26 replies to this topic

[Tim C 27]

Greetings from Abu Dhabi

I wondered if anyone is planning on visiting the historic GP revival event at Dubai Autodrome on Friday, or if anybody is aware of what cars are entered? Their website shows one or two Group C cars and Fittipaldi and ATS/PC4 f1 cars.

I’m in two minds about it at the moment.

[Giraffe]

I've asked someone who is out there with a car exactly what is taking place.

[Tim C 27]

That’s great, thank you

[SamoanAttorney]

Apologies if this is not allowed.

 

I retrieved this press release from the bin where it had been dropped into this morning.

 

I hope it answers some of your questions......

 

 

 

A formidable field of drivers assembled for the Historic Dubai Grand Prix Revival powered by Gulf Historic

 

As the Historic Dubai Grand Prix Revival powered by Gulf Historic is putting the finishing touches to its preparations it’s time to discover the names of those who’ll be lucky enough to drive the F1s and Group C and GTP prototypes on the Dubai Autodrome this coming 2 - 3 December. On this prestigious list are famous collectors, lovers of historic cars that pluck the heartstrings of enthusiasts as well as professional drivers. Former winners of the 24 Hours of Le Mans, Spa, the Nürburging, Daytona and Dubaï – of course! – have taken up the challenge. We will also be lucky enough to see drivers who raced in grands prix in the 1980 and 1990s displaying their skills!

 

A prototype and an F1 will fly the colours of Rebellion, the main partner of the meeting, with very impressive driver lineups. In the prototype is an unexpected but very welcome duo who will share one of the two Argo JM19Ds present: Cyril Despres, French motorbike rider five-time Dakar Rally winner and FIM Cross-Country Rallies World Champion whose team-mate is the most famous co-driver in Cross-Country Rallies. This time, however, double Dakar winner Mathieu Baumel will not be calling the pace notes from the Argo’s left-hand seat as he will drive the English car alternately with his fellow-countryman! Jean-Denis Délétraz raced in F1 for Larrousse and Pacific. He won the 24 Hours of Spa outright as well as the LMP675 category in the 24 Hours of Le Mans. He will be one of the major contenders in Dubaï at the wheel of the Arrows A3.

 

The Swiss driver is also racing in the Group C & GTP events in which he will team up with works Porsche driver Mathieu Jaminet in GPX Historic’s Cougar C28S. Jaminet scored a victory in modern GT with GPX Racing in this year’s Paul Ricard 1000 km.

 

Double winner of the 24 Hours of Le Mans, world endurance champion, and author of a major exploit at Pikes Peak with the course record as the cherry on the cake, Romain Dumas will be racing in F1 Historic with the Fittipaldi F8, which makes a most entrancing sound, and in Group C in the Rondeau M382. His team-mate will be driver-journalist Valentin Simonet, who will be making his debut in (historic) Formula 1 in a Shadow DN8. These three cars have been entered by local team, GPX Historic, as well as the unforgettable F1 Hesketh 308. Oliver Webb, who won the European Le Mans Series in LMP2 and the 24 Hours of Dubai, will play the role of the great James Hunt in this car!

 

Another distinguished guest with GPX Historic is His Royal Highness Prince Bernhard of the Netherlands and prince of Orange-Nassau. He’s an excellent driver who’s won a European title in GT4. In Dubai he will be alone in the cockpit of the Spice that won the Group C2 category in the 1990 24 Hours of Le Mans. Axcil Jefferies down to drive the amazing Maki F101 from the GPX Historic stable is a real specialist in Middle Eastern motor sport. He won the Lamborghini Super Trofeo title in this region of the world and his victories with GPX Racing in the Asian Le Mans Series and the 24 Hours of Dubai are still fresh in everybody’s memory. In parallel, the Zimbabwean will drive an Argo JM16 for the team Dubai Autodrome with Saeed Al Mehairi, a regular in GT events in the Middle East.

 

Let’s stay in the region with Khaled al Mudhaf’s Argo JM19D from Kuwait like its team G Force Autoworx, a firm specialized in the optimisation of exceptional cars. Khaled has won his class twice in the 24 Hours of Dubai.

 

The colours of the Edmond de Rothschild team, another of the meeting’s major partners, have every chance of shining thanks to Thierry Boutsen at the wheel of the Tiga GT287 IMSA Lights. The Belgian won three F1 grands prix, scored three podiums in the 24 Hours of Le Mans and emerged victorious in the 24 Hours of Daytona!

 

On the list of F1 entries is Jérémy Loisel who enjoyed himself racing in Motocross and the Clio Cup before making it to the finish of the Historic Monaco Grand Prix this year. His mission will be to tame the Shadow DN5 run by the Connecting to Gulf team in Dubai. Jordan Grogor, double class winner in the 24 Hours of Dubai, where he lives, has become one of the leading drivers in F1 Historic races and he’s determined to live up to his (good) reputation at the wheel of the lovely (and unique) Amon AF101 entered by the BB One Racing team. Julien Andlauer stunned everybody by finishing second in the 2021 Monaco Historic Grand Prix. The young Frenchman is also a Porsche works driver and played a major role in the success of GPX Racing in the Asian Le Mans Series (2nd) and the 24 Hours of Dubai (1st). He is back in the Emirates to drive the Triple5 Motorsport Maki F101C.

 

We’re lucky enough to be able to count on the participation of reputed collectors and tuners specialised in the mechanical jewels of those heroic years. The evocation of the Rofgo Collection can move even the most blasé of enthusiasts. Roald Goethe, who competed in the 24 Hours of Le Mans on three occasions, will drive his Formula 1 Tyrrell 007. His friends Jordan Grogor and Stuart Hall (4th in the 24 Hours of Le Mans plus a GTE Am title in the FIA WEC) will relay each other at the wheel of the sensational Porsche 962.

 

Andy Soucek, former F1 test driver, will race a Surtees TS9B entered by the Chelsea 1979 team, a McLaren dealership in Barcelona, which has a classic division. The Carugati Automobiles showroom is based in Geneva where one can admire automotive marvels. Its manager Tiziano Carugati will be in Dubai this weekend at the wheel of an ATS from 1978. British squad Martin O’Connell’s OC Racing limited will run Jamie Constable in a Shadow DN8. Max Girardo, the manager of Girardo&Co, the Swiss historic car multi-specialist, will drive a Spice SE90P in the Group C / GTP races. At the wheel of a similar car powered by a Ford Cosworth engine in place of the Ferrari is Belgian Marc Devis from the RMD Classic workshop, another major specialist of cars with a history. Finally, the remarkable Ascott Collection will be represented by its founder Xavier Michelon who’s getting ready to surprise everybody with his turbine-powered Howmet TX!

 

 

The organisers and the competitors in the Historic Dubai Grand Prix Revival powered by Gulf Historic are now in the home straight! Free practice and qualifying will see all these cars taking to the track on Thursday 2nd December followed by two races per category on Friday 3rd December.

[Tim C 27]

Many thanks. That makes it pretty clear about what will be there.

[hamsterace]

Thanks for the information - some interesting cars entered. Presumably the Group C eligibility requirements have been flexed somewhat to accommodate the Howmet though? 🤔

[SamoanAttorney]

Thanks for the information - some interesting cars entered. Presumably the Group C eligibility requirements have been flexed somewhat to accommodate the Howmet though?

 

I doubt that the author would appreciate the subtleties of the differences between Group 6 and Group C. Spelling and grammar also appear to be a challenge. 

[Giraffe]

Martin Angeloni who is seconded to one of the teams at the event replied to my enquiry last evening as follows.......

"F1s and Gp C stuff, not many at all, perhaps 10 of each. Great event, brilliant venue, just needs organising better. Get some Cobras, GT 40s and E-types over and I'm sure it could be great."

I think this gives a better indication as to the current state of play.

[Tim C 27]

Thanks for finding out. I’m going to leave it this time. I’ll get my fix of motorsport in Abu Dhabi the following weekend instead.

[GazChed]

I wonder if it's the first time the Maki F101 has been described as amazing ?

[Giraffe]

Of course they've tried this before , 40 years ago.....

 

[Tim C 27]

Yes I’ve seen that. The race of ex-grand prix drivers in road cars turns into a demolition derby. Who could have predicted that…? 🤣

[philippe7]

I am currently in Dubaï for this event and spent the day at the circuit where practice was taking place. And although the field is indeed fairly modest I am enjoying immensly seeing close up and "in the flesh" cars that I was looking at from either behind the fences, or in magazines, while in my teens. I have been deprived from the pleasure of spectating at historic meetings by living for the last 25 years on a remote island in the south pacific. The 12 announced Formula 1 cars are indeed there and running, all in the same field (1970 to 1985) but the question remains as to how many will be able to run tomorrow for the actual races, considering the various mechanical or accidental (only one, sadly the lovely Surtees TS9B) gremlins that occured today. Most of the drivers are unknown to me, being either young professionals that I am unaware of, or real gentlemen drivers (one of them being my niece's husband, which explains why I'm here....) . The only top driver from "my" time is Thierry Boutsen who runs in the Group C class.

 

Someone mentioned the Maki, there are actually two of them running, the "Citizen" version that Hiroshi Fushida and Tony Trimmer failed to qualify at any Grand Prix in 1975, but also a 1974 model, looking exactly like the  first and very radical and unusual car that was presented in Japan, but then heavily modified before Howden Ganley tried to qualify it, because from memory the aerodynamics of the original prototype were "not within the rules" of the time.

 

Oh and yes, i did take plenty of pictures but I'll be damned if I can figure out how to post them with the "new" forum specifications .... if anybody is intersted and volunteers to post them for me I can send them to him ....

[Giraffe]

Oh and yes, i did take plenty of pictures but I'll be damned if I can figure out how to post them with the "new" forum specifications .... if anybody is intersted and volunteers to post them for me I can send them to him ....

 

I have sent you a PM, Philippe.

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Posted on behalf of Philippe

[philippe7]

Thank you   

[john aston]

Great pics ; but judging by the 'crowd ' , local enthusiasm is not pictured. 

[Tim C 27]

Thanks for posting the photos. 👍

[John Ginger]

Thank you from me too

[Giraffe]

Great pics ; but judging by the 'crowd ' , local enthusiasm is not pictured. 

 

Having lived in Dubai in the 90s & 00s, I can testify that Emiratees & other residents of the region have little or no interest in motorsport, and absolutely none whatsoever in historic motorsport.

A handful of ex-pats will turn out, but that's it.

It's ironic to me that this weekend there is a GP in Jeddah, something I never thought I would see in a city which I also used to frequent.

[BRG]

Thank you   

Fine shots, sir! Good work.  And thanks to Giraffe for facilitating posting them.

 

EDit:  And incidentally, who are Flat 12?  It made me think twice seeing that on the Maki and Amon cars!

Edited by BRG, 04 December 2021 - 15:24.

[JacnGille]

Another thanks for the pics!

[philippe7]

EDit:  And incidentally, who are Flat 12?  It made me think twice seeing that on the Maki and Amon cars!

 

Flat 12 is the name of a restaurant/café where you can park and show off your expensive car while sipping a drink or having a snack - a favoured occupation around here for bored "supercars" owners it seems .... they were a (minor) sponsor of the meeting.

[Tim C 27]

Just a minor point, but I was lucky enough to attend the Abu Dhabi GP. On the Thursday, I did the Pit Lane walk and visited the ‘Fan Zone’ where the historic F1 cars from the Dubai event were on static display.

Thanks again for posting the photos from the event in Dubai.