Opa! NGK ProCar Goes Greek

Dubai, UAE, 7 March 2020: With no dragons flying overhead, Greek drivers Costas Papantonis (#1) and Alexandros Annivas (#9) of Mouhrista Racing took advantage of Dragon Racing’s GT absence to make TCR machinery masters of the grid in the final round of NGK UAE ProCar Championship on Friday (6 March) at Dubai Autodrome.

As thunder-god Zeus was the king of all Mt Olympus deities in Greek mythology, Papantonis, behind the wheel of a TCR Cupra Leon, has been the king of all things TCR. Papantonis brought the thunder with him in qualifying, topping all cars with a best time of 1:31.253 on the 3.56-kilometre National Circuit, and then went on to win Race One by a comfortable 18.681 seconds ahead of Mouhrista teammate Annivas.

TCR Class overlord: Papantonis (#1). Photo: Arthur Rosales

Driving a Seat Leon Cup Racer, Annivas upset the cosmic order in the second race, pushing Papantonis to the last lap and taking the chequered flag by just two tenths of a second ahead of the TCR Class championship leader.

Race Two winner: Annivas (#9). Photo: Arthur Rosales

Behind the Greek frontrunners a full squadron of Renault Clio Cups and one Honda Integra battled it out for the final spot in overall honours.

Flight of the Clios. Photos: Arthur Rosales

Clio Cup championship leader Mohammed Abdulghaffar Hussain (#76) of Rent2Race stayed out of trouble to seal his title bid with two class victories over Rahil Taneja (#10) of AUH Motorsports.

Hussain (#76) gets it done, wins Clio Cup. Photo: Arthur Rosales.

NGK UAE ProCar Championship RD6 Results

Report: Aaron Meriwether
Photos: Arthur Rosales