It was always going to be a big adventure for UAE national racing series’ in action for the very first time Yas Marina Circuit where the Total UAE GT Series and GulfSport Radical Cup were part of the support races for the V8 Supercars at the iconic Abu Dhabi venue.

Total UAE GT Championship: Rene Rast wins in his debut for Cytech Porsche in Class A

German Porsche Cup ace was drafted into drive the Cytech backed Muehlner Motorsport prepared Porsche GT3 and it became clear early on that he would be taking the fight to series pace setter Karim Al Azhari in the TAM Auto Engineering, House of Portier Corvette.

And so it was. From pole position Rast blasted into the lead with Al Azhari giving chase, the German appeared to control proceedings and even a pace car situation failed to give Al Azhari the break he needed forcing the championship leader to settle for second place for the first time this season in Class A.

Third place went to Khalid Al Qubaisi and Sean Edwards in the Abu Dhabi, ARM prepared, Falcons Porsche, scoring their best result to date and fittingly on the podium for their “home” race. Julian Griffin was fourth in the DXB Dodge Viper.

Crowning a great day for the Abu Dhabi Falcons Team was Saif Al Assam in fifth and Ibrahim Salloum in sixth.

Total UAE GT Championship: Sheikh Hasher Al Maktoum makes immediate impact in Class B

Class B of the Total UAE GT Championship has turned into a very close battle with several teams capable of snatching victory. Khaleji Motorsport drafted the UAE’s favourite race driver Sheikh Hasher Al Maktoum to share driving duties with Paul Denby in a Porsche. Sheikh Hasher duly qualified on pole but by the narrowest of margins.

From the start a titanic battle developed between Robert Cregan/Saad Salman (GulfSport Ginetta), privateer Harris Irfan (Porsche), Jon Simmonds (DXB Aston Martin) with the Khaleji Porsche setting the pace. Racing was intense and inevitably there was an incident as Cregan and Simmonds touched, just before the start/finish straight, both spinning before Cregan managed to get going again but Simmonds was stranded and had to abandon his car, thus bringing out the pace car while the Aston Martin was removed. Cregan was given a drive through penalty.

Sheikh Hasher and Denby took the chequered flag with Frederic Gaillard (DXB Racing Mitsubishi) delighted with second place and Irfan, impressing again, in third.

GulfSport Radical Cup: Hissette wins dramatic Race 1 while Bradshaw scores first win for Juno in Race 2

There was drama in the first corner of the first GulfSport Radical race as invitational driver Thomas Bradshaw appeared to lose control going into Turn 1, Bassam Kronfli spun trying to avoid the out of control Juno only to have unsighted Sultan Mahboubi slam into him. The pace car was deployed as marshals cleared the debris. None of the drivers were injured

When action resumed championship leader Jordan Grogor was in the lead followed closely by Usmaan Mughal and Christophe Hissette in a trio of AUH Motorsport entries. Grogor and Mughal managed to pull a slight lead on Hissette who had the best seat in the house as the two ahead slugged it out. On the final lap Mughal managed to get past Grogor but overdid it in the “Corkscrew” where he spun and with nowhere to go Grogor clattered into the stricken car. This gifted Hissette the lead and victory in the first race.

The grid for race 2 was depleted with Bradshaw and Grogor starting from the back. Bob George seized the opportunity early on with Tom Haines chasing. Soon the Bradshaw were carving their way through the field with Bradshaw, running a Juno for the first time in the series, managing to make his way to the front and taking victory. George was second followed by Haines and Grogor.