Earlier this year I joined my brother on vacation in Dubai, UAE, for our yearly motorsport getaway, and quickly arranged for a driver to take us to Abu Dhabi. March fourth was to be a remarkable day for we attended both the famous Ferrari World and the Drag Racing Festival.
The 5 star Yas Marina Hotel
Yas Island (man made) is about 30 minutes from the Abu Dhabi and about 75 from Dubai. Our Arab speaking driver explained in "broken" English that he doesn't have music in his car, only religious prayers. I guess we could have listened to anything, we didn't care, for we were going to Yas Marina and Ferrari World (more on this in a different blog). The Yas Marina Circuit is situated on Yas Island and is the venue for the Abu Dhabi GP. The course was designed by Hermann Tilke and is supposed to be the Arabian version of Monaco. The course runs by the drag strip, marina, and through the famous Yas Marina Hotel and has several long straigths and tight corners. The circuit also has an 1/8 mile drag strip and a karting track. The facilities are absolutely out of this world. Seriously.
View of the Marina and F1 circuit
The drag strip complex is nestled between two large and tall concrete grandstands, which acts like a sound amplifier. As if that were not enough, the area of the drag strip which is quite large, is dotted by large speakers that propagate the sound of the cars. Talk about loud racing in every corner of the facility. And as this is an NHRA member track, it has all the amenities necessary, including VIP suites, press booths, concession stands, etc.
Grandstand, Ferrari World, Ctrl Twr
The Annual Drag Racing Festival is a two day event and is one of the most anticipated races in Abu Dhabi and the U.A.E. as a whole. It features entries from street legals to Top Fuel rails and everything in between. Admission cost just AED 50.00, approximately Fls. 25,00, a person and boy did we enjoy ourselves. Although, one cannot understand the language, a drag race is similar everywhere. The Yas Marina Circuit employes american track officials to ensure that everything goes as planned, including timely attention to oil downs. Consistent with their M.O., and this being is a relatively new sport to the region, they recruit the best people from around the world and then ensure for a quick knowledge and technology transfer to their own. Early in 2010 they partnered with Don Schumacher Racing, one of the very best racing organization's in the US, to provide two complete Top Fuel dragster teams to be based in Abu Dhabi.
Grand stand, Yas hotel in the back
We watched the races from the grand stand and were quite entertained, even tough the cold put a bit of a damper on things. Like us, they start in the afternoon and race into the night, albeit close to daylight conditions (lots of artificial lighting). When confronted with periods of inactivity, say oil down, the organizers send entertainers to keep the crowd busy. Oh, the female fire breathers and motorcycle dare devils were a sight. Also, a giant TV screen is used to show the racing action and anything worth repeating.
The racing was good too, close, with many thrilling moments. We even laughed when a drivers' door came flying off of his car. All kidding aside, these people love racing and aren't afraid of crashing. Of course, they lack the size of our racing field (car wise) but they don't lack anything in terms of intensity. These racers do not back off the trotle at any point. I must say we felt right at home between these arab speed junkies. We took some footage ourselves but I found a better compilation from Yas Marina Circuit, which you can watch below:
A bit about the long-term goals of Yas Marina Circuit's drag racing efforts:
When money is no object, one can afford to attract the very best. And this has a trickle down effect too. And so in 2010, DSR hired Lee Beard, a 30 year veteran as crew chief and team manager, to assemble two complete Top Fuel teams for the Yas Marina Circuit. This was to be the corner stone of their drag racing events. Furthermore, it helps in promoting locals to adopt the sport quicker. Ultimately, the target is to get UA nationals into the top level of drag racing in the US and around the world. Same as what Sheikh Khalid Bin Hamad Al Thani of Qatar has accomplished with his Al-Anabi teams in NHRA. As I mentioned before, their M.O. is to transfer knowledge and technology back to UA and the Middle East region in general, so as to in the long run achieve a high level of racing there. Once that goal is met, racers could run NHRA's regular calendar in the U.S. and in winter go the Middle East and race there. In their own words: "The long-term goal is to create a championship in the Middle east region which will attract top-level drivers from the US to come over and spend winter over there, so they would be racing all year."
This week Bahrain Int'l Circuit will kick off their new racing season, a first as a member of the NHRA Worldwide Network, with the opening round of the National Racing Festival.
Earlier this year I joined my brother on vacation in Dubai, UAE, for our yearly motorsport getaway, and quickly arranged for a driver to take us to Abu Dhabi. March fourth was to be a remarkable day for we attended both the famous Ferrari World and the Drag Racing Festival.
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