RSPC – ROUND 3 – RESULTS & REPORT
At half distance in the Ramadan Super Prix Challenge Series the top contenders were beginning to nose clear of the rest despite some very close racing. Round 3 was to deliver more top action on the fast, exciting Grand National circuit, with overtaking opportunities aplenty around the 900m lap. Traditional Al Ain summer sandstorms had battered the circuit 2 days earlier, scattering barriers, and depositing sand dunes in numerous locations. Despite that, the track crew had worked admirably to return the circuit to its former glory and the karts which had been tested extensively one day earlier were in excellent shape. There were a couple of unfortunate absences from Round 3 but 23 drivers attended with just one new face in among them.
QUALIFYING
All drivers took to the circuit for Qualifying following the Driver’s Briefing and, with the circuit still very dusty off-line, a number found the conditions tricky. Championship contender Piers-Pakenham Walsh was the pick of the bunch, setting the fastest lap of 39.232s which outdid Championship leader Hussain Umid Ali by just 0.1s. Juma Al Falasi and Ahmed Al Shamsi were also in very close contention.
HEAT 1
The nature of the circuit meant that racing was to be extremely close. Qualifying already showed the performances to be even but, with the fast, flowing layout, the significant addition of slipstream overtaking made the racing even more exciting to watch! The light-weight Hussain made a great start in the first heat and moved in front of Piers on the run down to the first corner. He then benefited from the battling behind him to extend his lead to 6 seconds at the chequered flag. Piers successfully fended off Dan Price to take 2nd with Ahmed Al Shamsi 3rd.
HEAT 2
Heat 2 saw another intense battle, this time for the win, as Ahmed moved into the lead after a great start, closely followed by Juma. Salem Al Ameri and Ghanem Al Qubaisi were engaged in a similarly close encounter for 3rd while Carlos Do Vale and Piers fought over 5th and 6th. Despite Juma’s fastest lap of the race, he was not able to outdo Ahmed and finished 2nd by just 0.8s after 14 racing laps, with Salem narrowly edging Ghanem for 3rd by 0.3s. Carlos headed Piers across the line in 5th place.
HEAT 3
Barring the final, Heat 3 was the race of the day! After yet another good start Hussain pulled away as a whole host of drivers fought hard over 2nd. Dan and Raffaele De Lorenzi, Salem and Juma were inseparable throughout the entire race distance, showing great speed, commitment and sportsmanship with only a split second between all four of them. As they emerged from the final corner, it was Dan who managed to sneak 2nd place by a fractional 0.08s from Raffaele with Salem just 0.09s further back and Juma following them home in 5th.
The Heats paved the way for the 20 minute Final and, with 2 dominant victories, Hussain would start from Pole Position. Ahmed would start alongside him in 2nd place, Dan in 3rd and Juma 4th with Salem and Piers lining up on row 3. At this stage of proceedings, the top 16 were separated by just 0.5s in terms of their best lap time!
FINAL
Piers started strongly and move into 3rd after just a couple of corners which enabled him to chase down Hussain and Ahmed who were heading the field. These 3 would progressively move away from the chasing pack and somehow manage not to slow each other down as they continuously changed places. Dan sustained his strong series performance, managing to get into 4th place and gradually open a comfortable gap on the main bunch while never really being close enough to challenge the top 3. Salem enjoyed a fantastic race by overcoming Raffaele, Omran and Carlos to finish clear in 5th, but the plaudits would be reserved for the podium finishers who drove immaculately throughout.
Piers had managed to not only pass, but sustain a lead over Ahmed and Hussain although the 3 were pretty much bumper-to-bumper, and on occasion side-by-side, throughout the full race distance. In the closing stages Piers had no option but to go defensive and, withstanding huge pressure, held on to secure a deserved first win of the series just 0.3s ahead of Ahmed who secured 2nd place by the skin of his teeth from Hussain in 3rd. Piers had this to say on his popular victory, “I found it tough because I had to drive defensively for most of the race but I managed to hold my position until the end to seal the win and that brings me closer to Hussain in the Championship.”
The one remaining round of the Ramadan Super Prix Challenge 2012 takes place on the 16th August where the undisputed Champion will be announced, and one lucky driver will be the proud new owner of a brand new race kart! Only a few spaces are available so please get in touch with a member of our sales team to book your spot.
| R | 1 | R | 2 | R | 3 | R | 4 | TOTAL | ||
| 1 | Hussain Umid Ali | 23 | 75 | 22 | 75 | 25 | 57 | – | – | 277 |
| 2 | Piers Pakenham Walsh | 19 | 57 | 24 | 57 | 19 | 75 | – | – | 251 |
| 3 | Dan Price | 21 | 39 | 25 | 39 | 23 | 50 | – | – | 197 |
| 4 | Ahmed Al Shamsi | 17 | 21 | 18 | 50 | 24 | 65 | – | – | 195 |
| 5 | Carlos Do Vale | 24 | 50 | 23 | 27 | 15 | 32 | – | – | 171 |
| 6 | Khaled Al Saadi | 22 | 30 | 21 | 44 | 17 | 30 | – | – | 164 |
| 7 | Salem Al Ameri | – | – | 20 | 65 | 22 | 44 | – | – | 151 |
| 8 | Juma Al Falasi | 20 | 44 | 15 | 29 | 21 | 18 | – | – | 147 |
| 9 | Omran Al Owais | 15 | 23 | 14 | 32 | 16 | 35 | – | – | 135 |
| 10 | Ali Allanjawi | 25 | 65 | 19 | 25 | – | – | – | – | 134 |
| 11 | Ivan Kalinin | 18 | 32 | 13 | 26 | 14 | 29 | – | – | 132 |
| 12 | Raffaele De Lorenzi | 0 | 0 | 17 | 35 | 20 | 39 | – | – | 111 |
| 13 | Shah Omar Rashid | 11 | 25 | 9 | 23 | 12 | 24 | – | – | 104 |
| 14 | Ray Walsh | 12 | 28 | 8 | 20 | 10 | 23 | – | – | 101 |
| 15 | Andreas Flamino | 13 | 26 | 6 | 19 | 11 | 22 | – | – | 97 |
| 16 | Paul Morris | 0 | 0 | 12 | 28 | 13 | 27 | – | – | 80 |
| 17 | Ghanem Musallam | – | – | 10 | 22 | 18 | 25 | – | – | 75 |
| 18 | Prateek Saxena | 9 | 27 | 11 | 24 | 0 | 0 | – | – | 71 |
| 19 | Bashir Al Baba | 4 | 24 | 1 | 14 | 7 | 20 | – | – | 70 |
| 20 | Sanoop Syamalan | 5 | 22 | 4 | 13 | 3 | 21 | – | – | 68 |
| 21= | Moayad Ibrahim Khrais | 8 | 19 | 2 | 18 | 4 | 16 | – | – | 67 |
| 21= | Mohammed Ismail | 6 | 17 | 3 | 15 | 9 | 17 | – | – | 67 |
| 23 | Jeremy Castelli | 16 | 35 | – | – | – | – | – | – | 51 |
| 24 | Haroun Al Qubaisi | – | – | 5 | 12 | 5 | 26 | – | – | 48 |
| 25 | Yann Le Montreer | 0 | 0 | 16 | 30 | 0 | 0 | – | – | 46 |
| 26 | Yousef Al Shamsi | 7 | 20 | 1 | 17 | 0 | 0 | – | – | 45 |
| 27 | Phillipe Salanova | 14 | 29 | – | – | – | – | – | – | 43 |
| 28 | Valery Bartashevich | – | – | 1 | 16 | 6 | 19 | – | – | 42 |
| 29 | Saif Al Mutawaa | – | – | – | – | 8 | 28 | – | – | 36 |
| 30= | Hamad Allanjawi | – | – | 7 | 21 | – | – | – | – | 28 |
| 30= | Paul Godfrey | 10 | 18 | – | – | – | – | – | – | 28 |
NOTE:
Drivers in yellow are automatically entered into the prize draw to win the CRG GLOBAL KART, COMPLETE WITH SEALED ROTAX 125 MAX ENGINE & 6 MONTHS FREE STORAGE. The draw will take place during the award ceremony on the final round of the Ramadan Super Prix Challenge 2012 on 16 August.
