- Promising start to NGK Racing Series season
- Double wins for Singhania, Annivas and Papantonis
YAS MARINA CIRCUIT, ABU DHABI, 4th NOVEMBER 2014: The opening round of the 2014-2015 NGK Racing Series took place at Yas Marina Circuit, producing two intriguing races which saw McLaren, Porsche and Ferrari battle it out for top honours and close action in the UAE Touring Cars class as well as the Clio Cup race-within-a-race.
Big winner on the day in Abu Dhabi was Gautam Singhania in the Dragon Racing Ferrari winning both races ahead of Fred Fatien in the sister car second, and Bashar Mardini taking third place in his Porsche.
In the Touring Car category it was good day for the Gulf Petrochem team with Costas Papantonis topping Class 1 in his SEAT in both races, and the Annivas brothers Alexandros and Constantinos finishing first and second in the combined UAE Touring Car and Clio Cup class at the wheel of the blue and white Renault Clios.
About Mr. Gautam Singhania as a racing enthusiast
Mr. Singhania is a pioneering enthusiast in the Indian motorsport landscape. He is the co-founder of the Super Car Club (SCC), which has launched various activities to promote the popularity of these super machines including Ferrari, Lamborghini, Porsche, Bentley, Rolls-Royce, BMW and Mercedes in India. He has been successfully organizing the Parx Super Car Show for six years now, bringing together numerous super cars from across the country to a single venue for the city of Mumbai to view. The Club undertook a thrilling expedition to Leh-Ladakh in 2013 and Rajasthan Desert Escape in 2014. SCC, under the leadership of Mr. Singhania, is promoting drifting as an auto sports in the country. He also unveiled India’s first and only exclusive drifting car towards the end of 2013. The unveiling ceremony happened a few months after he emerged as the winner in the amateur category of the All Stars European Drift Championship held at Malta in September 2012. The event saw over 30 participants competing in an intense final which he won by the point difference of 2.5. Mr. Singhania also holds the record for being the only Asian and Indian to have participated and won. Not that he is content with driving luxury cars on Indian soil. Among other things, Mr. Singhania has participated in the Cannonball 8000, a drive from London to Rome. Mr. Singhania recently won the 2014 Ferrari Pirelli Open held at Brands Hatch in Great Britain becoming the first and the only Indian to achieve this feat and also scored a podium finish at the Britcar Championship at Oulton Park.