Al Nabooda Racing’s Karim al-Azhari and Clemens Schmid.
Karim al-Azhari believes the next four rounds of the Porsche GT3 Cup Challenge Middle East could be critical as Al Nabooda Racing look to tighten their grip on the region’s top circuit racing series over back-to-back weekends in Qatar.
The Dubai-based outfit hold a 35-point team championship lead over SkyDive Dubai Falcons heading into the halfway point of the 2013-14 season, with Rounds 5-6 taking place under the brilliant lights at Qatar’s Losail International Circuit on January 17-18, followed by Rounds 7-8 two weeks later at the same venue.
Al-Azhari, who is defending the GT3 Cup team title with Austria’s Clemens Schmid, said that with four rounds taking place in quick succession at the same 3.3 mile circuit, building confidence early will be important in order to gain a psychological advantage.
“The next four rounds at Losail are absolutely crucial in terms of the overall championship outcome,” said al-Azhari. “It’s the only place where we have four rounds in a row so it’s important to build the confidence very quickly.
“It’s not the kind of situation where, if things aren’t going well, you just try to get over it and start fresh somewhere else.
“We will be there for four back-to-back rounds and it’s the middle of the season, so it’s going to be a very important psychological period in the championship. If Qatar goes well the rest of the season will be much easier. On the other hand, whoever struggles is going to have a lot of work ahead of them for the rest of the championship.”
Al-Azhari has good memories from Losail International Circuit, where he gained his first GT3 Cup podium finish two years ago, as does Schmid. He won both rounds there under lights last season on his way to capturing the individual drivers’ title, and has been in brilliant form again this season, winning three of the first four rounds to take a 24-point lead.