FIA GT3 – Dubai – Free Practice Report
A Very Fine Buffet
© Mark Howson

Normally in any report, the prevailing weather conditions get an early mention; but for the sake of efficiency let’s just assume that every day will dawn sunny and hot; that race conditions will be sunny and hot; and that the evening sessions will start sunny and hot before becoming dark and very warm. Rain tyres and inters are not much in evidence.

Several red eyes were in evidence, particularly around the Tech 9 pits; but Phil Hindley was happy to report that the night’s labours had been fruitful. “We’re just doing the final trackings, and then it’s done.”

The RPM team left the circuit at 3am after the late delivery of the Vipers the night before, and then set the alarm clocks for 6 am in order to carry on playing catch up; “It’s not good,” said Robin Mortimer. “It makes you look as though you’re not on it.”

Happily, the remaining cars arrived unscathed from their ocean voyages, and all of the TBAs on the entry list could be replaced with names. George Mackintosh will be driving with ex-pat John Simmons (below) in the #6 Trackspeed Porsche, while David Ashburn will share his car with Australian driver Tarek El Gallam.

The spare seat at Berlanga would be filled by former BTCC stalwart James Kaye, while Mauro Casadei is sharing the #22 BMS Scuderia Italia DBRS9 with Gian Marino Zenere.

The first session of the weekend was the morning free practice, but the three Matech Concepts Ford GTs would not be taking part after several unspecified homologation issues were noted at scrutineering. SRO’s Fred Espinos was confident that they would be sorted quickly and without heartache.

With many drivers being new to the circuit, and with a fine layer of sand waiting to be scrubbed away by the tyres, finding the way round was the priority. A particularly challenging part of the track appears to be around Turn 14 and into Turn 15, with both the #6 Trackspeed Porsche and the #13 S-Berg Racing Gallardo spinning mid-session, after selecting a less than successful route.

Tech 9’s nightmare start to the meeting continued, with Tom Haines hitting the wall after 50 minutes, damaging a radiator and bending an upright in the process. The repairs would be lengthy, with the left rear hub having to be completely rebuilt.

The fastest time of the session was claimed by the #23 BMS DBRS9 of Diego Alessi and Alex Frassinetti, with a 2:06.752. As a comparison, the fastest GT2 time in the same session of the FIA GT meeting in 2006 was 2:03.091 (Scuderia Ecosse Ferrari 430), and the fastest G3 time 2:07.103 (again, a BMS Scuderia Italia DBRS9).

For the few members of the media that had made the journey from the UK, Christmas (or possible Eid or Diwali given the location) had arrived early. If a UK circuit provides anything more than coffee and biscuits to the motley hacks inhabiting the media room, it is considered a bonus. In Dubai, freshly baked pastries, fresh fruit juices and coffee were laid out in the morning – with waiter service - to be replaced at lunchtime by a very fine buffet. About the only thing not provided by the circuit was a bed on which to sleep it off.

With the next activity taking place at 16:25, the drivers tried to make themselves as comfortable as possible in the conditions (did we mention the sun and heat?) and wait for the second practice to come round.

The track temperature at the start of the afternoon practice was a scary 58 degrees, but over the course of the session dropped to 37. Unfortunately, the #7 RPM Viper would not be taking part; nor would it play any further part in the weekend’s proceedings after gearbox problems on the specially adapted car (for paraplegic driver Gilles Duqueine) proved terminal, and with no spare being available.

The #23 BMS Aston carried on from where it had left off in the morning, quickly establishing itself at the top of the times. Even gearbox problems that restricted its run to ten laps were not enough to allow other cars to beat its time, despite Henri Moser’s efforts towards the end of the session in #38 (second fastest). The Pirri / von Gartzen Corvette was fifth fastest.

The three cars fighting for the championship all finished in the top five, with the #31 Berlanga Ascari stringing a few excellent laps together towards the end to finish third fastest. Several other cars made big improvements over their earlier times, including the Apex Jaguars, and this suggested that qualifying tomorrow morning could be very interesting indeed.

Neither Tech 9 nor the Matech Fords were able to take part in the session, but both teams should have completed the required work in time for qualifying. The Ford GTs in particular will have a mountain to climb, having lost the two valuable set-up hours.