Dubai: Jeffrey Schmidt of Al Nabooda Racing Porsche was the double winner in two Porsche GT3 Cup Challenge ME races on a day packed with 10 races at Dubai Autodrome on Friday.
In Race 1 of the Porsche GT3 Cup Challenge ME, Schmidt beat second placed Abdul Aziz Al Faisal in the Red Bull-backed car with Zaid Ashkanani finishing third in the other Al Nabooda Racing Porsche, ahead of Charlie Frijns in fourth and Wolfgang Triller fifth.
Ryan Cullen put the disappointment of a DNF in the first race behind and chased Schmidt all the way to the chequered flag in the second race, with Schmidt winning by a mere 1.5 seconds with Cullen the runner-up. Third placed Al Faisal managed to fend off Ashkanani in the battle for the final podium spot, with Frijns in fifth.
Leon Price in the Dragon Racing Ferrari and Porsche driver Wolfgang Triller shared a win apiece in the two NGK Racing Series races. Price doing the business in Race 1 after Triller was penalised and relegated to second.
In Race 2, Price did not start and Triller made the most of it to take victory ahead of William Martin in the sister Dragon Racing Ferrari.
Costas Papantonis at the wheel of the Gulf Petrochem SEAT, Abdullah Al Hammadi in the Lap57 Honda and Alex Annivas in the Gulf Petrochem Renault all scored double wins on the day, with Papantonis tops in Class 1, Hammadi in Class 2 and Annivas in the Clio Cup.
Saudi Falcon Kawasaki riders Abdul Aziz Bin Laden and Ahmad Almuyni dominated first race of the UAE Sportbikes Championship — the pair finishing first and second, ahead of Honda mounted Mahmoud Tannir in third, followed by Yamaha pair of Vafi Khan in fourth and Magnus Mossberg fifth.
Bin Laden was again unstoppable in the race claiming a comfortable victory while Tannir got the better of Al Muyni, the duo crossing the line almost side by side in second and third places respectively. Nawaf Al Shuaibi was fourth ahead of fellow Yamaha rider Mossberg.
Another Yamaha rider, Kris Murphy, bagged maximum points as he ended up tops in the Rookie Class race-within-a-race.
It was a historic day for the two-wheel brigade as rider Sabah Mukri became the first female to compete in a UAE Sportbike Championship race. She finished 12th in the first race and 11th in race two.
Romain Lutter and Ludovic Loffreda teamed up to win the Radical Middle East Cup 45 minutes mini-enduro style Race 1 by 6.6 seconds from Richard Ardolino in second place, who managed to see off the concerted challenge of Julian Griffin in third place — the pair separated by half a second as they crossed the finish line.
In Race 2, Griffin scored a popular win, crossing the finish line 18 seconds ahead of Jani Hjerpe and third place going to the Lutter and Loffreda combo, with Ardolino fourth.
Dubai Autodrome hosts the next round of the UAE National Race Day of the 2015-2016 season on March 11.
