Abigail becomes first female driver to win in UAE SWS Sprint Cup Series at Dubai Kartdrome 06.10.2015: Young Emirati driver Rashid Al Dhaheri grabs first victory in SWS Juniors

Young Emirati driver Rashid Al Dhaheri grabs first victory in SWS Juniors



Photo caption:     The top three in SWS Seniors (L to R) second placed Paul Chatenay, winner Abigail Birch and third placed Romaldo Labrooy


Dubai schoolgirl Abigail Birch grabbed a place in the record books at Dubai Kartdrome when she became the first female to win an SWS RX7 Senior Cup race at the venue.


Birch, a student at Regent International School in Dubai, powered her way to victory in Round 12 of the series on Monday night while young Emirati driver Rashid Al Dhaheri took top honours in only his third race in the SWS LR4 Junior race.


Birch set an early marker by claiming pole position in qualifying. Only a second separated the top ten on the time sheets, setting the tone for an evening of close racing.


Paul Chatenay, who had qualified second, set the pace in Race 1 and took victory from Birch and Rashed Al Falasi in third, with Ronaldo Labrooy, Ahmed Alhammadi and Allen Khoury rounding out the top six.


Birch reversed the roles in Race 2 when she pulled away from Chatenay to take her maiden win. While the pair ultimately tied on 76 points apiece, Birch claimed the winner's trophy as a result of the tie-breaker by qualifying higher than Chatenay.


Constantly improving Labrooy finished third in the second race to claim third overall followed by Khoury, Alhammadi and Mohammad Akhlaq.


In the race within a race, Enrique Gluckman was overall winner in the SWS Masters, with Gary Jones third and Porus Nashir third.


Earlier in the day Keanu Al Azhari claimed pole position for the SWS Juniors, but in the race he dropped down the order as a massive fight ensued at the sharp end of the field, with Jakub Fitzimmons doing well to get a break to take victory by over eight seconds.


Behind him the intriguing scrap for secondary honours was decided late on the final lap, with Kamal Agha emerging from the melee to finish ahead of Al Dhaheri who took third after carving his way from ninth on the grid. Completing the top six were Giacomo Caccia, Samir Malas on his return to the series and Keanu Al Azhari.



photo caption:  The top three in SWS Juniors (L to R) second placed Jakub Fitzsimmons, winner Rashid Al Dhaheri and third placed Enzo Al Azhari


Race 2 saw Al Dhaheri make an early break, then reel out some relentlessly consistent laps to claim victory by an impressive margin of 18 seconds. Once again there was an intense battle for second place with the chasing pack changing positions on every corner.


Enzo Al Azhari kept out of trouble to land second place ahead of Luis Velasco who climbed to third from 15th on the grid. The top six was completed by Oliver Gaenssler, Seif Al Naggar and Malas with the fastest lap for the juniors.


When the points were tallied up from both races it was Al Dhaheri who took top spot on the podium - his first in the SWS Junior series - with Fitzsimmons in second and Enzo Al Azhari third. Round 13 of the 2015 SWS Sprint Cup takes place on 19 October at the Dubai Kartdrome.



- Tony Lewis, Total Communications Dubai - also photos