The second annual Yas Drag Racing Festival roars into action this weekend at the Yas Drag Racing Centre
It will be the ultimate show of speed as the sound and fury of 8,000-horsepower Top Fuel dragsters split the air when the FIA World Champion Urs Erbacher races resident National Hot Rod Association (NHRA) star Rod Fuller at the second Yas Drag Racing Festival this weekend (4th-5th March) on Yas Island.
The inaugural two-day Yas Drag Racing Festival 2010 was named as “Motorsport Event of the Year” by CAR Middle East magazine in December and Rashed Al Qubaisi, head of the Yas Drag Racing Centre, is equally excited about this year’s Festival. “Last year’s Drag Racing Festival at Yas was watched by a sell-out crowd, and it was clear that the spectacle of Top Fuel was a huge attraction,” he said. “People were thrilled by the power, the sound and the way the very ground shook. This year, we will have the two Top Fuel cars perform solo runs on Friday and then race head to head on Saturday so that spectators can see even more Top Fuel action.”
'Hot Rod' Fuller will also be providing rides for spectators in the Yas three-seat Super Comp dragster. “That’s going to be a real first,” said Rashed Al Qubaisi, head of the Yas Drag Racing Centre. “Never before has the public been able to watch a Top Fuel driver pull a sub-four-second run and then get strapped into a Super Comp dragster for a similar experience with the same driver.”
Other attractions for the Drag Festival will include demonstration runs by Martin Hill in the world’s fastest jet-powered Funny Car and the second round of the Yas Pro Series Drag Racing, which will include a full programme of drag racing with entries from across the GCC region.
The second round of the Pro Drag Racing Series will feature seven classes of professional racing including Pro Mod, Outlaw 10.5, 7.9 Index, Pro Bike, Super Street Bike, Pro 6 and Super Street 8 with over AED 500,000 prize money up for grabs.
The final two rounds of the Pro Drag Racing Series are scheduled for the weekends of 18th-19th March and 29th-30th April.
There will also be a full schedule of activities off the track with local band Juliana Down rocking the crowds, an interactive graffiti wall, a remote control monster truck course, sumo wrestling, fireworks, a motorcycle stunt team and much more.
Gates open at 4pm on Friday and 5pm on Saturday. Tickets are still on sale starting from AED 50, with children 12 and under free of charge. Access to the VIP Golden Circle close to the start is available for AED 150. For more information or to buy tickets, visit www.yasmarinacircuit.com or call 800 YAS (927).
Jon Muller
Do it yourself
If the raw power and excitement of the drag festival has left you wanting more, why not try it out for yourself?
The Yas Drag Racing Centre runs regular open nights where you can bring your own cars and push them to the limits on the track – the only requirement is that you have a valid driving license.
And if you don’t think your own car has enough power to satisfy your need for speed, the Yas Drag Racing
Academy runs courses where you can learn to be a certified professional drag racer and ultimately work towards an NHRA super competition license that will allow you to race anywhere in the world.
The next open drag racing nights are on the 9th and 16th March and then the 9th,13th and 20th April.
Speed demon
'Hot Rod' Fuller became the fastest man on four wheels in the UAE at last year’s inaugural Drag Racing Festival when he hit a terminal speed of 499.97 km/h in front of a capacity crowd at Yas Marina Circuit. He covered the standing-start 1,000 feet (304 metres) in 3.893 seconds in his 8,000-horsepower dragster, setting another UAE record by just 1/1000th of a second.
He's hoping that he will be able to set another new record at this year's event and crack the magical 500 km/h barrier.
