FIA GT3 Dubai – Friday Notes
No Nimbys In Dubai
© Mark Howson

The only thing more overwhelming and baffling than the construction work in Dubai is the traffic; it is appalling. The general standard of driving in the locality is dreadful, with a complete absence of patience and courtesy. Getting anywhere fast is more hope than reality, and most roads are clogged with multi-lane traffic for most of the day – with the exception of the Sheikh Zayed Road – the main highway to Abu Dhabi - which appears to be hosting the local equivalent of Death Race 2000.

Unless it’s Friday, apparently.

For on this day, the weekend starts; and suddenly the roads (at 7.30am at least) are almost deserted, with the taxi ride to the circuit being achieved in half the time – unless you are a French photographer and the driver doesn’t know the way from your hotel to the Autodrome; in which case, the ten mile journey takes an hour.

In contrast to a couple of days ago, the circuit now looks as though it is ready to receive a crowd, and the grandstands had a reasonable gathering of folk for the first of the two days of racing.

There was a very relaxed air about the place all day, and there was the opportunity to grab a few words with drivers during the ‘downtime’ parts of the day.

John Greasley (JMB Racing Ferrari #35): “Like everybody else, we need more time to get to know the circuit. Apart from that, we’ve got a lambda-sensor problem that’s possibly connected to the fuel we’re using.

“I don’t think I’ll be doing [the GT3 series] again. I was out of racing for five years, but got the itch to come back. The 430 is a lovely car to drive, but I’m a pensioner now and am having to face up to the fact that there are a lot of younger, faster drivers out there. I go round the track, think I’ve done well and then find I’m ten seconds off the pace.”

Ian Khan (JMB Racing Ferrari #34): “We’ve had the car on the rolling road since Brno, because we’ve been right off the pace. It sounds like it was a cam-timing problem, but it might have lost something in translation.

“The early rounds in the wet were deceiving, as when we got to the dry circuits from Monza onwards, we were suddenly nowhere. Hopefully, we’ve cured the cam problem, but it’s disappointing not to be faster.”

Stephane Daoudi (JMB Racing Ferrari #34): “It’s been very difficult to set up the car for the weekend, and we’re further back than we’d like. Ian starts the first race from 19th and on Saturday I start from ninth. I don’t think we’ll get a podium, but we’ll be close; we certainly won’t be ninth at the end.

“I know and like the circuit, having driven here in GT1 with JMB. It’s going to be a physical race because of the heat in the cars, and that may work to the disadvantage of those drivers that aren’t used to it.

“It’s strange coming back and seeing all the building work. When I was last here, it was surrounded with grass and looked nice. It looks less finished now than it did two years ago!”

Jonny Lang (Berlanga Ascari #31): “It’s nice to be in a car that’s capable of being up there, and it’s nice to be looking for improvements of tenths rather than whole seconds. I need a good result after a crap season.

“The circuit is fantastic; very technical. With the sand on track at the start of the day, it feels like a drying track as we go on; but it’s really enjoyable.”

The support racing is an odd mix of local Radicals, saloons, single seaters (Formula Campus), bikes, and the new Speedcar series demonstration. The size of the grids – most races have no more than a dozen entries – illustrates the scale of the local grass-roots motorsport scene. The Speedcars, though, built on a Nascar-for-road-circuits concept and raced by several ex-F1 drivers (Alesi, Herbert, Morbidelli, Katayama, Johansson) compensate for their lack of numbers by the volume of sound from the V8s. Fortunately, the nimbys have yet to arrive in Dubai.

Surprisingly for such a modern facility and for such a well-organised event, one issue has been overlooked; getting away from the circuit at the end of the day.

The assumption must have been that everyone will be arriving in their own cars; but with driving being so ‘interesting’, many have opted for the ludicrously cheap taxis. In the city, if you want a taxi you put your hand in the air and you will have one within seconds – there really are that many. You can then get to the circuit for about £5, including tip.

However, with the circuit currently being in the middle of nowhere, there are no local taxis and nobody has thought of arranging for some to be there at the end of the day – even trying to phone for one is a slow and painful process. As a result, getting back from the circuit is proving to be a trying experience for media and teams alike, with more and more stories of bizarre journeys home emerging; but a two to three hour ordeal appears to be not unusual.

John Greasley seems to have hit on the perfect arrangement; hiring a car and driver for three days. The cost? 950 Dirhams, or about £120. Many others are wishing they had done the same.

When the series returns next year, however, the circuit is likely to be surrounded by gleaming new hotels, so perhaps it won’t be an issue then. Bloody frustrating now, though!