Sheikh Khalid bin Khalifa is confident there is even more speed to come from him after an encouraging opening day of qualifying heat races at the Rotax Max Challenge Grand Finals at Al Ain Raceway yesterday.
The Emirati finished 23rd in his first race in the DD2 class, before improving with a competitive run to 15th place in his second race, boosting his chances of qualifying for tomorrow's final.
Before that he has more qualifying heat races today, but he said: "I am sure I will do much better …
"I have had to deal with a lot of problems in my kart but were able to improve things and I was a lot better in the second race, and we have a couple more changes still to be made which should make me even quicker."
Sheikh Khalid, 24, made up some positions in the first race, but was frustrated with his kart, and made adjustments to the kart's calibrator and also altered tyre pressures in an attempt to improve performance and that worked.
"I was very pleased," he added.
The qualifying heats are designed to help decide who will qualify for the final of each of the four kart categories.
Mohammed Al Dhaheri, also competing in the DD2 category, finished 27th and 15th in his two races yesterday as he celebrated his 25th birthday.
Patrick Jarjour, who had been scheduled to race in the Senior Max, moved over to DD2, and finished 26th in his sole race of the day,
Elsewhere in the UAE team, Abdullah Al Rawahi made a big improvement in his second race after a disappointing result in his opening Junior Max race.
He finished down in 33rd place in the opening race, but bounced back with a strong run to 12th in the afternoon race.
His older brother, Sanad, was also on impressive form as he took eighth in his sole Senior Max race of the day.
Maurits Knopjes and Arnaud Bouf put in a competitive showing in the DD2 Masters category, finishing 11th and 12th in their last heat of the day.
The UAE's ranks have been bolstered this weekend by the addition of four other drivers racing under their name.
With not everyone invited to compete in Al Ain having shown up to race, the UAE, as the host nation of the event, were given the chance to fill spaces in the entrants list.
Luc Bauwmans and Andrew Fuller are competing in the DD2 Masters category, Nikita Miliakov is in the Senior Max, and Ali Hussein is taking part in DD2.
The action today at the track begins at 8.45am with warm-up sessions for all the drivers, before more qualifying heat races take place from 11.05am.
gcaygill@thenational.ae
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Engine: 2.0-litre 4-cyl turbo
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BIGGEST CYBER SECURITY INCIDENTS IN RECENT TIMES
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The biog
Hometown: Cairo
Age: 37
Favourite TV series: The Handmaid’s Tale, Black Mirror
Favourite anime series: Death Note, One Piece and Hellsing
Favourite book: Designing Brand Identity, Fifth Edition
The smuggler
Eldarir had arrived at JFK in January 2020 with three suitcases, containing goods he valued at $300, when he was directed to a search area.
Officers found 41 gold artefacts among the bags, including amulets from a funerary set which prepared the deceased for the afterlife.
Also found was a cartouche of a Ptolemaic king on a relief that was originally part of a royal building or temple.
The largest single group of items found in Eldarir’s cases were 400 shabtis, or figurines.
Khouli conviction
Khouli smuggled items into the US by making false declarations to customs about the country of origin and value of the items.
According to Immigration and Customs Enforcement, he provided “false provenances which stated that [two] Egyptian antiquities were part of a collection assembled by Khouli's father in Israel in the 1960s” when in fact “Khouli acquired the Egyptian antiquities from other dealers”.
He was sentenced to one year of probation, six months of home confinement and 200 hours of community service in 2012 after admitting buying and smuggling Egyptian antiquities, including coffins, funerary boats and limestone figures.
For sale
A number of other items said to come from the collection of Ezeldeen Taha Eldarir are currently or recently for sale.
Their provenance is described in near identical terms as the British Museum shabti: bought from Salahaddin Sirmali, "authenticated and appraised" by Hossen Rashed, then imported to the US in 1948.
- An Egyptian Mummy mask dating from 700BC-30BC, is on offer for £11,807 ($15,275) online by a seller in Mexico
- A coffin lid dating back to 664BC-332BC was offered for sale by a Colorado-based art dealer, with a starting price of $65,000
- A shabti that was on sale through a Chicago-based coin dealer, dating from 1567BC-1085BC, is up for $1,950
The White Lotus: Season three
Creator: Mike White
Starring: Walton Goggins, Jason Isaacs, Natasha Rothwell
Rating: 4.5/5