• The second Historic Dubai Grand Prix Revival is set to take place over three days in November. It celebrates the one-off Dubai Grand Prix, held back in 1981. All photos: HDGPR
    The second Historic Dubai Grand Prix Revival is set to take place over three days in November. It celebrates the one-off Dubai Grand Prix, held back in 1981. All photos: HDGPR
  • Engines will fire up for the first day of racing on November 25. The first Historic Dubai Grand Prix Revival took place in December 2021.
    Engines will fire up for the first day of racing on November 25. The first Historic Dubai Grand Prix Revival took place in December 2021.
  • The heritage event will feature 100 classic cars dating from 1970 to 2010.
    The heritage event will feature 100 classic cars dating from 1970 to 2010.
  • Drivers will compete across two Formula One categories, and two longer endurance events.
    Drivers will compete across two Formula One categories, and two longer endurance events.
  • The emirate has a proud history of motorsport, dating back to the 1981 Dubai Grand Prix.
    The emirate has a proud history of motorsport, dating back to the 1981 Dubai Grand Prix.
  • Racing action will take place on the 5.4km Dubai Autodrome racetrack in Motor City.
    Racing action will take place on the 5.4km Dubai Autodrome racetrack in Motor City.
  • Among cars appearing will be the Hesketh 308B raced by 1976 Formula One world champion James Hunt and a Le Mans-winning 1987 Rothmans Porsche 962.
    Among cars appearing will be the Hesketh 308B raced by 1976 Formula One world champion James Hunt and a Le Mans-winning 1987 Rothmans Porsche 962.
  • A competitor at the Dubai Autodrome.
    A competitor at the Dubai Autodrome.
  • Cars on the starting grid at the Dubai Autodrome.
    Cars on the starting grid at the Dubai Autodrome.
  • Dubai Autodrome has hosted rounds of the FIA GT Championship, European Touring Car Championship, A1 Grand Prix and GP2 Asia Series
    Dubai Autodrome has hosted rounds of the FIA GT Championship, European Touring Car Championship, A1 Grand Prix and GP2 Asia Series

UAE

Historic Dubai Grand Prix to make roaring return in November

James Hunt's Formula One-winning Hesketh 308B one of 100 classic cars to race in heritage motor festival

Nick Webster
Nick Webster

March 01, 2022

  • English
  • Arabic

One hundred retro racing cars will line up for the second Historic Dubai Grand Prix Revival in November — marking an event staged just once, back in 1981.

The throwback three-day motoring festival will feature an array of classic cars, including the Hesketh 308B raced by 1976 Formula One world champion James Hunt and a Le Mans-winning 1987 Rothmans Porsche 962.

Drivers will compete across two F1 categories and two longer endurance events in cars registered from 1970 to 2010.

“Enthusiasm for track-based motor racing in the Middle East has been steadily building in recent years,” said Pierre-Brice Mena, managing director of events organisers GP Extreme.

“This historic revival taps into the spirit of the first Dubai Grand Prix, a multi-category sports and touring car race and unofficial F1 demo event which was held in 1981 and was before its time.

“With this second [revival] event, we’re establishing a concept we hope to expand in the coming years.

“We have a desire to be disruptive and break the norms, and with that we’re bringing an entirely fresh view of motorsport to the Middle East.”

Engines will fire up on the first day of racing, scheduled for November 25, and will feature some of the most famous names from Formula One, Le Mans and the Dakar Rally — also including 1964 F1 champion John Surtees’ TS9B car from 1972.

For the 1981 Dubai Grand Prix, 120 cars were shipped over. The one-off event attracted a jamboree of F1 demonstrations, prototype and sports car competitions and a Citroen CX celebrity race in which motorsports stars Stirling Moss, Derek Bell and Dan Gurney competed.

Organisers hope to capture the spirit of that time in November's event, with a retro theme in the paddock and the dress code for spectators.

All the action will take place on the 5.4km Dubai Autodrome racetrack in Motor City.

“It is a dream to resurrect the spirit and fun of the Dubai Grand Prix that was held in 1981 and drew contemporary cars and Formula One stars,” said Faisal Al Sahlawi, General Manager of Dubai Autodrome.

“We are now building on the success of last year’s inaugural Historic Dubai Grand Prix Revival. We’re excited to see this continue as an annual event and to witness grids filled with rare and important racing cars.”

The first Historic Dubai Grand Prix Revival was held last December.

While you're here
While you're here
Scoreline

Bournemouth 2

Wilson 70', Ibe 74'

Arsenal 1

Bellerin 52'

Winners

Ballon d’Or (Men’s)
Ousmane Dembélé (Paris Saint-Germain / France)

Ballon d’Or Féminin (Women’s)
Aitana Bonmatí (Barcelona / Spain)

Kopa Trophy (Best player under 21 – Men’s)
Lamine Yamal (Barcelona / Spain)

Best Young Women’s Player
Vicky López (Barcelona / Spain)

Yashin Trophy (Best Goalkeeper – Men’s)
Gianluigi Donnarumma (Paris Saint-Germain and Manchester City / Italy)

Best Women’s Goalkeeper
Hannah Hampton (England / Aston Villa and Chelsea)

Men’s Coach of the Year
Luis Enrique (Paris Saint-Germain)

Women’s Coach of the Year
Sarina Wiegman (England)

Key figures in the life of the fort

Sheikh Dhiyab bin Isa (ruled 1761-1793) Built Qasr Al Hosn as a watchtower to guard over the only freshwater well on Abu Dhabi island.

Sheikh Shakhbut bin Dhiyab (ruled 1793-1816) Expanded the tower into a small fort and transferred his ruling place of residence from Liwa Oasis to the fort on the island.

Sheikh Tahnoon bin Shakhbut (ruled 1818-1833) Expanded Qasr Al Hosn further as Abu Dhabi grew from a small village of palm huts to a town of more than 5,000 inhabitants.

Sheikh Khalifa bin Shakhbut (ruled 1833-1845) Repaired and fortified the fort.

Sheikh Saeed bin Tahnoon (ruled 1845-1855) Turned Qasr Al Hosn into a strong two-storied structure.

Sheikh Zayed bin Khalifa (ruled 1855-1909) Expanded Qasr Al Hosn further to reflect the emirate's increasing prominence.

Sheikh Shakhbut bin Sultan (ruled 1928-1966) Renovated and enlarged Qasr Al Hosn, adding a decorative arch and two new villas.

Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan (ruled 1966-2004) Moved the royal residence to Al Manhal palace and kept his diwan at Qasr Al Hosn.

Sources: Jayanti Maitra, www.adach.ae

If you go...

Etihad Airways flies from Abu Dhabi to Kuala Lumpur, from about Dh3,600. Air Asia currently flies from Kuala Lumpur to Terengganu, with Berjaya Hotels & Resorts planning to launch direct chartered flights to Redang Island in the near future. Rooms at The Taaras Beach and Spa Resort start from 680RM (Dh597).

UAE%20v%20West%20Indies
%3Cp%3EFirst%20ODI%20-%20Sunday%2C%20June%204%20%0D%3Cbr%3ESecond%20ODI%20-%20Tuesday%2C%20June%206%20%0D%3Cbr%3EThird%20ODI%20-%20Friday%2C%20June%209%26nbsp%3B%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3EMatches%20at%20Sharjah%20Cricket%20Stadium.%20All%20games%20start%20at%204.30pm%0D%3Cbr%3E%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EUAE%20squad%3C%2Fstrong%3E%0D%3Cbr%3EMuhammad%20Waseem%20(captain)%2C%20Aayan%20Khan%2C%20Adithya%20Shetty%2C%20Ali%20Naseer%2C%20Ansh%20Tandon%2C%20Aryansh%20Sharma%2C%20Asif%20Khan%2C%20Basil%20Hameed%2C%20Ethan%20D%E2%80%99Souza%2C%20Fahad%20Nawaz%2C%20Jonathan%20Figy%2C%20Junaid%20Siddique%2C%20Karthik%20Meiyappan%2C%20Lovepreet%20Singh%2C%20Matiullah%2C%20Mohammed%20Faraazuddin%2C%20Muhammad%20Jawadullah%2C%20Rameez%20Shahzad%2C%20Rohan%20Mustafa%2C%20Sanchit%20Sharma%2C%20Vriitya%20Aravind%2C%20Zahoor%20Khan%0D%3C%2Fp%3E%0A

Mercer, the investment consulting arm of US services company Marsh & McLennan, expects its wealth division to at least double its assets under management (AUM) in the Middle East as wealth in the region continues to grow despite economic headwinds, a company official said.

Mercer Wealth, which globally has $160 billion in AUM, plans to boost its AUM in the region to $2-$3bn in the next 2-3 years from the present $1bn, said Yasir AbuShaban, a Dubai-based principal with Mercer Wealth.

“Within the next two to three years, we are looking at reaching $2 to $3 billion as a conservative estimate and we do see an opportunity to do so,” said Mr AbuShaban.

Mercer does not directly make investments, but allocates clients’ money they have discretion to, to professional asset managers. They also provide advice to clients.

“We have buying power. We can negotiate on their (client’s) behalf with asset managers to provide them lower fees than they otherwise would have to get on their own,” he added.

Mercer Wealth’s clients include sovereign wealth funds, family offices, and insurance companies among others.

From its office in Dubai, Mercer also looks after Africa, India and Turkey, where they also see opportunity for growth.

Wealth creation in Middle East and Africa (MEA) grew 8.5 per cent to $8.1 trillion last year from $7.5tn in 2015, higher than last year’s global average of 6 per cent and the second-highest growth in a region after Asia-Pacific which grew 9.9 per cent, according to consultancy Boston Consulting Group (BCG). In the region, where wealth grew just 1.9 per cent in 2015 compared with 2014, a pickup in oil prices has helped in wealth generation.

BCG is forecasting MEA wealth will rise to $12tn by 2021, growing at an annual average of 8 per cent.

Drivers of wealth generation in the region will be split evenly between new wealth creation and growth of performance of existing assets, according to BCG.

Another general trend in the region is clients’ looking for a comprehensive approach to investing, according to Mr AbuShaban.

“Institutional investors or some of the families are seeing a slowdown in the available capital they have to invest and in that sense they are looking at optimizing the way they manage their portfolios and making sure they are not investing haphazardly and different parts of their investment are working together,” said Mr AbuShaban.

Some clients also have a higher appetite for risk, given the low interest-rate environment that does not provide enough yield for some institutional investors. These clients are keen to invest in illiquid assets, such as private equity and infrastructure.

“What we have seen is a desire for higher returns in what has been a low-return environment specifically in various fixed income or bonds,” he said.

“In this environment, we have seen a de facto increase in the risk that clients are taking in things like illiquid investments, private equity investments, infrastructure and private debt, those kind of investments were higher illiquidity results in incrementally higher returns.”

The Abu Dhabi Investment Authority, one of the largest sovereign wealth funds, said in its 2016 report that has gradually increased its exposure in direct private equity and private credit transactions, mainly in Asian markets and especially in China and India. The authority’s private equity department focused on structured equities owing to “their defensive characteristics.”

While you're here
Real estate tokenisation project

Dubai launched the pilot phase of its real estate tokenisation project last month.

The initiative focuses on converting real estate assets into digital tokens recorded on blockchain technology and helps in streamlining the process of buying, selling and investing, the Dubai Land Department said.

Dubai’s real estate tokenisation market is projected to reach Dh60 billion ($16.33 billion) by 2033, representing 7 per cent of the emirate’s total property transactions, according to the DLD.

Updated: March 01, 2022, 9:59 AM
DubaiFestivals