After a long and nervous summer waiting to see if the world would allow racing again, it finally arrived - the 2020/21 Gulf Radical Cup at the Dubai Autodrome!

11 drivers, from 7 different countries were on the entry list for Round 1 and 2 on the 3.5km Dubai Autodrome National track.

In testing on Wednesday and Thursday it was Alex Khateeb posting the fastest times, but there were plenty of seasoned drivers and some very impressive new drivers close behind him, only time would tell, with all to be revealed in Q1 Friday morning.

Weather in the UAE from November to March is about as good as its gets, and Friday morning saw air temperatures of about 27 degrees, but the wind had picked up, bringing some dust to the track.

All 11 cars rolled out at 08:45 for Q1. Drivers are only allowed to use one set of tyres for Q1, Q2, Race 1 and Race 2, so keeping the laps to a minimum in qualifying is really very important, if you want a compliant car at the end of race two some 200km of race pace driving later.

But with new, un-scrubbed tyres, and dust on the track it would take a few laps to see the times fall into place. But in the end, the top three all placed their best lap on lap 8, with Khateeb (UK) posting a blistering 1.24.557, Francis (DEN) putting in his best lap ever on a 1.25.630 for second, and first time qualifier Al Hameedi from the UAE posting an amazing 1.25.701 for third. However, with 2nd to 7th all being covered by only 1 second its was going be close!

Only 10 minutes separate Q1 and Q2, no changes or refuelling allowed, drivers just wait in the car, take on a little water and are straight back out to show what they have!

With tyres at near operating temps from the first lap, it was expected to see the drivers posting their times early on, and so they did! On lap three the front two rows were set!. That was Khateeb on a 1.24.485, Francis going faster again on a 1.25.363, with another new comer, Tarik Kerbouci in his new SR3 XX on a 1.25.445 and Ian Roberts (UK) for fourth on a 1.25.680. Again, 2nd to 9th place was covered by just one second!

A couple of hours later, saw the start of Race 1. All 11 cars were flagged off for the formation lap, but as the cars came round turn 16, it looked like formation had been thrown out the window! Approach speed is meant to be 50 km/h set by the pole sitter, but the cars came flying round the last corner and not in formation, however the starter turned off the red light and they race was on.

Khateeb took an early lead, with Roberts, Curtis (UK) and Khazzoum (LEB) chasing him down. However Khateeb was able to get up to speed quick and pull a comfortable gap. This left a group of drivers jostling for 2nd to 5th. Another newcomer James Sweetnam (UK) had a spin and took a hard knock to the side of his car, taking him out of the race on lap one, but he was able to get away from the track so racing could continue.

Into the mandatory pitstop it was Khateeb with a decent lead and with all drivers having to stop for the same 45 seconds in the pits the race was his to take!

However about 10 laps from the end of the race the flying Emirati Al Hameedi suffered a technical problem leaving his car marooned just off the track going on to the last corner, forcing the officials to deploy the safety car. After what seemed like an age, the car was finally removed and racing could resume with just three laps to go. But with all the cars now bunched up it would be very close. Khateeb was able to get the jump, followed by Roberts, Curtis and Kerbouci! With Roberts struggling to get past a back marker Curtis and Kerbouci slipped through, and on the penultimate lap Kerbouci made a pass on Curtis for second. So that meant Khateeb took the first win of season, Kerbouci for an incredible second and Curtis taking third.

However, and despite the very fast and messy start, Kerbouci was handed a very tough 30 second penalty pushing him back to 8th on the official results, and promoting Roberts to the last step of the podium. This was a crying shame for Kerbouci given this was his first race in any formula - but no one ever said racing was fair and race 2 was only a matter of hours away!

Race 1 - 1st Khateeb, 2nd Curtis and 3rd Roberts

Race 2 took place a coupe of hours later (normally held the following day), this time the first 4 drivers had had a talking to from the Clerk Of the Course and were under strict orders to keep formation at the start. Again Khateeb formed up at the front of the grid, and sure enough he came round the last corner at a nice steady pace, but it was Francis on the front row next to him that lagged behind, leaving Khateeb to again take the advantage at the start.

Ex A1 GP racer used his experience against the rest of the field to again pull an early lead, he now had an extra 15 seconds to make up for given the success pit stop penalty he picked from from his race 1 win. He was being pushed hard though by new comer and very determined Kerbouci in his fluro yellow SR3 XX. Hot on his heals was also Roberts and Francis! However on lap 10 Khateeb slowed and was passed by Kerbouci, and then Roberts and Francis. This lead to great excitement on the pit wall from the GulfSport team as this saw their three drivers first, second and third going in to the pitstops.

However their attention was turned quickly to the pit lane when all three GulfSport cars came in for their pitstops together. Kerbouci first, followed by Francis and Roberts who was carrying a 5 second success penalty from race one. But with Kerbouci stalling leaving his pit box Roberts was right behind him, closely followed by Francis. So the three of them set off to race out the last 15 laps. However Roberts would loose control of his car through the tricky turn 6 while trying to chase Kerbouci letting past the charging Francis and Russian driver Amir Feyzulin.

Kerbouci drove a remarkable race from start to finish, setting the record straight from his first race penalty, and taking a win in his new SR3 XX on his second ever race. A well deserved second for Nicolas Francis who had proved great pace all weekend and also a fantastic third for Feyzulin, who was also driving better than ever in his SR3 this weekend. However Amir was initially denied the podium given a hasty penalty handed out by the stewards which was later corrected - but this gave Khazzoum a rather pointless trip to the podium, only to be told he could not keep the trophy - he offered to sell it back!

Talking to Tarik Kerbouci the race he added:

“I would like to thank the Gulf Radical Cup. The race weekend was organised with great detail and care. I was happy to have my first race at the Dubai Autodrome and the result I had to take a win was amazing. This really would not have been possible without the amazing support and possibilities given to me by my sponsor of Ellington Properties (https://ellingtonproperties.ae). Also, i’d like to thank my team GulfSport Racing, family and friends who were there to support us!”

Race 2 - 1st Kerbouci, 2nd Francis & 3rd Khazzoum

Series sponsor Meritus Developments were on hand to present trophies, interestingly there were 6 different drivers on the podium for both races!

Khateeb narrowly leads the overall standings from Kerbouci by just two points, with Amir Feyzulin in 3rd.

Race Results

Points Table