The UAE’s Al Nabooda Racing team driver Jeffrey Schmidt extended his winning streak to four straight wins in Season 7 of the Porsche GT3 Cup Challenge Middle East on Sunday.
In a repeat of the opening race of Round 2 at Al Reem International Circuit in Saudi Arabia, Schmidt blazed from pole position on the grid to take the chequered flag and top place on the podium unchallenged.
The newcomer to Al Nabooda Racing has once again underlined his title winning pedigree by securing the win by a gap of 1.515 seconds to extend his lead in the overall driver standings to 14 points.
– INTERVIEW: Felipe Nasr – Chasing his F1 dreams
– INTERVIEW: Vatteri Bottas on Finland's F1 rivalry
Ireland’s Ryan Cullen followed Schmidt over the line in second place with Al Nabooda Racing’s Zaid Ashkanani of Kuwait completed the podium places.
It means the team increased their lead in the team championship to 45 points (182 points total) going into the winter break with two of the six rounds completed.
There was further good news for the UAE as Skydive Dubai Falcons driver Saeed Al Mehairi advanced from fifth on the grid to finish fourth, just outside the podium places. Elsewhere Qatar-based driver Charlie Frijns was fifth and home favourite Abdulaziz AlFaisal sixth.
“The race was really sandy. It was definitely one of the toughest races I have had,” said Schmidt.
“The first couple of laps were very difficult as the pressure from the pack behind meant there was no room for any mistakes.
“I am very happy with first place, it’s good for me personally in the championship and it’s a great team win as well. It’s been four races and four wins, but the other drivers are getting closer and closer so I definitely need to work hard to stay in front.”
Despite losing out on second place to Cullen, Al Nabooda Racing’s Ashkanani will be pleased with his overall contribution to the team over the weekend as he settles back into Porsche GT3 Cup racing following his exploits in the FIA GP3 series.
Zaid Ashkanani added: “Unfortunately I had a really bad start which saw me lose my position straight away.
“Hasher Maktoum was putting a lot of pressure on me from behind but I managed to finish in third place. It’s not what I wanted, but it’s not bad. I just have to work even harder now ahead of the next race.”
The championship now heads into a winter break before resuming in the UAE for three back-to-back rounds to kick start the New Year across January and February, closely followed by the return to Bahrain for the climactic conclusion to Season 7 in early March.
