Biggest ever contingent of Emirati drivers line-up on the grid for season opener

Dubai: UAE National Race Day 1 presented by TAM Auto Engineering on Friday, 24 October will see the biggest ever number of Emirati racing drivers taking to the track in the premier motorsport classes that take place on the day at Dubai Autodrome.

In the Yellow Hat UAE Touring Car Championship with House of Portier will feature no less than ten UAE national drivers with many of them starting out as potential Championship contenders. Mohammed Al Falasi leads the charge in Class 1 in his mighty Corvette Z06 and he is tipped to challenge reigning UAE Champion, Al Nabooda Porsche driver, German national Karim Al Azhari. Experts are predicting a season long battle between the two. Outsider in with a chance is former HSBC Racing Academy driver Mohammed Al Abdooli who is taking his single seater experience to tin top racing where he will campaign a Nissan Skyline GTR – he is being touted as the man to watch in the “muscle car'' Class 1.

Al Falasi commented on the increased number of UAE drivers contesting on the National scene, “I believe that we are going to live a new era of National Motorsport in the UAE this season. It's the series we have waited for a long time, that is because of the good preparation by Dubai Autodrome management, new sponsors, new competitors and TV coverage! This will play a major role in promoting National Race Day and hopefully encourage people to come and support local motorsport.''

In Class 2 the UAE's Mohammed Al Qubaisi will be campaigning a Porsche GT3 RS under the Finance House Racing Team and will face the likes of British driver Harris Irfan in the Alex Renner Motors Porsche GT3 and Lebanon's Raed Hassan in a Mitsubishi EVO 6.

In Class 3 Emirati Mohammed Al Arishy will campaign his BMW 330ci who along with compatriot Omar Al Marri VW Golf GTi will take on Costas Papantonis (Greece) in his pace setting House of Portier SEAT Leon Supercopa in what is going to be a tightly contested class.

The UAE trio of Arif Al Marazeeq (Performance Racing Team Toyota Levin), Abdulhamid Alawadhi (Honda Civic) and Abbas Alawi (Honda CRX) will contest in Class 5 and it is highly likely that the class championship will go to one of the three at the end of the season.

The scene is set for a thrilling opening round and 2008/2009 season as local UAE motorsport talent seize the opportunity to perform on the National stage. Drivers and riders from some 20 different nations will line-up on the various grids for tomorrow's National Race Day 1 presented by TAM Auto Engineering in what is the start of a new and exciting era for UAE motorsport.