Regular readers will know that I’ve recently spent a couple of weeks in the United Arab Emirates whilst Triple Eight were competing in the Asian Le Mans Series and that afforded me the opportunity to indulge in a little fun along the way.
Highlights included a superb culinary experience at the famous Nusr-Et steak restaurant courtesy of Triple Eight/JMR driver Prince Jefri of Johor to celebrate his birthday. Not a place to take a veggie, it’s a carnivores delight.
When it comes to fun on four wheels, there’s no doubt that taking to the Dubai desert in 4x4s for some serious dune bashing is great fun, as are the various buggy offerings, but for me there’s nothing like going to a new motor racing venue and having a go. Hence I ended up on track at the Dubai Autodrome.
The catalyst for this was meeting the Australian commercial boss of the Autodrome, Tarek Elgammal.
Tarek kindly invited Mark Dutton (team manager of the Red Bull Ampol Racing Supercar team) and me to an evening ‘Experience Session’ a couple of days after the ALMS event. As you can imagine, evening track use makes a great deal of sense in this part of the world given the daytime temperatures for much of the year and the track is lit, albeit not to the, almost daylight, level of the Yas Marina circuit.
For any Aussies holidaying in Dubai, or even just stopping over for a day or two, the Autodrome is dead easy to get to as it’s close to the Jumeirah and Palm areas of the city. Now some 20 years old, the circuit has a full Grade 1 FIA licence and, whilst F1 doesn’t compete there, it has an established reputation as a major GT racing venue.
What impressed me the most is that the circuit very different from the YouTube impressions I had before visiting. There’s much more elevation change than I expected and the short, 2.46km Club Circuit that we used was very entertaining with the long front straight but then a range of different corners as it twisted its way around the back of the paddock area. There’s a much longer 5.39km circuit that’s used for the big races there but that would be hard to learn in a relatively short session, so the Club Circuit makes perfect sense for having fun on.
Mark and I got to chose our steeds for the evening and I opted for the latest BMW M2 as I reckoned that would be the pick of the bunch of BMW road cars available there. Mark went for the Ferrari 488 Challenge car in race spec with full racing slicks fitted. A surprisingly brave choice, given his nickname in the team was Captain Slow for many years!
Everyone is given an excellent briefing before venturing onto the track and the facilities are first class. It was also impressive to see the number of women participants there taking advantage of the wide range of cars available from the M series cars through to Mini Coopers. There’s something for everyone.
I had a ball in the M2, I have to say. With well placed marker cones, braking points were clear but I still had plenty to learn in terms of lines by the time I finished. I left enough on the table for next time!
Meanwhile Dutto was very cautious for a couple of laps in the 488 but then he got up on it properly and when he rolled back into pit lane the tyres did have plenty of temperature in them, remarkably!
The pricing runs from around $450 Aussie dollars upwards, obviously depending upon which BMW model you choose to drive, with the Ferrari topping the card at about $1900.
There’s also the choice of using the little slicks and wings Formula DXB single seaters for those who hanker after a mini F1 experience.
But for me, the BMW M2 was the perfect car on the day. Fast, great handling, loves the kerbs, and not too big. I’d actually love to drive an original E30 M3 around the Autodrome as I reckon it would be brilliant on the tight and twisty bits with quick change of direction.
All in all, a cracking circuit with an extremely well run Experience offering. I can’t recommend it enough to fellow petrol heads who are in the vicinity. Check it out at www.dubaiautodrome.ae.
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