Dubai: Batelco Racing took the chequered flag to claim their second win in as many races in the 2014 Kartdrome Endurance Championship, driven by Mini, on Saturday.
The Kartdrome has in the past hosted some close races and the Kartdrome Endurance Championship 600 Laps over the weekend was witnesss to some real neck-and-neck competition.
Batelco Racing held off a big challenge from CG Racing Pro, Dubai-5, Dubai Falcon Racing Team and Team Emirates to notch up yet another famous victory in Dubai.
Batelco signalled their intent early on by topping the timing sheets at the end of free practice on Friday evening, but Dubai-5 showed their hand by claiming pole position with a best qualifying lap time of 1 minute 13.762 seconds on the tricky Kartdrome Reverse Switchback configuration.
Dubai-5 set the early pace, but the experienced Batelco squad were simply too good, making the right strategy calls without fail. Drivers Mohammed Mattar, Alban Varutti and Ramez Azzam were relentlessly consistent and disciplined while sustaining a fast pace throughout the race.
Batelco Racing team manager Osama Al Sa’ad said: “It’s a great feeling. We thought almost halfway through the race we were going to lose this race but, thanks to the guys and the strategy we stuck to, allowed us to achieve the podium and first position. It was a great race, both from CG Racing and Dubai-5. They gave us a hard time and we gave them a hard time, but in the end there is only one winner, and that’s only Batelco.”
Victory in the first two races justified the Batelco team’s decision to return to the series after a season’s lay-off last year. “We took one year off. We tried to focus on Europe, but Dubai Kartdrome is a favourite destination for us to come and race. We won this race not only because we wanted to win, but we also wanted to race in the memory of Christophe Hissette — this victory is dedicated to him,” Al Sa’ad said.
The top five teams, who were also among the top five during round one in February, slugged it out in tough conditions for 12 hours and 41 minutes and, at the end of a tense but intriguing race, a mere two minutes separated the quintet as they crossed the finish line.
