Two Touring Car wins for Papantonis at Dubai Autodrome

Nader Zuhour sees his lead in the UAE Touring Car Championship cut after his title rival wins both races at Dubai Autodrome.

Costas Papantonis, left, leads the start of one of the UAE Touring Cars race.

Costas Papantonis enjoyed a dominant day in Class 1 of the UAE Touring Car Championship yesterday as he claimed victory in both the races held.

The successes at the latest round of the UAE National Race Day series saw him close the gap on championship leader Nader Zuhour.

The pair ran close together in the first race before it was red flagged for the track to be cleared of debris, but in race two Papantonis got going early and managed to edge out a gap which he kept until the end. Zuhour was second in both races.

Papantonis said: The first race was a tough in the beginning but the second race was easier. Of course two wins makes it good for our championship chances and for sure we will be pushing Nader [Zuhour] to the very end."

Umair Khan, driving his Lap57 Honda, bagged a pair of wins in Class 2 on his way to consolidating his lead in the title race, edging ever closer to his third UAE Touring Car Championship title in a row.

Khan said: "Of course I have an eye on the championship, but am taking it one race at a time as the final round is double point scoring and the objective is to start and finish every race until the end."

In the Clio Cup class, the Moutran brothers, who race under the British flag, made motorsport history in the UAE by finishing first, second and third in both races. Each time Ramzi Moutran got the better of his younger brothers Nabil and Sami respectively to head home the trio of Duel Racing Clios.

Ramzi said of the achievement: "Really it is a great day for us and our racing, all three of us on the podium is something we could only dream of and this morning my brother said to me how good it would be for all of us to be on the podium just once. And we did it - not once but twice today."

Mahmoud Tannir's domination of the UAE Sportsbike championship continued as he made it 11 wins on the trot with two more victories.

Abdulaziz Binladin, who earlier this week was announced as the second rider in the Moto Rapido team, which will contest the British Superbike Championship, was in fine form as he powered to two victories in the 1000 Class

Natasha Seatter became the first girlto win a race at UAE national level as she triumphed in the second Formula Gulf 1000 race. Joe Ghanem had earlier won the first race.