Pre-season testing for the 2026/27 Gulf Radical Cup got underway at Yas Marina Circuit last Thursday, giving drivers and teams their first opportunity to see how they stacked up against the competition ahead of the new season.
With two former champions, Alex Bukhantsov and Alim Geshev, joined by reigning National Class Champion Amir Feyzulin, there was plenty of proven pace on track and little to separate the leading runners.
Last season’s multiple podium finisher Vasily Vladikin was also back behind the wheel and set the early benchmark, initially topping the timesheets as drivers settled into the three-hour evening session.
Series newcomer Aqib Chowdhury continued to make good progress throughout the test, setting his personal best towards the end of the evening as he builds experience ahead of his first Gulf Radical Cup race weekend.
Returning for their second seasons, Aleks Celiadin and Alain Alfonsi both showed significant progress compared with last year.
Celiadin spent much of the summer training in his Rally3 Clio, and the additional seat time appeared to be paying dividends as he produced a string of consistently quick laps.
Alfonsi was equally impressive in the GulfSport Racing SR3 XXR that Harry Hannam drove to last season’s championship title. A best time of 2:01.200 represented a considerable step forward from his pace last season and provided an encouraging start to his second Gulf Radical Cup campaign.
Jahid Karim was also back on track following the completion of his Radical European Cup programme. Unfortunately, technical issues restricted his running and prevented him from showing his true pace during the session.
Johnny Khazzoum, meanwhile, enjoyed a strong first outing in his new SR3 XXR. Despite running on old tyres, he recorded an impressive 2:00.244 and came away very happy with the progress made during the evening.
As the three hours of track time drew to a close, it was Geshev who emerged fastest with a 1:58.943, narrowly ahead of Bukhantsov on 1:59.363. Feyzulin completed the top three with a 1:59.575, leaving less than seven-tenths of a second covering the three quickest drivers.
That concludes testing at Yas Marina Circuit before the opening round of the season. However, with seven hours of track time available during the race weekend itself, there will still be plenty of opportunity for teams and drivers to fine-tune their cars and preparations before the serious business begins.
The next Gulf Radical Cup test day takes place at Dubai Autodrome on 8 September, as preparations for the 2026/27 season continue.
