You might have seen a duck gliding across the pond? As serene as it might look, if you peer beneath the surface you'll find a huge amount of paddling going on. Welcome to my world.
It never ceases to amaze me just how much effort is required to run a race team that enters five cars into eight events. Compare this to F1 teams, race two cars in 20 countries. OK, so we employ nine people to their 300, but then we don't have to design and build a chassis.
In the UAE GT Championship we prepare and run two cars for Maserati as well as three British-built Ginetta G50s. You might be surprised at the skill levels required to do so. To run the car, you need a toolbox, a laptop computer and clever engineers who know exactly what they are doing.
My team installed a 4.5L V8 racing engine, the same one that powers LMP1 prototypes at Le Mans, into our customer's Ginetta Zytek. The engine, de-tuned to about 470 bhp to meet local regulations, is managed by a programmable engine-control unit, while a programmable gearbox-control unit looks after the transmission.
The Maserati GranTurismo has a 450 bhp 4.7 V8, paddle shift and Magneti Marelli electronics; the lighter Ginetta has 300bhp from its 3.5L V6 engine, Quaife gearbox and paddle shift. More laptops and spanners.
A lot of the duck-paddling is caused by running a business 5,000 kilometres away from the suppliers, so you have to be as self-sufficient as possible and an expert at logistics and customs processes. You also need patience as you try to cajole companies into action at "race" pace - not something they like. In motorsport, it's always cash up front and no warranties. Race cars can break for no reason at all but still you just can't afford to stock the thousands of parts that might fail on a completely random basis.
Assuming you recruit a small army of race mechanics that are prepared to work unsociable hours, you then have the problem of making sure that your driver gets the best out of his equipment. Now that requires a whole new level of expertise. A race engineer has to quiz the driver to understand what the car is doing on track. At the end of a track day in F1, the driver will sit with his race engineer, his performance engineer and his data engineer for about four or five hours to discuss all of the car's systems relative to improving the performance of the car.
Our race engineer, having downloaded all the data from the on-board data logger and video camera, will first check the car's vital signs (for example the oil and coolant temperatures, oil pressure, revs used, gears used) and then sit with the driver to analyse how he performed. With such microscopic data and video there is no hiding place. The logger draws a map of the circuit and can compare each lap to see exactly where and how hard the driver braked, what gear he was in, what speed he carried and how much steering input was used.
If your race engineer is also an expert driver that takes the briefing to a much higher level. Ours is. Last week our drivers were on all three steps of the podium. The duck never stops paddling.
Barry Hope is a director of GulfSport Racing, which is seeking the first Arab F1 driver through the FG1000 race series. Join the UAE racing community online at www.singleseaterblog.com
Jumanji: The Next Level
Director: Jake Kasdan
Stars: Dwayne Johnson, Kevin Hart, Karen Gillan, Jack Black, Nick Jonas
Two out of five stars
Match info
Manchester United 1 (Van de Beek 80') Crystal Palace 3 (Townsend 7', Zaha pen 74' & 85')
Man of the match Wilfried Zaha (Crystal Palace)
Important questions to consider
1. Where on the plane does my pet travel?
There are different types of travel available for pets:
- Manifest cargo
- Excess luggage in the hold
- Excess luggage in the cabin
Each option is safe. The feasibility of each option is based on the size and breed of your pet, the airline they are traveling on and country they are travelling to.
2. What is the difference between my pet traveling as manifest cargo or as excess luggage?
If traveling as manifest cargo, your pet is traveling in the front hold of the plane and can travel with or without you being on the same plane. The cost of your pets travel is based on volumetric weight, in other words, the size of their travel crate.
If traveling as excess luggage, your pet will be in the rear hold of the plane and must be traveling under the ticket of a human passenger. The cost of your pets travel is based on the actual (combined) weight of your pet in their crate.
3. What happens when my pet arrives in the country they are traveling to?
As soon as the flight arrives, your pet will be taken from the plane straight to the airport terminal.
If your pet is traveling as excess luggage, they will taken to the oversized luggage area in the arrival hall. Once you clear passport control, you will be able to collect them at the same time as your normal luggage. As you exit the airport via the ‘something to declare’ customs channel you will be asked to present your pets travel paperwork to the customs official and / or the vet on duty.
If your pet is traveling as manifest cargo, they will be taken to the Animal Reception Centre. There, their documentation will be reviewed by the staff of the ARC to ensure all is in order. At the same time, relevant customs formalities will be completed by staff based at the arriving airport.
4. How long does the travel paperwork and other travel preparations take?
This depends entirely on the location that your pet is traveling to. Your pet relocation compnay will provide you with an accurate timeline of how long the relevant preparations will take and at what point in the process the various steps must be taken.
In some cases they can get your pet ‘travel ready’ in a few days. In others it can be up to six months or more.
5. What vaccinations does my pet need to travel?
Regardless of where your pet is traveling, they will need certain vaccinations. The exact vaccinations they need are entirely dependent on the location they are traveling to. The one vaccination that is mandatory for every country your pet may travel to is a rabies vaccination.
Other vaccinations may also be necessary. These will be advised to you as relevant. In every situation, it is essential to keep your vaccinations current and to not miss a due date, even by one day. To do so could severely hinder your pets travel plans.
Source: Pawsome Pets UAE
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The National's picks
4.35pm: Tilal Al Khalediah
5.10pm: Continous
5.45pm: Raging Torrent
6.20pm: West Acre
7pm: Flood Zone
7.40pm: Straight No Chaser
8.15pm: Romantic Warrior
8.50pm: Calandogan
9.30pm: Forever Young
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Group A: Palmeiras, Porto, Al Ahly, Inter Miami.
Group B: Paris Saint-Germain, Atletico Madrid, Botafogo, Seattle.
Group C: Bayern Munich, Auckland City, Boca Juniors, Benfica.
Group D: Flamengo, ES Tunis, Chelsea, (Leon banned).
Group E: River Plate, Urawa, Monterrey, Inter Milan.
Group F: Fluminense, Borussia Dortmund, Ulsan, Mamelodi Sundowns.
Group G: Manchester City, Wydad, Al Ain, Juventus.
Group H: Real Madrid, Al Hilal, Pachuca, Salzburg.
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Our legal columnist
Name: Yousef Al Bahar
Advocate at Al Bahar & Associate Advocates and Legal Consultants, established in 1994
Education: Mr Al Bahar was born in 1979 and graduated in 2008 from the Judicial Institute. He took after his father, who was one of the first Emirati lawyers
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Joe Root (c), Moeen Ali, Jimmy Anderson, Jonny Bairstow, Stuart Broad, Jos Buttler, Alastair Cook, Sam Curran, Keaton Jennings, Ollie Pope, Adil Rashid, Ben Stokes, James Vince, Chris Woakes