Dubai English speaking College win round 3 of Emirates Schools Karting Championship 22.03.2016: photo caption: Winning team from Dubai English Speaking College (DESC1) of Giulio Peroni, Jad Makarem

photo caption: Winning team from Dubai English Speaking College (DESC1) of Giulio Peroni, Jad Makarem and Jason Walton


Ghost Racing Team take top honours in Nomad Class; JESS finish second to ensure season finale decider at Dubai Kartdrome



Dubai English Speaking College (DESC1) won the third round of the Emirates Schools Karting Championship after a thrilling battle with championship leaders Jumeirah English Speaking School (JESS) at the Kartdrome on Sunday.


DESC1 drivers Giulio Peroni, Jad Makarem and Jason Walton claimed the win over Eliot Jones, Max Tryggvason and Sam Burtonwood of JESS, while Ghost Racing’s Sameer Mohideen, Samuel Garbutt, Sayed Taifur and Lorenzo Terrone made it three from three as they once again topped the Nomad Cup standings.


It was clear from qualifying that Round 3 would deliver a titanic battle as the top five teams were within one second of one another, with Repton School claiming pole position for the one-hour enduro race.


From the start, Repton School, with Fraser Rose doing the first stint, set the early pace with JESS driver Jones chasing, while DESC1 with Peroni on duty suffered a bad start for the third race in a row.


The top six teams remained on the same lap throughout with pit stops, strategy and the inevitable penalties playing a crucial role in the eventual outcome. In the end it came down to the team who made the least mistakes, kept a strong pace and worked well together as a team that triumphed.


In this instance it was DESC1 who did the business, recovering from the early fumble to cross the finish line and win by a mere 5.6 seconds, with JESS pursuing gamely but having to settle for second.


DESC3 of Henry Jenkins, Harrison Barnes and Ibrahim Yaqub made it a big night for Dubai English Speaking College by claiming third place and were the best placed team not featuring a 'pro' driver in their line-up.


Ghost Racing were fourth overall and did enough to bag maximum points in the Nomad Cup for teams not affiliated to specific schools.


German International School of Goffredo Contucci, Oscar Sondermann and Justin Thielecke were fifth, with Repton School team of Fraser Rose, Matthew Elliot and Harrison Mitchell rounding out the top six out of the fifteen teams who did battle on the day.


Race winning driver Peroni, from DESC1, said afterwards: “It was a very good race, we worked well as a team, good pit stops and we were consistent throughout the race despite a bad start. We pushed hard and made sure we got no penalties and thus we finished on top.”





photo caption    All the drivers who competed in Round 3 of the 2016 ESKC on the podium at the Kartdrome


ESKC race director David Bright said, “It was another very close contest and the championship goes down to the final race. It was great to see that the teams are much closer than they were in the previous rounds.


The difference between the top teams and the tail-enders has reduced massively. Well done to all teams, drivers and their crews for delivering another nail biting race.”


Round 4, the final race of the 2016 ESKC, takes place at the Kartdrome on 23 April.


- Tony Lewis, Total Communications Dubai -also photos