21 September 2013
Al Ain Raceway played host to the first round of the Team 90 series last night; Friday 20th September 2013. The format saw each driver taking to the track for a 5 minute non-qualifying practice to get warmed up. This was followed by a 10 minute qualifying session to determine the grid for the 90 minute endurance race.
There were a total of 16 teams competing. Many of the teams made up of regulars, and a couple of new teams were welcomed also. Seven drivers elected to complete the race single handedly, and the remaining nine teams all had just two drivers. Drivers doing the race alone, had to still complete the mandatory two driver ‘changes’ and this was done by the driver getting out of the kart, running around it and getting back in. Despite the hopes of the race director and pit crew, no one fell over whilst performing these changes. Maybe next time…
So to the qualifying first, and it was the AB Racing team (Abdul Awan) that took the pole position with a time of 1:25.353. Second position on the grid went to ‘You’re A Team’ (Marty Fullard) with a 1:25.558 and third position went to Team A & A (Ahmed Al Melaihi and Ahmed Al Shamsi) with a 1:26.128.
The start of the race saw AB Racing and You’re a team brake away from the pack early, and a good example of working together helped them to build a healthy lead. ATR 1 made a bit of a mess of the qualifying, and it was with this that their strategy of doing the two stops on the first two laps was decided. This decision ultimately worked in their favour as a clear track enabled them to put in some fast laps.
The finishing positions of the top three teams came down to the final pit stop. You’re A Team entered the pits in first position for their final stop, but exited 1.3 seconds behind AB Racing with just ten minutes to go. ATR 1 were closing the gap every lap but there just wasn’t enough time to catch 2nd place, and therefore they had to settle for 3rd.
So the chequered flag went out to AB Racing who took the flag just 2.03 seconds ahead of you’re a team in 2nd and ATR 1 in 3rd. Team Emirates had a consistent race to finish 4th and managed to create a 25 second gap from the 5th place team of ATR 2. The top 5 teams were all on the lead lap after the 90 minute race. Another great come back saw Team Palestine finish 6th after some early problems, taking this position from Swiss Biscuit in the last five minutes of the race. Swiss biscuit occupied 6th place for most of the race and a good result for them gaining some good championship points early on.
There was just one penalty handed out by the Race Director Chris York, and that honor went to Team X for not completing the minimum number of driver changes. This ten second penalty saw the team demoted to last place.
So to the championship standings, and after receiving four bonus points for fastest laps, the AB Racing team have a strong nine point lead from You’re a team. The next round will take place on Friday the 1st of November, and with a six round series it is all to play for next round….
Full championship standings to follow.....
