The gravel has only just settled on the 2010/11 Cytech UAE GTB Championship but already two of the top drivers appear to be on a collision course for next season.
Jon Simmonds was crowned champion in the final round of the series last month, but he could not bite his tongue over an incident that almost wrecked his title celebration.
"[It was] the final race of the season at Yas, where our main competitor's teammate used his faster car to block and slow me for two laps in the race in order to allow his teammate to gain ground and escape," Simmonds said.
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"It was one of the most unsportsmanlike, dangerous and unbelievable spectacles ever seen in our sport but fortunately the governing bodies of our sport took definite steps to address the issue and dish out justice." Karim al Azhari, the other driver, vehemently defended his manoeuvre, believing his integrity was never in question as he was not punished.
"What I would like to say is that this is only his opinion of my driving on the track that day," al Azhari said.
"It is only his side of the story and it's coming entirely from his limited and restrictive view from his own cockpit.
"The authorities have made investigations into his concerns, shall we say, and the official hearing had the opportunity to hear all the facts about this supposed incident. They have ruled that there was nothing out of the ordinary that day and took no action against me.
"Jon Simmonds should have kept his frustrations to himself. Motorsport is a very intense and emotional sport, but it is important for him to respect the authorities' investigation and stop publicly airing his views as facts. Simmonds is new to motorsport and should recognise it is important that we differentiate between frustration and fact."
The passion of Simmonds, who has called Dubai home for the past five years, is borne out of his desire to be successful in a sport he get involved far later than most.
"I was a very late starter," he said. "My first taste of competitive motorsport was as a 35 year old, when I entered the 2002 Caterham Academy Championship in the UK. After this I raced a Renault Clio in several rounds of the Britcar Championship between 2003 and 2005, securing multiple class wins and podium finishes before moving to Dubai in early 2006.
"Since arriving in the UAE, I have competed in all five 24-hour races at Dubai Autodrome in a variety of cars, including a Golf GTi, Clio, Aston Martin N24 and Seat Supercopa, and have taken a class win and podium against the toughest international competition."
Simmonds is one of the seven drivers who raced in the first UAE TCC event back in 2007 and competed for three seasons, winning Class A and overall UAE TCC crown in 2010 before moving to the UAE GT Championship last year, where clinched the title driving a Porsche GT3 Cup car."
Simmonds, who shared his No 22 car with his co-drivers Tarek Elgammal and Phil Quaife, won three races in the Alex Renner Motors-prepared Porsche, which was one less than Mohammed al Mutawaa, his title rival, in the House of Portier Corvette, but the Briton's consistency and speed, paid off. It was a tough season for Simmonds and he recalls the highlights: "December 17, 2010, at Yas Marina Circuit, where my team, MSW racing, took an unprecedented triple win on the day winning GTA, GTB, with me driving, and Touring Car race.
"Seeing my team's three cars resplendent in team livery in the pit lane with all drivers and crew grinning for Darren Rycroft [the official photographer] as he took our picture was amazing."
Simmonds also cherishes his team's performance in Dubai Autodrome's biggest international race, and he said: "In the Dunlop 24 Hours of Dubai in January 2011, we raced our hearts out in our Seat Supercopa and finished on the same lap as Sunred7, who are the WTCC champions, Spanish Supercopa champions and winners of both 24 Hours of Barcelona and Dubai. We took the fastest race lap in the process."
But motorsport comes with highs and lows. For Simmonds there were a couple of the latter: "Race 6 at Dubai Autodrome where we tested, and qualified fastest and were supremely confident of taking a win only to be mistakenly given the wrong tyres. It was like a bad dream."
The list of people who have a hand in the success is long.
Simmonds said: "There are so many people involved in our racing programme that I'm indebted to that I can't possibly mention them all. Obviously Alex and his ARM team, and my amazing co-drivers Tarek and Phil deserve special mention, but thanks also to everyone who provided financial, technical, product or moral support throughout the season and believed that I could take this championship against such formidable opposition."
* Compiled by Neil Cameron with agency
The specs
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Engine: 2.0-litre turbocharged and supercharged in-line four-cylinder
Transmission: Eight-speed automatic
Power: 320hp @ 5,700rpm
Torque: 400Nm @ 2,200rpm
Fuel economy, combined: 9.7L / 100km
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
Specs
Engine: Duel electric motors
Power: 659hp
Torque: 1075Nm
On sale: Available for pre-order now
Price: On request
Test
Director: S Sashikanth
Cast: Nayanthara, Siddharth, Meera Jasmine, R Madhavan
Star rating: 2/5
Results
STAGE
1 . Filippo Ganna (Ineos) - 0:13:56
2. Stefan Bissegger (Education-Nippo) - 0:00:14
3. Mikkel Bjerg (UAE Team Emirates) - 0:00:21
4. Tadej Pogacar (UAE Team Emirates) - 0:00:24
5. Luis Leon Sanchez (Astana) - 0:00:30
GENERAL CLASSIFICATION
1. Tadej Pogacar (UAE Team Emirates) - 4:00:05
2. Joao Almeida (QuickStep) - 0:00:05
3. Mattia Cattaneo (QuickStep) - 0:00:18
4. Chris Harper (Jumbo-Visma) - 0:00:33
5. Adam Yates (Ineos) - 0:00:39
Tax authority targets shisha levy evasion
The Federal Tax Authority will track shisha imports with electronic markers to protect customers and ensure levies have been paid.
Khalid Ali Al Bustani, director of the tax authority, on Sunday said the move is to "prevent tax evasion and support the authority’s tax collection efforts".
The scheme’s first phase, which came into effect on 1st January, 2019, covers all types of imported and domestically produced and distributed cigarettes. As of May 1, importing any type of cigarettes without the digital marks will be prohibited.
He said the latest phase will see imported and locally produced shisha tobacco tracked by the final quarter of this year.
"The FTA also maintains ongoing communication with concerned companies, to help them adapt their systems to meet our requirements and coordinate between all parties involved," he said.
As with cigarettes, shisha was hit with a 100 per cent tax in October 2017, though manufacturers and cafes absorbed some of the costs to prevent prices doubling.
COMPANY%20PROFILE
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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.”
Specs
Engine: Dual-motor all-wheel-drive electric
Range: Up to 610km
Power: 905hp
Torque: 985Nm
Price: From Dh439,000
Available: Now
