Rashid Al Dhaheri took the chequered flag first in both Formula Trophy UAE races supporting the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, but lost one win to a double penalty.
Abu Dhabi native Al Dhaheri claimed a double pole position in Friday afternoon’s qualifying session, going 0.445 seconds faster than Reno Francot, who joined the Evans GP line-up for this weekend.
Francot got ahead in the first corner of Saturday’s opening race, forcing Al Dhaheri wide in the process – a move that would later earn him a five-second penalty. Kai Daryanani took advantage to end the first lap in second place, but Al Dhaheri would get back ahead of him on the following tour.
After a safety car to retrieve the car of Cheng Meng, Al Dhaheri grabbed the lead back from Francot and would cross the finish line in the lead, but he was later give two five-second penalties – for forcing both Daryanani and Francot off track as he passed them. With Francot also penalised for edging Al Dhaheri wide at the start, the win was awarded to Daryanani.
August Raber was another driver to be penalised, in his case for jumping the start, handing third place to Gustav Jonsson while Al Dhaheri was classified fifth behind Chi Zhenrui.
Race two was far more straightforward for Al Dhaheri, as he won by 3.472s.
Daryanani and Francot completed the podium, separated by a little over half a second after an early battle that also involved James Piszcyk – until he spun at Turn 12 on lap one – and Adam Al Azhari. Raber passed Al Azhari to finish fourth, only to take a five-second penalty that demoted him to seventh. That handed fourth to Kabir Anurag, who passed Al Azhari on the penultimate lap.
Al Dhaheri is due to give up his seat in the Prema-run Mumbai Falcons squad for next week’s final round at Yas Marina to Sebastian Wheldon while he focuses on preparations for his move up to Formula Regional, but leads the Formula Trophy standings by 27 points over Daryanani.
Results round-up
Race 1 (13 laps)
1 Kai Daryanani Evans GP 27m45.335s
2 Reno Francot Evans GP +0.278s
3 Gustav Jonsson Pinnacle Motorsport +3.087s
4 Chi Zhenrui Mumbai Falcons +3.637s
5 Rashid Al Dhaheri Mumbai Falcons +3.835s
6 James Piszcyk AGI Sport +5.328s
7 Nicolas Stati AGI Sport +8.702s
8 Kabir Anurag Xcel Motorsport +8.836s
9 Salim Hanna Mumbai Falcons +11.526s
10 August Raber Yas Heat +12.043s
Pole: Al Dhaheri, 1m56.206s
Fastest lap: Al Dhaheri, 56.846s
Race 2 (14 laps
1 Al Dhaheri 27m24.363s
2 Daryanani +3.472s
3 Francot +4.043s
4 Anurag +15.359s
5 Adam Al Azhari Yas Heat +15.891s
6 Stati +16.786s
7 Raber +18.361s
8 Chase Fernandez Xcel Motorsport +21.324s
9 Jonsson +22.779s
10 Chi +23.363s
P: Al Dhaheri, 1m56.504s
FL: Francot, 1m56.934s