Abu Dhabi: On Friday night, a nervous-looking Don Alfonso de Orleans-Borbon y Ferrara-Pignatelli and Ines Koschutnig stopped at a fast-food outlet on the outskirts of Abu Dhabi to have a quick bite to eat.

As owner and general manager of Racing Engineering, they had reason to be nervous as they needed crucial points to seal a second GP2 Series title for the team the following day.

American Alexander Rossi went on to win the race as he went past Jolyon Palmer, but all eyes were on Racing Engineering’s Fabio Leimar as he missed out on a podium finish to Marcus Ericsson, but got the necessary points to grab the 2013 GP2 Series crown.

That chance meeting at the fast-food joint brought back memories for the team owner of the time in 1999 when he decided to set up a racing outfit. “Just like now, we used to eat sandwiches, sleep in cars and trailers so that we could save some money and ensure the drivers and the cars got the cash instead,” Don Alfonso said.

Born a day after new year in 1968 in Santa Cruz de Tenerife in Spain as the first son of Alonso de Orleans-Borbon y Parodi-Delfino and Emilia Ferrara-Pignatelli, Don Alfonso was just seven when his father died and he inherited the title of Duke of Galleria.

And despite being a descendant of Princess Beatrice of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha, grand-daughter of Queen Victoria, Don Alfonso married Veronique Goeders and had one child who was born on July 15, 1994 in Paris.

On Saturday, Don Alfonso stood proudly with his team’s second GP2 Series crown and a 12th title since his entry into the world of motorsport in 1999. Of these, six have been F3 Teams Championships, another three Drivers’ Championships, one World Series and two GP2 Series successes.

“Those were the early days. Those were the tough days and today I see all these sacrifices coming together for a world title. It’s been worth it,” he said.

Despite such success as a unit, Don Alfonso has no plans to make Racing International into a Formula One unit in the foreseeable future.

“No way. I have no plans for Formula One. I think I get more kick and more excitement out of GP2. If you ask me, this is a real racing and I don’t want to change anything,” he insisted.

“It’s been a long and tiring season and this world title is just the thing we were looking for to end with a flourish. The mood in the team is great and you can understand why,” Don Alfonso added.

In fact, Racing International is expected to submit an entry for the demanding Le Mans 24 Hours in the Proto Type Class in 2015. “These are the challenges ahead for us as a team, and I feel confident we can achieve a lot. We’ve put in a lot of hard work to be where we are today, and this work from the past can help us look confidently to the future.”

BOX!!!