GP2 Series
Nov 12 10.30am-11am (practice session), 2.55pm-3.25pm (qualifying)
Nov 13 11am-12.05pm (first race of 31 laps or 60 Mins)
Nov 14 1.30pm-2.20pm (second race of 22 laps or 45mins)
What: Established in 2008, this is the Asia spin-off from the European competition, which spawned Formula One stars Lewis Hamilton and Heikki Kovalainen. The cars: The single-seat GP2 cars have four-litre V8 engines limited to 600bhp; that equates to about eight seconds a lap slower than an Formula One car. In short, you can catch a glimpse of the racing stars of tomorrow.
Look out for: Venezuelan Pastor Maldonado won the latest GP2 2010 Series with Rapax. He won seven of his races, putting him in good stead to follow the footsteps of drivers Sergio Perez and Kamui Kobayashi, who have since graduated from GP2 to Formula One. It also bodes well that he was selected by Renault F1 for their driver development programme a few years ago. It’s only a matter of time before we see him on the Formula One circuit.
Porsche GT3 Cup Challenge
Nov 12 11.30-12.10pm (practice session)
Nov 13 12.45pm-1.15pm (qualifying session), 3.25pm-4pm (first race of 14 Laps or 30 mins)
Nov 14 2.45pm-3.20pm (second race of 14 Laps or 30 mins)
What: The GT racing series has run parallel to every Formula One event since 1993. Traditionally it’s a good race for budding young drivers. The cars are identical to the high performance Porsche 911 GT3 cars boast 420bhp and race over 70km.
Look out for: Prince Abdulaziz Al Faisal, who won the Porsche GT3 Cup Challenge Middle East, making him a hero across the region. The Prince is now on the brink of becoming one of the global stars of the sport.
