DUBAI // Former Formula One driver David Coulthard dropped into Dubai yesterday, for a stunt unlike any other.
Perched 210 metres above the sea, on a helipad 24 metres wide, he performed “donuts” in Infiniti Red Bull Racing’s 750bhp F1 car.
The feat, at the Burj Al Arab, was to celebrate Red Bull Racing winning the Formula One Drivers’ and Constructors’ championship at the F1 Airtel Indian Grand Prix.
Seconds after stepping out of the car, Coulthard - who won 13 Grands Prix during his career - called the stunt “a lot of fun”.
“When Red Bull first suggested the idea to me I said ‘why not?’,” the Scot said. “I like getting involved with anything that pushes the boundaries and it’s what Red Bull stands for. I think this will produce fantastic, iconic shots in an amazing town, and I’m really privileged to be part of it.”
Red Bull Racing called the event the “Seven Star Spin”, and first posted images of the event on its Twitter feed yesterday but withheld any details about what was going on.
"From Tiger Woods hitting golf balls from the helipad to Andre Agassi and Roger Federer playing tennis on it, images of the Burj Al Arab have gone around the world, increasing awareness of Dubai and evoking a desire to visit," said Laila Mohammed Suhail, chief executive of Dubai Festivals and Retail Establishment.
“There could be no better way to both celebrate Red Bull’s recent win of the Formula One World Championship and look forward to the inaugural Dubai Motor Festival. Once again, images of one of Dubai’s most iconic landmarks will capture the imaginations of future visitors.”
Piers Schreiber, spokesperson for Jumeirah Group, said: “Burj Al Arab has hosted many extraordinary events on its helipad, but none as exhilarating as a Formula One car in full spin. Not only is the hotel the most photographed and the most talked about in the world, it will soon class as having the most filmed helipad as well.”
ksinclair@thenational.ae
WHAT IS A BLACK HOLE?
1. Black holes are objects whose gravity is so strong not even light can escape their pull
2. They can be created when massive stars collapse under their own weight
3. Large black holes can also be formed when smaller ones collide and merge
4. The biggest black holes lurk at the centre of many galaxies, including our own
5. Astronomers believe that when the universe was very young, black holes affected how galaxies formed
The specs
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War
Director: Siddharth Anand
Cast: Hrithik Roshan, Tiger Shroff, Ashutosh Rana, Vaani Kapoor
Rating: Two out of five stars
Business Insights
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COMPANY%20PROFILE
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Super 30
Produced: Sajid Nadiadwala and Phantom Productions
Directed: Vikas Bahl
Cast: Hrithik Roshan, Pankaj Tripathi, Aditya Srivastav, Mrinal Thakur
Rating: 3.5 /5
Nepotism is the name of the game
Salman Khan’s father, Salim Khan, is one of Bollywood’s most legendary screenwriters. Through his partnership with co-writer Javed Akhtar, Salim is credited with having paved the path for the Indian film industry’s blockbuster format in the 1970s. Something his son now rules the roost of. More importantly, the Salim-Javed duo also created the persona of the “angry young man” for Bollywood megastar Amitabh Bachchan in the 1970s, reflecting the angst of the average Indian. In choosing to be the ordinary man’s “hero” as opposed to a thespian in new Bollywood, Salman Khan remains tightly linked to his father’s oeuvre. Thanks dad.
The specs
Engine: 2.0-litre 4-cylturbo
Transmission: seven-speed DSG automatic
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Auron Mein Kahan Dum Tha
Starring: Ajay Devgn, Tabu, Shantanu Maheshwari, Jimmy Shergill, Saiee Manjrekar
Director: Neeraj Pandey
Rating: 2.5/5
NYBL PROFILE
Company name: Nybl
Date started: November 2018
Founder: Noor Alnahhas, Michael LeTan, Hafsa Yazdni, Sufyaan Abdul Haseeb, Waleed Rifaat, Mohammed Shono
Based: Dubai, UAE
Sector: Software Technology / Artificial Intelligence
Initial investment: $500,000
Funding round: Series B (raising $5m)
Partners/Incubators: Dubai Future Accelerators Cohort 4, Dubai Future Accelerators Cohort 6, AI Venture Labs Cohort 1, Microsoft Scale-up
The UN General Assembly President in quotes:
YEMEN: “The developments we have seen are promising. We really hope that the parties are going to respect the agreed ceasefire. I think that the sense of really having the political will to have a peace process is vital. There is a little bit of hope and the role that the UN has played is very important.”
PALESTINE: “There is no easy fix. We need to find the political will and comply with the resolutions that we have agreed upon.”
OMAN: “It is a very important country in our system. They have a very important role to play in terms of the balance and peace process of that particular part of the world, in that their position is neutral. That is why it is very important to have a dialogue with the Omani authorities.”
REFORM OF THE SECURITY COUNCIL: “This is complicated and it requires time. It is dependent on the effort that members want to put into the process. It is a process that has been going on for 25 years. That process is slow but the issue is huge. I really hope we will see some progress during my tenure.”
COMPANY PROFILE
Name: HyperSpace
Started: 2020
Founders: Alexander Heller, Rama Allen and Desi Gonzalez
Based: Dubai, UAE
Sector: Entertainment
Number of staff: 210
Investment raised: $75 million from investors including Galaxy Interactive, Riyadh Season, Sega Ventures and Apis Venture Partners
The specs
Engine: 3.0-litre six-cylinder turbo
Power: 398hp from 5,250rpm
Torque: 580Nm at 1,900-4,800rpm
Transmission: Eight-speed auto
Fuel economy, combined: 6.5L/100km
On sale: December
Price: From Dh330,000 (estimate)
