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Tannir returns to winning ways

Guillaume Simonnet scored his maiden victory in Class 1 of the NGK Racing Series.

Mahmoud Tannir leads Abdulaziz Binladen in the UAE Sportbikes race. — Supplied photo

The first day of the Dubai Motorsport Festival on Friday saw a mix of new faces and the ‘usual suspects’ on the top step of the Dubai Autodrome podium during a day of close racing which included races for the NGK Racing Series, UAE Sportbikes, Porsche GT3 Cup Middle East, Radical Middle East Cup and Formula Gulf 1000.

Guillaume Simonnet, driving a SEAT, scored his maiden victory in Class 1 of the NGK Racing Series, his win made easier by the fact that pace setter and championship leader, Gulf Petrochem SEAT driver, Costas Papatonis failed to make it on to the grid due to illness.

Nevertheless Simonnet did not put a foot wrong on his way to a comfortable victory, his first at Dubai Autodrome, with BMW pair Petr Valek second and Marcel Kusin third on the Grand Prix circuit configuration. Rupesh Channake won the Class 2 battle, from fellow Honda driver Jonathan Mullan with Alexandros Annivas taking third in the Renault, which was good enough for maximum points in the race-within-a-race Clio Cup, where Simon Dennis and Peter England finished second and third respectively. In the UAE Sportbikes Championship reigning champion Mahmoud Tannir finally broke Abdulaziz Binladen’s stranglehold on the 600 Class, by taking top spot on the podium aboard his Triumph and banking maximum points in the process.

Tannir said of his return to the top step of the podium, “Really it started this morning, we have had a good pace right from the morning session.”

Binladen in contrast struggled early on, eventually succumbed to engine problems and coasted to a halt after three laps. Ducati rider Joe Oxley finished second in the 600 Class, with Michael Collins taking third place on his Yamaha which was enough to also claim the Rookie Cup win. Nasir Hussain riding a Yamaha was second in the Rookie Cup, ahead of third placed Darryl Pais on a Honda.

Nasser Al Shaiba won the non-championship 1000 Class on his BMW, with Daimen van Blerk on a Ducati taking second place.

Saudi Prince Abdulaziz Al Faisal won a nail-biting Porsche GT3 Cup Middle East race, after a 10 laps battle with Emirati ace Saeed Al Mehairi in the Sky Dive Dubai car, with Fahad Al Gosaibi finishing third.