25/26 Round 5 - Race Report

Gulf ProCar revisited the Dubai Autodrome to host Round 5 of the 2025/26 championship. This round took place during the holy month of Ramadan, resulting in a slight adjustment to the usual scheduling of sessions and offering a set of night races. Round 5 utilised the slightly shorter 4.29km International layout of the Dubai Autodrome for the first time this season, where drivers hang right at the exit of turn one to approach a fast paced chicane which leads directly onto the back straight.

Qualifying

After the early afternoon’s Warm-Up session concluded, drivers set their sights on extracting every ounce of performance from their machines in the qualifying session. As the 20 minute session elapsed, it was Ernst Kirchmayr that clinched pole position overall on Gulf ProCar debut in the #19 Ferrari 296 Challenge from Baron Motorsport. Following Ernst was Rawad Sarieddine in the #37 Baron Motorsport Porsche 992 Cup, who returned to the series with impact to claim second overall and pole in Class 2Cup, holding off pressure from Stanislav Minskiy in the #72 Enrico Fulgenzi Racing Porsche 992 Cup, who claimed third overall and second in Class 2Cup.

Sharing the driving duties on their joint Gulf ProCar debut was Ernest Taronishvili and Elena Aladeva in the #63 Spora GT Lamborghini Huracan GT3 Evo, missing the pace to top the Cup and Challenge cars in qualifying but securing a solid fourth place start for Race 1. Fifth and Sixth overall was the Class 5 Volkswagen Mk7 Golf GTI’s of Nick Wiltshire in the #45 and Kieran Hope in the #83, with the gap between the two closing since their last showing at Round 4 and creating an exciting prospect for the remaining sessions.

Seventh overall and pole in Class RC was the #78 ARMotors Renault Clio Cup Gen5 of Steve Wilson, displaying that he is a force to be reckoned with on his Gulf ProCar and car racing debut, outpacing the experienced hands of Rahil Taneja (#9, KAA Motorsport) and Avik Anwar (#71, Racing DNA) who claimed eighth and ninth overall, and second and third in Class RC respectively. Rounding out the field was James Bourke in the #5 Honda DC5 that returns after testing troubles halted its scheduled Round 2 participation. James struggled with pace in qualifying due to a technical issue, but was determined to resolve any gremlins to take the challenge to his fellow Class 5 competitors of Nick and Kieran.

Race 1

As the five lights extinguished, Ernst Kirchmayr in the #19 and Rawad Sarieddine in the #37 held starting positions, controlling the field as they headed towards turn 1. Further back, the #72 of Stanislav Minskiy lost third place on the opening lap to Ernest Taronishvili, who took the reigns of the #63 Lamborghini for Race 1. Stanislav persisted to clear Ernest as quickly as possibly, doing so with extreme efficiency in mind of of limiting his losses to Rawad ahead. 

Nick Wiltshire followed the leading group of faster machinery closely, as they hindered each other with their battles, thoroughly enjoying this despite the absence of competition from fellow Class 5 drivers of Kieran Hope and James Bourke who were forced into a non-start to rectify technical issue with their cars. Nick ran a consistent race, continuing to show strides forward with the setup of his #45 Werks Motorsport built Volkswagen Mk7 Golf GTI.

The Class RC battle was nothing short of enthralling, with Steve Wilson #78, Rahil Taneja #9 and Avik Anwar #71 engaging in a close battle during the opening laps of the race. Steve held position and was able to build a buffer after withstanding the early threat, whilst Rahil and Avik stayed close until the final stages of the race until the #71 of Avik claimed second place from Rahil.

As the checkered flag flew, it was Ernst Kirchmayr who took victory overall, from Rawad Sarieddine in second and as Class 2Cup winner then Stanislav Minskiy in third. Ernest Taronishvili crossed the line in fourth place, followed by Nick Wiltshire in fifth. Steve Wilson claimed the win in Class RC and sixth overall, with Avik Anwar in seventh and Rahil Taneja in eighth.

Race 2

Unfortunately, ahead of Race 2 the escalation of regional tensions resulted in a stewards decision to postpone the final race of Round 5, and the organisers have elected to run this race at the Round 6 event in March.