DUBAI // Saeed Al Mehairi gave Skydive Dubai Falcons their first win in the Porsche GT3 Cup Challenge Middle East, as the Emirati triumphed in Race 1 of Round 2 at the Dubai Autodrome on Friday.
Teammate Sheikh Hasher Al Maktoum also finished on the podium in third in a memorable day for the Dubai team, who, despite many podium finishes in their debut season in 2013/14, had never managed to win a race until Friday.
Al Nabooda Racing’s Clemens Schmid, who won both opening rounds, had been dominant in qualifying. However, the championship leader suffered from a bad start, which allowed Al Mehairi to take the lead from the first turn, which he retained for the rest of the race, finishing ahead of Kuwait’s Zaid Ashkanani and Sheikh Hasher.
On his guest appearance, Saudi Arabia’s Abdulaziz Al Faisal finished fourth ,with Schmid fifth. “I’m really struggling to describe how it feels for me at the moment,” Al Mehairi said. “It’s an incredible feeling to win the race, especially in my hometown.
“I’m just so happy and glad to take the victory for myself and for the team. This is a dream come true and I’m hoping for the same tomorrow. I didn’t expect the start to happen the way it did, but I saw a chance and took it.
“I was close to winning last year, but I made a mistake and this year I’ve learnt from this mistake. Today, I won the race ,which is about as good as it gets and shows the lesson learned.”
After taking maximum points from the opening races in Bahrain, Schmid was disappointed with an uncharacteristically poor start. “It was very hard to recover,” Schmid said. “Turn one set the tone and I soon realised this was probably not going to be my race. Tomorrow is a new day.”
As the cars entered the first corner with Ashkanani leading, Al Mehairi second and Schmid third, a battle for position saw the Emirati come out on top, with Ashkanani second and Schmid in sixth after a spin.
As the race progressed, Zaid Ashkanani pressed Al Mehairi, but the Emirati’s composure allowed him to slowly build a gap between first and second.
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MATCH INFO
League Cup, last 16
Manchester City v Southampton, Tuesday, 11.45pm (UAE)
Venom
Director: Ruben Fleischer
Cast: Tom Hardy, Michelle Williams, Riz Ahmed
Rating: 1.5/5
The White Lotus: Season three
Creator: Mike White
Starring: Walton Goggins, Jason Isaacs, Natasha Rothwell
Rating: 4.5/5
Summer special
Test
Director: S Sashikanth
Cast: Nayanthara, Siddharth, Meera Jasmine, R Madhavan
Star rating: 2/5
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
PROVISIONAL FIXTURE LIST
Premier League
Wednesday, June 17 (Kick-offs uae times) Aston Villa v Sheffield United 9pm; Manchester City v Arsenal 11pm
Friday, June 19 Norwich v Southampton 9pm; Tottenham v Manchester United 11pm
Saturday, June 20 Watford v Leicester 3.30pm; Brighton v Arsenal 6pm; West Ham v Wolves 8.30pm; Bournemouth v Crystal Palace 10.45pm
Sunday, June 21 Newcastle v Sheffield United 2pm; Aston Villa v Chelsea 7.30pm; Everton v Liverpool 10pm
Monday, June 22 Manchester City v Burnley 11pm (Sky)
Tuesday, June 23 Southampton v Arsenal 9pm; Tottenham v West Ham 11.15pm
Wednesday, June 24 Manchester United v Sheffield United 9pm; Newcastle v Aston Villa 9pm; Norwich v Everton 9pm; Liverpool v Crystal Palace 11.15pm
Thursday, June 25 Burnley v Watford 9pm; Leicester v Brighton 9pm; Chelsea v Manchester City 11.15pm; Wolves v Bournemouth 11.15pm
Sunday June 28 Aston Villa vs Wolves 3pm; Watford vs Southampton 7.30pm
Monday June 29 Crystal Palace vs Burnley 11pm
Tuesday June 30 Brighton vs Manchester United 9pm; Sheffield United vs Tottenham 11.15pm
Wednesday July 1 Bournemouth vs Newcastle 9pm; Everton vs Leicester 9pm; West Ham vs Chelsea 11.15pm
Thursday July 2 Arsenal vs Norwich 9pm; Manchester City vs Liverpool 11.15pm
Coal Black Mornings
Brett Anderson
Little Brown Book Group
A MINECRAFT MOVIE
Director: Jared Hess
Starring: Jack Black, Jennifer Coolidge, Jason Momoa
Rating: 3/5
The specs: 2018 Mercedes-Benz E 300 Cabriolet
Price, base / as tested: Dh275,250 / Dh328,465
Engine: 2.0-litre four-cylinder
Power: 245hp @ 5,500rpm
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Dubai works towards better air quality by 2021
Dubai is on a mission to record good air quality for 90 per cent of the year – up from 86 per cent annually today – by 2021.
The municipality plans to have seven mobile air-monitoring stations by 2020 to capture more accurate data in hourly and daily trends of pollution.
These will be on the Palm Jumeirah, Al Qusais, Muhaisnah, Rashidiyah, Al Wasl, Al Quoz and Dubai Investment Park.
“It will allow real-time responding for emergency cases,” said Khaldoon Al Daraji, first environment safety officer at the municipality.
“We’re in a good position except for the cases that are out of our hands, such as sandstorms.
“Sandstorms are our main concern because the UAE is just a receiver.
“The hotspots are Iran, Saudi Arabia and southern Iraq, but we’re working hard with the region to reduce the cycle of sandstorm generation.”
Mr Al Daraji said monitoring as it stood covered 47 per cent of Dubai.
There are 12 fixed stations in the emirate, but Dubai also receives information from monitors belonging to other entities.
“There are 25 stations in total,” Mr Al Daraji said.
“We added new technology and equipment used for the first time for the detection of heavy metals.
“A hundred parameters can be detected but we want to expand it to make sure that the data captured can allow a baseline study in some areas to ensure they are well positioned.”
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Director: Basel Adra, Yuval Abraham, Rachel Szor, Hamdan Ballal
Stars: Basel Adra, Yuval Abraham
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COMPANY PROFILE
Founders: Sebastian Stefan, Sebastian Morar and Claudia Pacurar
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