Some of the world’s fastest Radical racers headed for the 5.3kms GP circuit at the Dubai Autodrome to do battle in the second round of the Gulf Radical Cup. The grid highlighted the diversity of talent racing in the UAE with drivers from Cyprus, Ukraine, Lebanon, the UK, the UAE, St Kitts&Nevis, Lithuania, Russia, France, India, and Kazakhstan. With both last year’s Champion Alim Geshev and Vice Champion Usmaan Mughal absent for this round, there would clearly be great opportunities for the 15 drivers who had signed on. Having said that, 2023/24 Champion Alex Bukhantsov, who will shortly be doing the forthcoming Asia Le Mans Series, was one of them.

An early morning qualifying session to determine grid positions for the first of two Sprint races saw local karting and Clio Cup Champion, 17-year-old Harry Hannam (GulfSport Racing), set the pace with a best lap of 2:01.928, which was 0.419 ahead of Alexandr Novichkov (Continental Racing), and 0.925 ahead of Alex Bukhantsov (Dream Racing), with Johnny Khazzoum (KAA Motorsport) in P4 with a 2:03.509.

Race 1 started with a bang as there was a coming together on Lap 1 at the fast Turn 4, causing a multi-lap Safety Car period while three National Class cars were recovered: Aleks Celiadin (GulfSport Racing), Jahid Karim (Dream Racing), and Alexander Chachava (Dream Racing). Peri Daremas (GulfSport Racing) was also involved but continued for a few laps before retiring the car. When the race resumed, it was the young Hannam who maintained his lead to take the chequered flag, followed by Novichkov and Bukhantsov. However, the Stewards made a post-race decision to disqualify Novichkov as he had missed the scrutineering session, promoting Johnny Khazzoum to third place overall.

Race 2 proved to be an epic battle with Hannam on pole with Novichkov on P2 for the second rolling start of the day. The field screamed away at 10,000 rpm as the red lights went out and 15 cars went hurtling down into Turn 1, a steep downhill 17-metre-wide right-hand bend similar to Paddock Hill Bend at Brands Hatch that requires commitment and accuracy to achieve the optimum line and speed. Hannam got the holeshot and the racing line but very quickly found Bukhantsov on his left as they entered Turn 1 side by side.

At the bottom, they went side by side at the high speed Turn 2, a left-hand high-speed kink like a mini ‘Eau Rouge’ and continued uphill through the right-handed T3 then plunged downhill to a sequence of corners not dissimilar to the Maggotts/Becketts complex at Silverstone. But as they entered the right-hander at the bottom of the hill, Turn 6, Hannam was on the inside and now rubbing paint with Bukhantsov. But it was the 23/24 Champion on the faster line who managed to control a big slide and take the lead into Turn 7 and pulled away to create a 1.8-second gap. Khazzoum and Daremas found themselves leading the battle for National Class honours, but it was not long before Daremas pushed past Khazzoum to take the lead. Positions changed rapidly as Shibin Yousef and Amir Feyzulin started to gang up on Khazzoum.

Hannam didn’t give up and slowly closed the gap every lap. He got right on the tail of Bukhantsov on lap 9. Of course, it’s one thing to catch, but it’s an entirely different matter to pass. Remarkably, as they flew down the fast back straight at 240kph towards Turn 10, Hannam moved right, then as Bukhantsov covered him, Hannam went left and dived up the inside in a very impressive display of control and speed from the 17-year-old to take the lead, which he held until the flag.

Early Sunday morning, the pack took to the circuit for a 15-minute qualifying session to set the grid for the 45-minute race that would take place later that day. With the cooler, denser morning air, engines were extra crisp, and new Hankook tyres got bedded in for a few laps before the drivers let rip in their lightweight, high-downforce 232bhp sports prototypes. Hannam showed intent, putting in the fastest lap at 2:01.827, a full half second quicker than Kazakhstan’s Vasily Vladykin (Continental Racing), with Peri Daremas (GulfSport Racing) showing his potential in P3. Bukhantsov had a surprisingly low-key session with P8, no doubt saving his tyres for the big race.

The big race did not disappoint. GT racer Vasili Vladykin (Continental Racing), who qualified on P2, had to start from the pit lane after a problem restarting the engine. At the start, Hannam got away cleanly, but Daremas got tapped into a spin just after Turn 1. So it was Hannam, Shibin Yousaf (Dream Racing), and fast-starting Bukhantsov who led away from Novichkov (Continental Racing), Andy Lowe (GulfSport Racing), and side by side with Amir Feyzulin (Dream Racing). The racing was also intense behind them as Johnny Khazzoum (KAA Motorsport) was being tracked by newcomer Alain Alfonsi (GulfSport Racing), who was up to 7th from his P15 starting place. Daremas was also on a charge through the field, no doubt inspired by his spin on lap 1, which saw him in P9 after his great P3 qualifying result, but after a coming together with Khazzoum, Daremas was given a 10-second penalty. Notably, Vladykin was making great strides in working through the field from his pit lane start and was soon up to P7.

The pit window opened at 28 minutes into the race, and first in was Khazzoum to serve the standard 45-second mandatory stop. Bukhantsov came in last, knowing he had an additional 20 seconds as a result of winning at Round 1.

As the race continued, Hannam led by 15 seconds from Daremas and Feyzulin, Lowe and Yousef. But with a 10-second penalty, Daremas found himself only 5 seconds ahead of Feyzulin, which meant he would be demoted to P3 if the race finished like that. So he was directed by his driver coach, ex-British Radical Champion Ross Kaiser, to up his pace to ensure that he was at least 10 seconds ahead of Feyzulin at the finish.

But it was a sensational performance from the young gun Hannam, who took his third win this weekend. Daremas successfully found the pace to increase the gap to 11 seconds to take P2, and Feyzulin finished 3rd overall.

Next round (Round 3) is only ten days away and will be the debut of the SuperPrix format as a championship points-scoring round of the GRC.

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