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Report: NGK Racing Series Races At Yas Marina Circuit
The small NGK Racing Series field that gathered at Yas Marina Circuit was further reduced after testing on Thursday when pace setter Costas Papantonis suffered a fuel feed problem on his Petrochem backed SEAT, which forced him to sit out race day.
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With no Class 1 contender it thus became an all Class 2 affair, with Honda and Renault squaring off, over two races, on the South Circuit configuration of Yas Marina.
In Race 1 multiple winner at Dubai Autodrome this season Rupesh Channake, arrived in Abu Dhabi as the man to beat in Class 2, but was sidelined early with a misfire on his Lap 57 Honda which resulted in him only doing two laps all day. He did not start the second race.
This left Jonathan Mullan in his privately entered Honda to fend off the Renault Clio brigade, which he did to take double wins in Class 1 of the NGK Racing Series.
In the race-within-a-race Clio Cup, it was Alexandros Annivas in the Petrochem Renault who set the pace and also chased Mullan hard all the way to challenge in the Class 2 contest. Annivas went on to take second place in both races, and top honours in the Clio Cup category.
Behind Annivas, Ramzi Moutran had his hands full in the cockpit of the Duel Racing Renault as he had to fend off Guillaume Simonnet in both races, with Leon Johnson chasing hard. The trio crossed the finish line in third, fourth and fifth respectively.
In the first NGK Racing Series race of the day, Leon Price gave the Dragon Racing Ferrari an outing, where he powered to an easy overall victory and setting the fastest lap of the day on the short circuit configuration – 1 minute 3.918 seconds – in the process. He opted not to take to the track for Race 2.
Annivas said afterwards, “It was a good day for us. Making up for the problems we had yesterday with our sister car. I tried hard to catch Mullan in the Honda and it ended very close in the final race. I am happy with the result and the points.”
Many of the NGK Racing Series competitors will line-up on the grid next month, on 8 February, at Dubai Autodrome for the inaugural NGK 300, an endurance race which will see the best of the tin top brigades doing battle along with GT contenders and Radical Cup teams.
PaddockTalk Perspective
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