For the first time of the 2025/26 season, Gulf ProCar returned to it’s home base of the Dubai Autodrome for Round 2. In the cool winter temperatures of the Dubai, teams and drivers prepared to tackle the 5.39km GP Layout of the Dubai Autodrome with their focus narrowed towards a strong weekend performance.

Eighteen cars entered ahead of Round 2, representing six classes;

Class 2Challenge featured Jim Geddie, Khaled Boodai, Leon Price and Josh Price, all of which with the support of Dragon Racing. This round marked the Gulf ProCar series debut for Khaled, whilst the already familiar characters of Jim, Leon and Josh made their first appearances of the 2025/26 season.

Class 2Cup featured Rawad Sarieddine of Baron Motorsport, Stanislav Minskiy of Enrico Fulgienzi Racing and Anton Yachmenev of Big Red Racing. Baron Motorsport’s Shawki El Armali was also scheduled to return after a great performance at Round 1, but unfortunately he suffered an incident during the Friday morning practice session which brought his weekend to an early end.

Class RC featured a strong grid of six drivers as the category grows in Gulf ProCar, with Avik Anwar of Racing DNA, Youssef Gaber of Uniq Racing and the Continental Racing quartet of Ivan Tverdokhlebov, Roman Tishenkov, Ruslan Safin and Konstantin Shitov.

Class 3 featured Maxim Volynkin in the Big Red Racing Porsche 981 Cayman GT4, who looked to build on an impressive debut at Round 1.

Class 4 included the retuning Karim Zuhour of Lap57 in the Honda DC5, who continues to work towards an international license.

Class 5 featured the highly anticipated debut of Nick Wilshire in the Werks Motorsport built Volkswagen Mk7 Golf GTI. Nick was also scheduled to be joined in Class 5 by Jonathan Cole and James Bourke in the infamous #5 Honda DC5 K24, however they lost the engine in the Friday Afternoon Official Practice which brought their weekend to an unfortunate and premature end.

Live streaming was once again made available, capturing all of the excitement from Round 2 of the Gulf ProCar 2025/26 season. Follow the links below to relive each session…

Class 2Challenge

Class 2Challenge is Gulf ProCar’s dedicated classification for Ferrari Challenge machinery, encompassing all generations from 458 to the latest iteration of the 296 with a ballast balance of performance implemented. Dragon Racing fielded the entire classification with Jim Geddie in a 296 Challenge, Khaled Boodai in a 488 Challenge EVO, with the Dragon Racing Founder Leon Price and his son Josh Price in a pair of 488 Challenge cars.

In qualifying, Jim set the pace in class and overall with a blistering lap time of 2:02.713 in the early morning of Saturday, utilising his Gulf ProCar experience from recent years. Josh clinched second place in class 2Challenge with a best lap of 2:07.337, followed by Khaled Boodai with a 2:08.553 and Leon Price with a 2:09.783 rounding out the class after losing his initial best time due to a breach of track limits. Jim looked to carry this momentum throughout the day, but the battle for the remaining podium positions was set for great excitement.

Moving into Race 1, both class and field were led by Jim in the early laps whilst Khaled made his way up to second in class and third overall after clearing the Class 2Cup competitor of Stanislav Minskiy on the first lap. Josh quickly made up the defecit of his grid place penalty, locking into pursuit of his father, Leon, who made a superbly clean start to the first race of the day. As the field settled down, Jim put the hammer down to build a comfortable gap to his fellow class competitors and the rest of the field, showing immense consistency in his stunning Ferrari 296 Challenge. Khaled, Leon and Josh found themselves locked into a three way battle at the midway point for the remaining spots on the podium. Josh expertly made his way past his Dragon Racing teammates of Khaled and Leon as the latter two engaged in an exciting battle. As the chequered flag flew, it was Jim that claimed a dominant victory in class and overall, followed by Josh in second, Khaled in third and Leon in fourth.

During Race 2, the trend from the Race 1 persisted as Jim made a superbly clean race start to fully focus on building the gap the fellow class competitors behind. Josh was faced with far less of an uphill battle by taking up his true start position without penalty as he aimed to take the challenge to Jim as the session progressed. Khaled set out to hunt down Josh in the early stages of the race with only the Class 2Cup competitor of Rawad Sarieddine seperating the two Ferrari’s. This time around, Khaled was without the challenge from Leon as he chose to withdraw from the event after Race 1. Jim Geddie once again commanded the race to claim victory overall and in class, followed by Josh Price with a solid performance, and Khaled Boodai in third after showing great place but not quite enough to advance up the order.

Khaled Boodai, Dragon Racing - Class 2Challenge / Car 42 / Ferrari 488 Challenge EVO

Class 2Cup

Class 2Cup is Gulf ProCar’s dedicated Porsche GT3 Cup classification. Round 2 saw entries from the already established season regulars of Rawad Sarieddine in the Baron Motorsport 992 Cup, Stanislav Minskiy in the Enrico Fulgenzi Racing 992 Cup and Anton Yachmenev in the Big Red Racing 991.2 Cup.

From the outset, it was clear that Rawad was determined to make up for lost ground in the championship standings after his turbulent Race 2 at Round 1, setting the pace in class with a best lap of 2:06.390 in qualifying. Stanislav Minskiy followed with a best time of 2:07.201, just over 8 tenths behind the time of Rawad but remained optimistic of challenging for the top places in class when the races came around. Anton Yachmenev struggled during qualifying, having his three best times deleted due to track limit infringements, leaving him third in class with a best lap of 2:12.000. As is the common nature of racing at the Dubai Autodrome, single lap pace is not the sole determining factor of performance as the pressure points of turn 2, 4, 9, 11 and 16 test drivers discipline with track limits.

In the opening laps of Race 1, the Class 2Cup field held position and settled in for the 25 minute session. Rawad covered off the attack from Stanislav and masterfully avoided any implication from the similarly paced Class 2Challenge field. Stanislav and Anton followed suit, balancing the importance of bettering their position but also eliminating risk in mind of protecting their championship points positions. Stanislav kept Rawad within touching distance throughout the race, however the passing of slower traffic limited his ability to fight for the top step of the podium. Anton ran a steady race as he continues to build experience and momentum from Round 1. At the chequered flag, it was Rawad Sarieddine who took a comfortable class victory for the Baron Motorsport team, followed by Stasnislav Minskiy in the #72 992 Cup and Anton Yachmenev who claimed the final step of the class podium - his first podium in the Gulf ProCar series - despite a 20 second penalty for a race start infringement.

Race 2 brought new opportunity for the Class 2Cup field, however drama struck early for the scheduled pole sitter of Stanislav Minskiy, who experienced a miscommunication with his team and committed to an extra reconciliation lap when the red light had already been illuminated at the end of the pitlane and ultimately, this resulted in a pitlane start for the Enrico Fulgenzi Racing machine. Rawad and Anton both made tidy race starts to hold their positions in class, whilst Stanislav wasted no time in rectifying the setback of his pitlane start, catching and passing Anton by lap 4 with his eyes set on Rawad who’s pace was hampered by a battle with the Class 2Challenge driver of Josh Price. Positions were held from this point onwards, with Rawad Sarieddine taking another win, Stanislav Minskiy crossing the line in second place and Anton Yachmenev claiming third place.

Anton Yachmenev, Big Red Racing - Class 2Cup / Car 10 / Porsche 991.2 Cup
Stanislav Minskiy, Enrico Fulgenzi Racing - Class 2Cup / Car 72 / Porsche 992 Cup

Class RC

Class RC is the specialised class for the latest generation of Renault’s superb entry level spec platform, the Clio Cup Gen5. Round 2 saw this classification continue to grow in size, as teams and drivers make Gulf ProCar their series of choice for Clio Cup racing in the region. Avik Anwar returned after a dominating display at Round 1 with support from the Racing DNA team, whilst Uniq Racing made their Gulf ProCar return after a two year hiatus, running Clio Cup veteran Youssef Gaber. Continental Racing impressed with a four car lineup of Roman Tishenkov, Ivan Tverdokhlebov, Ruslan Safin and Konstantin Shitov.

As qualifying came around, Ivan led the field for Continental Racing with a best lap of 2:24.783 ahead of Youssef in second place with a laptime of 2:26.141. Avik claimed an commendable third place with a 2:26.423 after a limited pre event testing programme compared to the rest of the field. Ruslan was agonisingly close to grasping third place with a best time of 2:26.542, settling for fourth in class. Konstantin with a 2:27.039 and Roman with a 2:28.228 rounded out the class as the twenty minute session drew to a close.

At the start of Race 1, Class RC pole sitter Ivan lost out as the lights extinguished which allowed Youssef Gaber and Avik Anwar to lead the field on the run down to Turn 1. The battle throughout the Class RC field was sensational, headed by Ivan who quickly made up for lost ground at the race start to reclaim control over the class, whilst Youssef and Avik delivered an enthralling battle for the remaining podium positions. Ruslan, Roman and Konstantin remained tightly packed throughout the session and traded positions frequently. The entire class was an exciting watch from green flag to chequered flag, and it was Ivan Tverdokhlebov who took first place, followed by Youssef Gaber in second, third place went to Avik Anwar, whilst Ruslan Safin, Roman Tishenkov and Konstantin Shitov claimed fourth, fifth and sixth respectively.

Race 2 allowed Ivan to redeem himself from the troubled Race 1 start, whilst he looked to duplicate the result from earlier in the day. Ivan led the field away and through turn one, with Youssef, Ruslan and Konstantin hot on the heels of Ivan. Avik and Roman fell back from the leading pack as they attempted to navigate the Class 4 Honda of Karim Zuhour. Youssef and Ruslan engaged in an unbelievable battle for second place, whilst Konstantin faced technical issues on lap 3 which ground his Clio to a halt on at Turn 13 and forced an early retirement. Unfortunately for Ruslan, a mistake in the final stages of the race cost him to lose third place to Roman Tishenkov and agonisingly denying him of a podium on his Gulf ProCar debut. At the chequered flag it was Ivan Tverdokhlebov that completed the clean sweep, followed by Youssef Gaber in second, Roman Tishenkov in third, Avik Anwar in fourth and Ruslan Safin in fifth.

Ruslan Safin, Continental Racing - Class RC / Car 77 / Renault Clio Cup Gen5
Youssef Gaber, Uniq Racing - Class RC / Car 55 / Renault Clio Cup Gen5

Class 3, Class 4 and Class 5

Maxim Volynkin was sole entrant in Class 3 at Round 2, returning in the Big Red Racing Porsche 981 Cayman GT4. Maxim displayed great pace at Round 1 by taking the fight right up to the quicker machinery of the Class 2Cup field. Maxim arrived at Round 2 in hope of a similar performance as he prepared for his first competitive action on the Dubai Autodrome. Maxim showed strong pace in Qualifying, setting a best lap time of 2:13.420 which secured eighth place overall and right behind the Class 2Cup and Class 2Challenge drivers. Unfortunately, due to a procedural infringement at the end of the Qualifying session, Maxim received a three place grid penalty for Race 1. In addition, due to some complications during his reconciliation laps ahead of Race 1, Maxim was unfortunately forced into a pitlane start, placing him at the very back of the field and with ground to make up. Maxim managed the slower traffic to claim eighth place overall and victory in Class 3 at the chequered flag of Race 1, but received a 3 place race finish penalty for a pre race procedural infringement. In Race 2, Maxim unfortunately struggled with a technical issue with the car, requiring a reset before he was on his way again. Maxim worked hard to recoup lost time and finished the race in a commendable seventh place overall and as the Class 3 winner.

Karim Zuhour returned with the Lap57 Honda DC5 in Class 4, a driver and car pairing that has shown immaculate reliability and performance during their time in the Gulf ProCar series. Karim continued to display great pace in qualifying with a best lap time of 2:26.331, placing him eleventh overall and in amongst the Class RC field. As Karim nears closer to the achievement of his international license, his time in Gulf ProCar has asserted that he is a top prospect of UAE motorsport and we are excited to witness his career progress in Gulf ProCar and beyond. Karim delivered another solid performance in Race 1, enjoying a tense battle amongst the Class RC field. Karim made sure to avoid any trouble to claim eleventh place overall and victory in Class 4. In Race 2, Karim produced a stellar performance as again he meticulously navigated his way through traffic to claim tenth overall and the Class 4 victory.

Class 5 featured Nick Wiltshire, a previous Gulf ProCar competitor, in the Werks Motorsport built Volkswagen Mk7 Golf GTI. As discussed at the top of this article, the debut of this particular car and driver pairing has been highly anticipated thanks to an exceptional docuseries on YouTube by Nick and the Werks Motorsport crew, tracking the progress of the entire build from road to race car. Nick faced some technical difficulties in qualifying, understandable considering the freshness of the vehicle, posting a best lap of 2:26.685 during the session. At the start of Race 1, Nick quickly displayed that the troubles he face in qualifying were resolved, ripping passed the surrounding Class RC and Class 4 drivers to inherit eighth place overall and just behind Anton Yachmenev in Class 2Cup. Nick showed great driving skill to couple his ability to build a fantastic race car to cross the finish line in eighth place overall and as the Class 5 winner. In Race 2, the Werks Motorsport Golf GTI ran without issue as Nick guided the #55 car to an impressive eighth position overall after working his way through the Class RC field, collecting maximum points as the Class 5 winner.

Nick Wiltshire - Class 5 / Car 45 / Volkswagen Mk7 Golf GTI

Round 3 of the 2025/26 Gulf ProCar Championship takes place in just over 1 week back at the Dubai Autodrome, with a switch to an Enduro format that was seen last year in the Enduro Cup as drivers and machines will face a different test in the form of a 2 hour race with mandatory pitstop, on December 13th.