell Fisher, who was only seven thousands of a second off the fastest lap set by Canadian Bassam Kronfli (EVO Middle East) in race one.

Qualifying went well for Bahraini driver Fahad Al-Musalam (Team 777) who lapped the National Circuit in 1:24.543 beating series leader Kronfli and Irishman David Moran (DJ Racing) by over a second.

Race one proved to be a cracker with Al-Musalam on pole and getting a good start into turn one with Kronfli finding himself behind Bob George (Slipstream Racing) and Moran. By the end of lap one Kronfli was in second with race leader Al-Musalam four seconds up the road prompting the former to start an impressive sequence of laps which saw him close the gap to just one car length and record the fastest lap in the process.

Boulter had a high speed off on lap six which saw the carbon-fibre bodied SR8LM come spinning to a halt at the tyre barriers – luckily with no damage, giving Fisher a clear run and the Invitation Class trophy.

The two leaders circulated in tandem and the pace ultimately caught out Kronfli who lost the back end. The battling duo of English driver George and Moran were now tussling for second place as a result of Kronfli’s mishap while Al-Musalam powered to victory unchallenged.

Al-Musalam got another great start in race two while his main rival Kronfli converted his fifth place grid slot into second position by the end of lap one. One would be forgiven for getting a sense of déjà vu as the race took on a similar plot to the first one. Kronfli chasing and catching Al Musalam while George and Moran resumed their titanic first race battle. By lap four Kronfli was breathing down the back of difficult to pass Al-Musalam and set the fastest lap of the race, but again he made a small error of judgment that resulted in him spinning and losing 7 seconds before recovering again and setting out in pursuit of the Bahraini but all to no avail.

Try as he might, Moran could not get past George, even though he was half a second faster. This time, Boulter kept it on the black stuff to take a well deserved Invitation Class trophy, even though Fisher had managed to get past him only to overcook it on the next lap and spin out of contention.

Al-Musalam took the chequered flag from Kronfli with George and Moran up next. Kronfli sums up his day, “The car was great I was just impatient and paid the price. Fahad is a great defensive driver and I should have factored that into my challenge.”

The next event is on 28th March at the Dubai Autodrome.