After four different winners in first four rounds, the title race is wide open in the Porsche GT3 Cup Challenge Middle East
The Porsche GT3 Cup Challenge Middle East returns to action in Abu Dhabi next month with the prospect of five drivers battling it out for two race victories and the title race now wide open.
The Porsche one-make championship has an intriguing look about it ahead of Rounds five and six at Yas Marina Circuit on 15th and 16th December which will mark the half way stage in the 2011-12 season.
While he leads the series and is still the favourite to retain the Porsche GT3 Cup title which he won two seasons ago, Saudi Arabia’s Prince Abdulaziz Al Faisal can no longer expect to dominate proceedings.
The new level of competitiveness which is increasing the pressure on the title favourite is emphasised by the fact that the first four GT3 Cup rounds so far have produced four different race winners, as many as each of the previous two 12-round seasons.
With one victory apiece, Prince Abdulaziz, fellow-Saudi Bandar Alesayi and Oman’s Ahmad Al Harthy are separated by just six points in a series offering 20pts for a race win and which could, for a second successive year, be progressing towards a final round showdown.
Although he will not play a full part in the championship, Austrian driver Clemens Schmid will be back on the starting grid in Abu Dhabi looking to outperform the three top Arab drivers and add to his first round victory at Dubai Autodrome.
Meanwhile, after settling into the Dubai-based Al Nabooda Racing Porsche GT3 Cup car, Belgian Stephane Lemeret will be looking to join Al Harthy as a first-time race winner on his debut season in the series.
“We have all the ingredients of another very exciting two days of racing to look forward to,” said Walter Lechner, head of Lechner Racing, who manage and run the series on behalf of Porsche Middle East and Africa.
Lechner, a highly accomplished former sports car driver who raced Porsches at Le Mans, added, “We saw in Dubai and during the last two rounds in Abu Dhabi that there is little to separate the top five or six drivers, and for each of them there’s a big emphasis on getting the car set up as well as possible.
“After that, it’s all down to who performs best, and who makes the fewest mistakes. Three of the first four rounds were won from pole position, so everyone knows the importance of getting things right in qualifying.”
