Gulf Radical Cup 2006/2007 - The Premier Race Series in the Gulf

Gulf Radical Cup - Round 1 & 2, Dubai Autodrome

23rd/24th October

The 2008 Gulf Radical Cup sportscar championship got off to a flying start on Friday with 17 competitors racing in 3 classes, 6 of whom were enjoying their first outing, its largest entry since the inception of the series in January 2006.

The Qualifying session was electric, with all the drivers aiming to find their best possible lap time to ensure that they had the maximum possible advantage of grid position for the tricky rolling start of Race 1.

Class A, featuring the 2.6 litre V8-engined Radical SR8, saw Bassam Kronfli just over a second per lap quicker than John Stanley, fresh from his stunning overall victory in the prestigious Radical European Masters series. Only four tenths of a second behind was Cabell Fisher followed by Harvey Boulter in the yellow Porton Group SR8 LM.

Race 1 got off to a flying start with Kronfli taking an immediate lead. However, this was not to last as he picked up a very unfortunate puncture which meant his car was safely parked behind the barriers at Turn 1 and he could only watch as European champ Stanley settled into a comfortable rhythm ahead of Khaleeji Motorsport’s sweet-sounding SR8 piloted by American racer Fisher.

But the star of the show was young Saudi national, Fahad AlGosaibi, having his very first race in the UAE. Having qualified first in Class C, Fahad drove a calm and precise race in his Al Gosaibi Travel Radical SR3 to win his class ahead of Irishman Dave Moran and ex-Trinidad and Tobago rally champion, Keverne McShine.

Race 2 enabled Kronfli to deliver on the promise that he showed in qualifying. Having to start at the rear of the grid because of his DNF in the first race, Kronfli charged through the somewhat slower cars in the DAMC Invitation Class and then got past the faster Class C cars to get himself behind his Class A SR8s within 4 laps. This gave him another 10 laps to figure out how he could win the race. It wasn’t going to be easy, but by the time the chequered flag was shown, Kronfli had taken a 4 second lead over Stanley, Fisher and Boulter.

Young Al Gosaibi secured a double win and maximum points, but this time finishing less than half a second ahead of the fast closing Moran.

Boulter picked up the trophy for the DAMC Invitation Class, which included Ramzi Moutran and Jeremy Lester in their Ford Cosworth engined Caterham Sevens and Dutch driver Henry van den Heuval in the PR6 Prosport – all having their first taste of racing and loving every minute of their day.

The next round of the Gulf Radical Cup will be held in Bahrain at the V8 Supercars Desert 400 on Nov 6/7/8.