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Batelco and CG Racing eye honours in Dubai

The Dubai Kartdrome Endurance Championship Driven By Mini, takes place this Friday in the form of a 12 hours race, with teams and drivers practising regularly, while the Kartdrome crew prepare a radically revised track for the event.

Kartdrome manager Ryan Trutch explains, “We have discovered a very interesting configuration by changing certain elements of the existing track which creates a totally new challenge for teams, particularly those teams and drivers who have been competing at the venue for the past several years. It is going to make things very interesting.”

Coupled to this will be the challenge of the summer conditions which has arrived in Dubai, and although the race starts on Friday night at 21.00pm and goes on for 12 hours until 9.00am in the morning – heat will be a major factor for teams to consider and base their respective strategies to take the conditions into account.

Topping the list of what is expected to be 30 teams on the grid, and most certainly the team to beat, is the Batelco team which, apart from winning the opening round of this year’s series in March, are also fresh from a remarkable victory in France where they took on the world’s best endurance karting teams and emerged with a famous victory, proving that the UAE leisure karting scene is up there with the very best.

Batelco manager Ali Abbas has guided the team to numerous victories and will be targeting the top step of the podium with one of the most potent driver line-ups in the business, including team captain Mohammed Mattar, drivers Alban Varutti, Ramez Azzam and the fastest lady racer ever at the Kartdrome: Fabienne Lanz.

The Bahraini squad will be hard pushed by local heroes Dubai Falcons, who were fifth in France, and have a strong record at the Kartdrome. The team will be led by vastly experienced team manager Mike Wilkes and captained by Sheikh Hasher Al Maktoum, and includes Saeed Al Mehairi, Mohammad Al Mutawaa, Philippe Valenza and multiple UAE karting champion Maurits Knopjes.

Also likely to feature among the top spots is the always improving UAE Arrows team managed by Luigi Gariano, with drivers Abdulla Al Ali (captain), Haitham Al Ali, Talal Al Jasmi and Steven Lyall.

There are several other Pro category teams which could well challenge for top honours on the day, many are unknown quantities going into the race, with new drivers on board and only during the 12 hours will it become evident if a ‘new’ team can challenge the pecking order which adds to the intrigue of the series.

A big entry has been received for the Corporate category which has grown from strength to strength over the years, right now the battle for top spot in this category is as fierce, if not more so, than the Pro teams.

One of the big stories of the past few years in the Corporate category has been the emergence of CG Racing who regularly mix it up at the front with the Pro teams thanks to the management skills of Habib Chouery who oversees an army of crew and strategists.

Corporate teams are made up of drivers who work for the company which the team represents, and are allowed one ‘pro’ driver and Choueiri Group have Rami Azzam – one of the fastest leisure kart drivers in the region.