Handing over the baton

The current UAE Touring champion, Jon Simmonds, is supporting a new driver Andre Ramdhanny.

Jon Simmonds, left, has changed the name of his racing team from DXB Racing to MSW Racing and Andre Ramdhanny will be the new driver.

Jon Simmonds, the current UAE Touring Car champion, is looking forward to the new race season, starting this weekend at Dubai Autodrome. "It was a wonderful personal endeavour and, as a 44-year-old fellow, it was nice to do well and rattle the youngsters that are around," Simmonds says of his success with DXB Racing. But he won't be defending his title from behind the wheel of the team's Seat Leon, the car he drove to victory last season, nor will the team be called DXB Racing.

The team is now called MSW Racing, which was its original name four years ago. Simmonds says it is a name that he hopes will reflect the professionalism he applies to his business, Motorsport Wheels (MSW), an Al Quoz-based tyre and alignment workshop, as well as the racing team. "The DXB racing name limited us in terms of attracting sponsors and it was a bit naive, I must admit, so I decided around November or December last year that we needed to change," says Simmonds.

Reviving the MSW Racing name coincided with the opening last month of the company's new workshop, a spotless, modern facility which, on the day The National visited, had a Ferrari and an Aston Martin amongst its clientele. The workshop's general manager, Andre Ramdhanny, will be playing an integral part in MSW Racing's season on the track for 2010/11. Ramdhanny, who also works at Dubai Autodrome and Yas Marina Circuit as an instructor, will be filling the seat in the Seat Leon that Simmonds has decided to vacate.

"He is a skilful driver; he is already an instructor, all he needs is the race experience and I am confident that this season, he will get better with every race," says Simmonds. "He may tell you he is nervous but he doesn't need to be." Ramdhanny, a 24-year-old from Grenada, in the Caribbean, echoes Simmonds's confidence in his abilities. "I am already familiar with the tracks [Dubai Autodrome and Yas Marina Circuit] so that is an advantage, and I have been training with Original Fitness Company, so I am hoping to have the edge over other drivers who might have more experience by getting into good physical condition," Ramdhanny says, adding that the difference on race day will be with the drivers rather than the cars.

Simmonds says that "normally it's the guy with the wedge" who gets to race cars but in the case of Ramdhanny, he saw an opportunity to give a talented young driver the chance to shine without sending him broke. "It makes sense to give him a shot and I want to be a mentor to him," says Simmonds. For Ramdhanny, becoming the number one driver for MSW is a dream come true after wanting to race in the UAE since he first arrived here three years ago.

"I'm really excited and I am going to work really hard," says Ramdhanny. "I'll be a rookie but my aim is to start at my own pace and improve with every race." The Seat Leon has new green and yellow livery, with a design on the wing mirrors to reflect the colours and design of the flag of Grenada, for the new season courtesy of Fibra Foil, one of the team's major sponsors, along with Lavazza, the Italian coffee company.

Simmonds may be focused on Ramdhanny, his protege, for the new race season, but he will also be racing, albeit in a car with a difference. When we met Simmonds, his car for the season was perched on blocks and without wheels but it was in the process of being transformed into a truly unique machine. It is a 1986 BMW M3, one of the first in this proud tradition for the Bavarian marque, and it will be competing in the Touring Car and GT categories. This is thanks to the creation of two engines - a 2.5L Evolution engine for the GT races and a 2.0L naturally aspirated engine for the touring car events.

"We've built the car so that the engine can be changed during the lunchbreak at the track," says Simmonds. "In Dubai, people are obsessed with having the newest and the latest and the most expensive, so we thought we'd do something a bit different to that. "Two classes, one car - it will be special when it is driven and, even though it is a 1986 car, it is still to FIA standards." As well as the interchangeable engines, the M3 will be fitted with a sequential gearbox. Unlike most race cars, Simmonds is keeping the passenger seat in the M3 so that more people can experience the car on the track apart from the driver.

Proudly showing off the original interior with houndstooth check cloth seats, Simmonds says it's in great condition "but it smells like an old car". Still, that may be part of the charm and as a result, UAE race fans will be able to enjoy some retro motoring action this season as well as challenges from exciting newcomers such as Andre Ramdhanny.