NEWS ARCHIVE
With their first opportunity to race at the new Yas Marina Circuit, a record 20 drivers from no less than ten countries filled the grid for race one. Not only did we have the regular drivers in their Radical SR3s, but we were treated to two Caterhams, two PR6 Prosports and the first appearance of a Class CN car courtesy of Juno UK. The Qualifying session proved to be the closest it has even been with the fastest five drivers finishing within 77 hundredths of a second. Pole position for Race One went to championship leader Jordon Grogor (RSA) with young Tom Bradshaw (UK) driving the Honda engined Juno only 8 hundredths of a second behind. Pakistani ace Usmaan Mughal who had been absent most of the season turned up to put in an extraordinary lap only 4 tenths slower than Bradshaw. Race One proved controversial from the start when the field thundered down towards Turn One with Grogor in the lead followed by Mughal, Bradshaw and then Kronfli and Hissette side by side. As they bunched for the corner, Grogor and Mughal got through cleanly at the front of the pack, but Kronfli’s car made contact with Bradshaw’s Juno causing both cars to rotate in the middle of the pack. Unfortunately, Emirati driver Sultan Mahboubi, unsighted at this point behind Bob George and Tom Haines, found himself directly in line with Kronfli’s car which came to rest across the track. All three cars were sidelined with major damage to the two Radicals, bringing out the Safety Car for two laps whilst the two wrecks were cleared. The race finally got underway with even more intensity as a mighty battle developed between Mughal and Grogor which ended in a disaster after Mughal got past Grogor on the last lap only to spin back into the path of his teammate causing major damage to both cars. Hissette therefore inherited the win from Tom Haines and the series longest serving competitor Bob George in third. Race Two got off to a poor start with most of the field being forced to start from pit lane. In the confusion, Henry van den Heuval ran into the back of Keverne McShine causing extensive damage to McShine’s car and ending his own weekend. With the absence of Kronfli, Hissette, Mughal, Mahboubi and Van Den Heuval, the way was left clear for the rest of the field to fight it out for honours. This time Invitation Class driver Tom Bradshaw was able to demonstrate the capability of the new Juno CN2010 by setting a fastest lap of 1:59.7090 and with a convincing win after starting the race towards the back of the grid. Bob George finished a fine second followed by Haines in third place. News courtesy of Gulfsport Racing
22/09/09 1 to 1 KARTING TUITION AVAILABLE
1 to 1 Tuition is available at Absolute Karting with Usmaan Mughal for very competitive rates. Ideal for new and experienced drivers it is the perfect way to improve your racing skills in a non pressured environment. The 1 to 1 programme has been running for a few weeks and has been very successful with drivers such as Jordan Hester progressing from introduction to qualifying for the semi finals of the National Karting Association Championship beating over 1000 drivers. 1 to 1 tuition can be booked directly though the website under the 'gits' category. For more information please do not hesitate to drop Usmaan an email on usmaan.mughal@gmail.com
17/09/09 USMAAN MUGHAL RACING INVITES YOU
Usmaan Mughal Racing will be starting a new chapter by competing in the brand new Gulfsport Radical Cup and is currently looking to form a relationship with a few select partners. Motorsport has a global audience and the Gulfsport Radical Cup in particular provides unparalleled exposure in the Middle East and UAE. As well as being the fastest racing series in Dubai, the races are broadcast on Motors TV and local TV on a regular basis aswell as exposure through local media. In conjunction with AUH motorsports Usmaan Mughal Racing can provide full corporate hospitality, passenger rides for your clients and special driver training and tuition in a road car at the Dubai Autodrome.For enquiries kindly send an email to usmaan.mughal@gmail.com
16/09/09 - 2009 RADICAL SR3 COMPLETES FINAL BUILD
Usmaan Mughal Racing's 2009 SR3 completed its final build yesterday at the Radical factory in Peterborough. The car will be air freighted to the AUH motorsports warehouse for race preparation in anticipated of the forthcoming Gulfsport Radical Cup. A special thanks to Nick Dove and Paul Dujon from Radical Sportscars for their efficient and professional service and also to Mick Notter of Benco Freight for arranging the shipping of the car.
www.radicalsportscars.com Benco Freight 01753 686699
10/09/09 - WEBSITE RELAUNCHED FOR UPCOMING SEASON
Usmaan Mughal Racing has been relaunched and will feature many reviews and race reports from the world of racing in the Middle East. Trackside reviews and round by round reports of the Gulf Radical Cup will supplement track guides, videos, images and regular features. Keep coming back!
09/09/09- MUGHAL TO RACE WITH AUH MOTORSPORTS IN 09/10
Usmaan Mughal is set to compete in the 2009/10 Gulfsport Radical Cup season organised by Gulfsport in what will be the most competitive season in its history since launching in 2006.
The championship will once again be a feature in the UAE National Race Day events broadcast on free to air television in the Middle East and around the world via Motors TV. Usmaan will compete in a 2009 Radical SR3 RS after parting with 'strawberry and lime', his 2004 race car which piloted him to three podiums in his first ever 4 international sportscar races.
Usmaan had the following to say: 'After a successful campaign in early 2009 driving the SR3 for the first time in Dubai I am pleased to confirm that I will be contesting the complete season in 2009/10 in a bid to win the Class C championship. I would like to thank the entire Gulfsport Racing team and in particular Barry Hope for his wonderful service and running of my racing car and praise him on the high quality of his championship.
I look forward to a new chapter in my racing by running with AUH motorsports, a new Abu Dhabi based racing team headed by Carl Rolaston and I also hope to contest in the Radical Europeans Masters with them once the GRC is over. The equipment I will have at my disposal this year will definitely be a big help and I will be working hard to acheive my championship aspirations.'
01/07/09 ATCUAE RELEASE PROVISIONAL DATES FOR UAE NATIONAL RACING SEASON
Dubai Autodrome will once again feature prominently on the 2009/2010 UAE National Racing season calendar which was made public this week by the ATCUAE, the sport’s governing body in the UAE. Although the dates are provisional they provide an indication that local race fans and competitors are in for a busy season of top class motorsport. The season will consist of eight rounds featuring UAE Touring Car Championship, UAE GT Championship, UAE Sportbike Championship and Gulf Radical Cup. The first race will be preceded by a combined pre-season test day and media launch.
Heading each of the eight race day bills will be the 2009/2010 UAE Touring Car Championship, with two rounds of the championship run per race day. For the forthcoming season the UAE Touring Car Championship, which is now more aligned with global Touring Car racing trends, will feature 3 classes within the series with the big difference being that only two wheel drive cars will be allowed to enter the championship and for the new season minimum will weight caps will be enforced.
UAE GT Championship will make its debut in the new season. The series is devised along the lines of similar international GT series’, which caters for exotic supercars and is likely to attract a spectacular grid of Porsches, Corvettes, Dodge Vipers, Aston Martins to name some. The series will feature three classes GTA, GTB and GTC. Because of the wide variety of cars, an objective classification has been chosen based on a “weight/power” ratio. In this way, our aim is to equalise cars participating in each class as fairly as possible.
UAE Sportbike Championship is invariably one the highlights of a UAE National Race Day. The speed and sound of the state-of-the-art motorcycles combined with the gravity defying cornering ability of the top riders makes Sportbike racing popular with fans and competitors alike. The Championship for 2009/2010 will consist of two production based classes, one for 1000cc Sportbikes and one for 600cc Sportbikes.
Gulf Radical Cup will be on the National Race Day bill once again. The series has grown from strength to strength in the past few years and provided some close racing featuring Le Mans style prototype sportscars.
Thus the 2009/2010 season will start with a “soft” opening on Thursday, 1 October 2009 at Dubai Autodrome with the real deal commencing two weeks later, at the same venue, on Friday, 16 October 2009. If the past season is anything to go by then 2009/2010 will undoubtedly be an intriguing affair as inevitably the bar will again move up several notches in UAE motorsport.
For further information please log on to: http://www.dubaiautodrome.com/
News courtesy of Dubai Autodrome
28/03/09 2 RACES 2 PODIUMS FOR MUGHAL IN SECOND RACE EVENT
It went down to the 18th and final race of the season to determine who was to be crowned the 2008/9 Gulf Radical Cup Champion.
The young Saudi took full advantage of Kronfli being forced to start at the back of the grid of Race One and led from start to finish, with the 21 year old Pakistani driver Usmaan Mughal (driftmedical.com) again showing good form to finish second ahead of Emirati driver Humaid Al Masaood (Mugg & Bean). Kronfli did an amazing job to complete the race in 5th position given that he had to run the whole race in 5th gear because of a paddle-shift malfunction! Although Algosaibi had now closed the points gap, Kronfli would have to stay out of trouble to have any chance of beating Algosaibi in the final race of the season.
Although Kronfli needed now only finish in 5th or better to become Champion, to the surprise of all concerned, Kronfli set off after Algosaibi from P5 and was right behind him going into Turn 1 and had passed him on Lap 2 to take the lead. Fahad tried everything he knew but was just not able to get back finishing the race only 2.5 seconds behind. Mughal finished a fine third with David Field (Aviva) and Al Masaood coming across the line only inches apart. Interviewed after the race, Kronfli admitted to being very nervous, but said “I just wanted to win the overall championship with a win, so I went for it!”.
Season 5 of the Gulf Radical Cup commences in October 2009.
News courtesy of gulfradicalcup.com
26/03/09 MUGHAL FINISHES 4th and 2nd ON RACE DEBUT
Rounds 15 and 16 of the Gulf Radical Cup will take place at the Dubai Autodrome on 9th and 10th of April with the DAMC National Raceday 7.
News Courtesy of www.gulfradicalcup.com
With only six races left to decide the Gulf Radical Cup, this event was to be a real showdown between the young Saudi Driver Fahad Algosaibi (Algosaibi Travel) and Canadian Bassam Kronfli (EVO Middle East) both driving identical cars.
All the drivers were being severely tested as they attempted to get to grips with the challenging 3.56kms National Circuit and possibly the best corner in the Middle East! Turns 3 and 4, a double apex blind right hander is taken at speeds up to 210kph in the high-downforce Radical SR3 – and some 20kph faster in the Radical SR8.
Algosaibi won the first battle by qualifying on pole position with a great time of 1:24.753, just a tenth of a second quicker than Kronfli. With 17year old Sultan Mahboubi (Top Most Freight Solutions) qualifying in 3rd we were clearly in for some action. New to the series this week was 21 year old Pakistani driver, Usmaan Mughal (Surgikare) having his very first drive in a sports racing car. He certainly got to grips with both his car and the circuit extremely quickly and put himself on the second row of the grid to everyone’s surprise.
Race 1 saw Kronfli get a great start followed by Algosaibi, Mahboubi, Mughal and Carl Rolaston. Try as he may, even setting the fastest race lap in the process, Algosaibi could not find a way past and so it was a race win for Kronfli after the race was red-flagged when Algosaibi accidentally punted Henry van den Heuval off the track whilst trying to stay with Kronfli. Mahboubi finished third to take another impressive podium finish. Andrew Lemon was the best of the Invitation Class in the very fast Radical PR6 taking to the top step of the podium for the first time.
Race 2 proved to be the best race to date with drama throughout the race. The scene was set when newcomer Mughal made a blinding start in what is the oldest Radical SR3 in the pack to take the lead. This was like a red rag to a bull, with hard charging Kronfli and Algosaibi trying desperately to get past him. It was bound to end in tears. Mughal did a sterling job and it wasn’t until halfway through lap 3 that it all went wrong. Unfortunately it was Algosaibi who drew the short straw and he spun off the track, rejoining at the rear of the pack. In the melee, Kronfli got past Mughal and led to the finish, with a delighted Mughal taking second place by now some 10 seconds ahead of third place man, Rolaston who had Abu Dhabi driver Humaid Al Masaood glued to his tail! Dutch driver Van den Heuval managed to stay ahead of Lemon to win the DAMC Invitation Class Trophy.
News Courtesy of www.gulfradicalcup.com
20/02/09 MUGHAL TO COMPETE IN GULF RADICAL CUP IN A 252 BHP SR3
The Gulf Radical Cup explodes back into action this weekend with an expanded grid. Working towards his goal of racing for A1GP Team Pakistan, Usmaan Mughal joins the Gulf Radical Cup in his 252bhp Radical SR3. He knows that this series offers him the closest thing available in the region to an A1GP car and thus taking part in the series is a logical step for the ambitious, upwardly mobile, driver.
