25/26 Round 3 - Race Report
Gulf ProCar returned to the Dubai Autodrome for Round 3 of the 2025/26 championship, the last round before the winter break and subsequent return in February 2026. This round offered the unique switch to the Enduro format of a 25 minute Qualifying session and a 2 hour Race, testing the endurance and resilience of both drivers and machines .
As teams and drivers geared up to tackle the 120 minute Race around the 5.39km Grand Prix layout of the Dubai Autodrome, a mix of Solo and Two-Driver entries were received.
Class 2Cup regular, Stanislav Minskiy, chose to share the driving duties of the #72 Enrico Fulgenzi Racing Porsche 992 Cup with his coach and decorated endurance racer, Thomas Kiefer.
Class 3 competitor, Maxim Volynkin, returned in the #47 Big Red Racing Porsche 981 Cayman GT4 and brought in the services of Mikhael Belov who is an incredibly experienced single-seater racer in his own right.
Class 4 included the #57 Lap 57 Honda DC5 of Karim Zuhour, who looked to tackle the extended format as a solo effort, joined in class by Gulf ProCar veterans Ricky Coomber, Jonathan Mullan and Krishna Reddy. Ricky and Jonathan shared the driving duties of the #99 Honda EP3, whilst Krishna was joined by the series debuting Adam Croft in the #11 Honda EP3.
Class 5 featured Nick Wiltshire in the Werks Motorsport built Volkswagen Mk7 Golf GTI, who also elected to participate as a solo effort. With the car still in the early stages of it’s lifetime, Nick was excited to push the car and test its endurance capabilities at Round 3.
Class RC saw solo entries from Avik Anwar in the #71 Racing DNA Clio and Youssef Gaber in the #55 Uniq Racing Clio, in addition to the Two-Driver entry of Roman Tishenkov and Mikhail Loboda in the #20 Continental Racing Clio.
Qualifying
As part of the Enduro format that featured at Round 3, an extended qualifying session of 25 minutes took place on Saturday morning. Without surprise, it was the #72 Enrico Fulgenzi Racing Class 2Cup entry of Stanislav Minskiy and Thomas Kiefer that topped the time sheets with a best lap time of 2:00.752, followed by Maxim Volynkin and Mikhael Belov in the #47 Big Red Racing Porsche 981 Cayman GT4 with a 2:08.431. Claiming third place overall was Nick Wiltshire in the #45 Volkswagen Mk7 Golf GTI with a lap time of 2:19.956, a major improvement of qualifying pace for Nick compared to his efforts at Round 2.
The qualifying battle in Class RC was extremely close as positions were traded throughout the session. As the timer clicked down to zero, it was the #20 Continental Racing Renault Clio Cup Gen5 of Roman Tishenkov and Mikhail Loboda that took top honours in class with a best lap time of 2:24.441. Youssef Gaber claimed second place in class during qualifying in the #55 Uniq Racing car, less than two tenths off the time of the #20 with a best time of 2:24.634. Avik Anwar rounded up the Class RC field in the #71 Racing DNA car with a lap time of 2:26.796, fuelled with the determination to take the fight to the #20 and #55 in the race.
Qualifying was a turbulent affair for the Class 4 field, led by Karim Zuhour in the #57 Lap57 Honda DC5 with a best lap of 2:28.073. Car #99 of Ricky Coomber and Jonathan Mullan managed to log a time of 2:35.131, but this was far from representative of their true pace as they faced technical issues with the car during the session. The #11 of Krishna Reddy and Adam Croft unfortunately did not make it out for qualifying, also due to a technical issue.
Enduro Race
As the Enduro race arrived, teams and drivers were prepared to implement the strategies that they had devised, a new experience for many with the consideration of the mandatory pitstop, and the need for new tyres and the fuel to power the cars through the 120 minute session.
Stanislav Minskiy took the reigns of the #72 Enrico Fulgenzi Racing Porsche 992 Cup for the first stint of the race, leading the pack and building a considerable gap due to the power advantage he had over the other competitors. Maxim Volynkin started the race in the #47 Big Red Racing Class 3 car, setting the team up for a clean race in the first stint. Nick Wiltshire and his #45 Volkswagen Mk7 Golf GTI maintained third place overall in the early phases of the race, but mindful that he would have his work cut out to hold this as a solo entry and the need for multiple fuel stops due to the tank size in the car. Class RC was an interesting watch as the #20 Continental Racing Clio led the field with Roman Tishenkov at the wheel for the first stint. Avik Anwar in the #71 and Youssef Gaber in the #55 engaged in battle on the opening lap and remained close until the safety car came out at the 25 minute mark. The safety car was deployed to control the race after Krishna Reddy lost the engine of the #11 Honda EP3, bringing his and Adam Croft’s enduro effort to a premature end - heartbreak for the #11 after their troubles in qualifying and a pit lane start. Karim Zuhour continued his exceptional form from the first two rounds, controlling the Class 4 field and eliminating any threat from the #99 of Ricky Coomber and the #11. The #99 ran into mechanical issues during the race, forcing additional unplanned pitstops before the halfway point of the race.
Strategic possibilities were vast as the pit window for the mandatory pit stop was open from 25 minutes elapsed to 95 minutes elapsed, allowing teams to tactically plan fuel loads and driver time for each stint. For the majority of the two driver entered cars, the midway point of 60 minutes was a popular choice for pit stop completion. Stanislav Minskiy in the #72 did just that, expertly managing the first stint to hand control over to Thomas Kiefer for the second hour. Maxim Volynkin in the #47 followed suit, stopping at the halfway mark to hand over to Mikhael Belov in an expertly managed pitstop from the Big Red Racing crew. Nick Wiltshire in the #45 lost track position due to his multiple stops for fuel, finding himself amongst the Class RC field as the pit cycles entered into full swing. Class RC was where we saw the biggest difference in strategic approaches, with the #71 of Avik Anwar being the main beneficiary of this, electing to take on only fuel whilst still fulfilling the minimum mandatory pit stop time and emerging as the Class RC leader after the pit cycle. Youssef Gaber planned for fuel and a full set of tires for his #55 car during the pit stop however, the additional time needed for this service greatly hampered his track position as he dropped to third in class at the time, but Youssef remained confident in his ability to make up this deficit with the advantage of fresh rubber. Roman Tishenkov went long on the first stint, handing over to Mikhail Loboda with 40 minutes to go. Although the pitstop was executed perfectly by the Continental Racing crew, the choice to take new front tires sacrificed the class lead as the #20 filtered back in second place. Karim Zuhour held his lead through the pit cycle, fulfilling his mandatory stop without the need to take on fuel thanks to the endurance spec fuel tank in the #57 Lap57 Honda DC5. Karim was assisted by the troubles that were faced by Ricky Coomber and Jonathan Mullan in the #99 Honda EP3, who managed the race well but lost valuable time through unplanned pit stops for maintenance.
During the final stint, it was smooth running for the entire field as they understood the importance of minimising any risk to bring the car home safely. Thomas Kiefer piloted the #72 Enrico Fulgenzi Racing car to a commanding overall victory, showing immense pace in the process. Mikhael Belov demonstrated his value, bringing the #47 Big Red Racing car home to an impressive second place overall. Nick Wiltshire claimed fourth place overall in the final stages of the race, overcoming the deficit caused by his additional fuel stops in the #45 Volkswagen Mk7 Golf GTI. Avik Anwar was victorious in Class RC and claimed fifth overall, with the gamble of the alternative pit strategy and the sacrifice of new tyres paying dividends as the 120minute session elapsed. Avik crossed the line in the #71 Racing DNA Clio with an astonishing 1:52.497 gap to the #20 of Mikhail Loboda behind. Although Mikhail showed tremendous pace at the wheel of the #20 Continental Racing Clio, it was simply not enough to overcome the time gained by Avik during the pit stop cycle. Despite a valiant effort from Youssef Gaber in the #55 Uniq Racing car, the towel was thrown in with 25 mins to go as Youssef was struggling with the physical demand of his solo entry to the Enduro. This did not take away from the performance of Youssef across the weekend, and a sensible decision in the end to bring the car in early during the race. The #57 Lap57 Honda DC5 came away with the Class 4 win, third place overall and a standout performance for both car and driver, a faultless run to the chequered flag for Lap57. Jonathan Mullan brought the #99 Honda EP3 across the finish line to claim second place in Class 4, which was a great achievement in itself considering that Jonathan and Ricky were forced to adapt and overcome the technical issues that the car threw at them during the race and across the weekend.
See you in 2026!
Gulf ProCar now enters into the mid-season break of the 2025/26 season, returning in 2026 for the remaining 4 rounds. The series will kick off the second phase of the 2025/26 championship with Round 4 at the Yas Marina Circuit on February 6th-7th, defaulting back to the Sprint Format that will remain through to the end of the season.
