Dubai, UAE, 13 November 2020: The first two rounds of the Gulf Radical Cup headlined the season opener at Dubai Autodrome on Friday, supported by the NGK UAE ProCar Championship and the new Waleed Alshemais National Sportsbike Championship.
Gulf Radical Cup
British driver Alex Khateeb (#0) and Frenchman Tarik Kerbouci (#10) divided the spoils in the first two rounds of the new season, with Alex taking race one and Tarik bouncing back to take race two.
The light blue Leyton House car #0 went zero to hero in the hands of Khateeb, who was a dominant force throughout the event. He topped both qualifying sessions with best lap times of 1:24.557 and 1:24.485 on the 3.56-kilolmetre National Circuit at Dubai Autodrome, the only Radical driver to dip below the 1:25 mark.
Khateeb then when on to win race one in convincing fashion, breaking away from the field early on and never looking back. He sailed past the finish line a full 16 seconds ahead of Jeff Curtis (#64), who was being hounded by Ian Roberts (#7), only 0.382 seconds back.
Race two unfolded as a completely different story, as the top finishers from the first round failed to complete the second installment. Khateeb and Curtis went out with DNFs and the field was wide open for someone else to step up.
That someone was Tarik Kerbouci, taking command of the fluorescent Radical in Monster Experience livery. The French driver notched up a modest P4 and P3 in qualifying, but he saved his best for the last race, trouncing the field and taking the chequered flag over 20 seconds ahead of Nicholas Francis (#96), with Amir Feyzulin (#15) following up for third-place.
More reports to follow…
Report & Photos: Aaron Meriwether
