Dragon Racing Newsletter #19 February 2017

NEWSLETTER #19 / FEBRUARY 2017

DRAGON F4 - PIASTRI MOVES FORWARD

Dragon F4 driver Oscar Piastri made further progress during round 3 of the UAE F4 championship at Dragon F4’s home circuit the Dubai Autodrome.
Starting his second ever car race weekend from the third row, Piastri made a fast start in race 1 and finished 4th at the flag beating many of the series’ more experienced and older drivers.

For the reverse starting grid race 2 Piastri once again made a fantastic start and had a great on track battle with championship leader Jonathan Aberdein, Piastri narrowly missed out on a podium finishing just 0.138 seconds behind Aberdein in third.

The final race of the weekend showed Piastri once again proving the man to beat off the line eventually finishing 6th.

The next round of the UAE F4 series is at Yas Marina’s famous GP circuit on 9th-11th February where the series has 4 races, and Piastri has his sights firmly set on a podium result.

Dragon F4 has one seat available for the last 2 rounds of the UAE F4 series at Yas Marina in February and March. Please click the button below to contact us regarding this opportunity.

NGK RACING SERIES REPORT

Dragon Racing drivers collected further silverware for their trophy cabinets in the most recent rounds of the NGK National Racing Series. Taking place on the challenging International derivative of the Dubai Autodrome on the 27th and 28th January Dragon fielding a brace of Porsche Cayman GT4 Clubsports and our Chairman in his Ferrari 488 GT3 car.

Bill Martin and Dragon Racing's latest recruit, Chris Froggatt, kept the crowds entertained throughout both races, rarely more than a second apart, Bill took the upper hand in race one and Chris took the honours in race two. Chris's performance was particularly special given his lack of competition experience - having only obtained his competition licence on the 25th January! Leon Price took the overall victory on the Friday before a chest infection side-lined him on the Saturday.

The next races in the NGK Series take place on the weekends of the 17th February and the 3rd March respectively and as always, Dragon have a broad range of race cars to hire, so if any EU licenced competitors would like to take advantage of some sunny winter testing and racing under clear blue skies then please click the button beneath to inquire further.

SAUDI GT CUP CHAMPIONSHIP UPDATE

H.R.H Mohammed Bin Faisal came through to win at the wheel of the Dragon Racing supported McLaren 650S GT3 during round 4 of the Saudi GT Cup Championship. After a thrilling battle with H.R.H Mohammed Al Saud the McLaren crossed the line just 1.5 seconds ahead of the WRT Audi R8 LMS, during a very cold weekend at Reem International Circuit.

Starting second on the grid the McLaren made the move at the start into turn 1 getting ahead of the Audi, however the Radical RXC GT3 driven by Reem International Circuit ace Raed Abuzinadah cleared both the Audi and McLaren into Turn 1. Running wide on the exit of turn 3 allowed the McLaren into the lead where it remained for 15 laps until the Audi of H.R.H Mohammed Al Saud made a move into turn 1 resulting in contact. The McLaren was off circuit however the WRT Audi gave the position back at the end of the lap and the McLaren lead for the duration to take the chequered flag.

H.R.H Mohammed Bin Faisal and H.R.H Mohammed Al Saud shared the WRT Audi R8 LMS at the recent Dubai 24 Hours with Audi legend Marcel Fassler and H.R.H Mohammed Al Saud’s coach, Michael Vergers, finishing a commendable 6th in the Pro class on the debut for the two Saudi Arabian drivers.

With 2 wins apiece for the McLaren 650S GT3 and WRT Audi R8 LMS the championship battle will go down to the final two races where Dragon Racing aim to defend their Saudi GT champions status.

MOTORSPORT WEDNESDAY'S NEWS

As the Lamborghini Trofeo and the TCR series visit the region we are looking forward to welcoming their drivers to our next series of Motorsport Wednesdays.

Running alternating sessions for both open cockpit 'Formula' cars and closed cockpit 'GT' cars, our Motorsport Wednesdays offer relaxed and friendly track time for drivers of all levels of experience in a non-competitive environment. On the last Motorsport Wednesday Dragon clients enjoyed hundreds of traffic-free laps of the Dubai International circuit in our Toyota GT86, McLaren GT Sprints and our Ferrari 458 Challenge+.

The next event takes place in the evening at Yas Marina Circuit on Wednesday the 8th February and then back to the daytime format at the Dubai Autodrome on Wednesday the 15th February. And at both events Dragon Racing will have available to hire;

UAE F4 Tatuus Single Seaters
Ferrari 458 Challenge+'s
McLaren GT Sprints
'DR Edition' Toyota GT86
Porsche Cayman GT4 Clubsport

Please click the button beneath to inquire further