Lumina CSV Championship Battle at Midway Point
Lumina CSV Championship Battle at Midway Point
Dubai, 11th January 2008: Day two and the second of two all-action races for the
Lumina CSV Championship Middle East brought huge excitement at the Dubai
Autodrome today. With the top seven finishers from yesterday’s first race lining
up in reverse order on the grid, it was Fahad Hizam from Saudi Arabia on pole
position from Bahrain’s Shaikh Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa ready for the start.
When the lights went out and the fourteen thundering Chevrolet Luminas took off,
however, it was yesterday’s runners-up and title favourites Abdulaziz Al Yaeesh
and points leader Fahad Al Musalam who rocketed through the field to take up the
battle for the race lead. Yesterday’s race winner, defending champion Tarek
Elgammal, meanwhile struggled to get off the line cleanly and found himself in a
pitched battle with Raed Raffii and Ahmed Hamada before pulling into the pit
lane on lap 3 with mechanical problems.
Missing out on all this action was Bahrain’s Adel Shaji, who started from the
pit lane rather than his ninth place grid position after arriving late at the
circuit.
Meanwhile at the front Saudi racer Al Yaeesh and Bahrain’s Al Musalam pulled
clear of the field, entering a pitched battle. Al Yaeesh is eating into Al
Musalam’s early season points lead and as the race passed the halfway stage Al
Musalam saw his chance to take the win and take back some points from the flying
Saudi. “Abdulaziz locked his brakes and went wide while I had the perfect line,”
Al Musalam said. “I got past him but he came back very strongly. The track is
wide enough for two cars but it just wasn’t possible, we made contact and he
took the lead back.”
Al Yaeesh said: “I tried to turn in and take the line but Fahad was already
there inside me. We touched but I got away from it faster than him and was able
to take the line for the next corner. After that I think I had the quicker car.”
Third place and final podium finisher was Bahraini teenage sensation Raffii, who
also had an eventful race. “I got a good start and jumped up two places, which
meant I was trying to keep up with Fahad and Abdulaziz and was racing hard with
Tarek Elgammal when he dropped out. Ahmed Hamada was running close to me but
then he also had problems so I just measured my pace and got to finish on the
podium for the second time in the Lumina CSV Championship.”
Fourth place fell to Shaikh Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa after passing pole man
Hizam as they began the fourth lap. “It was a very exciting race to watch and
there was a lot of hard driving done,” said Race Director Elie Semaan. “It’s
always a pleasure to visit the Dubai Autodrome and our guys certainly know how
to put on a show, and it’s clearly getting poised for a major championship
battle now that we are at the midway point of the season with so much at stake
for the eventual winner.”
Al Yaeesh’s victory saw him pull back another X points at the midway stage of
the season with six out of the twelve races run, and means there is everything
to play for. The championship winner will earn himself the chance to test one of
the Valvolione Holden Commodores run by ace team Garry Rogers Motorsport in the
V8 Supercars Australia Championship Series, the world’s fastest and most
exciting touring car series.
Meanwhile the Lumina CSV Championship Middle East cars will remain in Dubai
where Neil Harker, the series chief engineer, will overhaul the cars after a
strenuous weekend.
“We need to put another engine in Tarek Elgammal’s car, it’s unfortunate for him
that after being the dominant car yesterday going fastest in free practice,
qualifying and taking the win with fastest lap he should suffer today,” Harker
said. “Initial diagnosis is a water leak, possibly from the head gasket. Ahmed
Hamada’s car will need a new transmission as he lost third and fourth gears,
which makes his pace all the more astonishing today. We will repair these cars,
fit the new front brake upgrade and shake all the cars down properly before the
next event.”
The next two races will take place in Dubai on 24-26 January, with a return to
Bahrain on 21-23 February before the final race supporting the 2008 Gulf Air
Bahrain Formula One Grand Prix on April 4-6.
Results – Lumina CSV Championship Middle East Race 6 of 12
| 1 | Abdulaziz Al Yaeesh | 8 laps |
| 2 | Fahad Al Musalam | +0.893s |
| 3 | Raed Raffii | +5.011s |
| 4 | Sh. Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa | +18.975s |
| 5 | Fahad Hizam | +27.369s |
| 6 | Raed Charawi | +39.183s |
| 7 | Bandar Al Selmi | +51.541s |
| 8 | Helmut Fleischmann | +52.583s |
| 9 | Fawaz Algosaibi | +53.557s |
| 10 | Adel Shaji | +1m 00.082s |
| 11 | Husam Al Saleh | +1m 00.785s |
| 12 | Ahmed Hamada | +2m 07.831s |
| 13 | Marwa Al Eifa | +2m 12.663s |
| Rtd | Tarek Elgammal | 3 laps |
| DNS | Christophe Mariot |
Fastest lap: Fahad Al Musalam, 2m 27.783s
Lumina CSV Championship Middle East Top 10 Drivers’ Points after Race 6 of 12
| 1 | Fahad Al Musalam | 113 points |
| 2 | Abdulaziz Al Yaeesh | 96 |
| 3 | Sh. Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa | 67 |
| 4 | Ahmed Hamada | 65 |
| 5 | Raed Raffii | 58 |
| 6 | Fahad Hizam | 50 |
| 7 | Tarek Elgammal | 50 |
| 8 | Fawaz Algosaibi | 47 |
| 9 | Adel Shaji | 46 |
| 10 | Raed Charawi | 40 |
Lumina CSV Championship Middle East Top 5 Teams’ Points after Race 6 of 12
| 1 | Lechner Racing Bahrain | 110 points |
| 2 | UMA Motor Sports/P1-AFR | 106 |
| 3 | Peak Performance | 67 |
| 4 | AFI Team | 64 |
| 5 | ERT | 62 |
