Abu Dhabi: The championship-deciding Formula One Grand Prix may be what everyone is waiting to see, but the two other races at the Yas Marina Circuit promise to be interesting side shows with the very real chance that you might spot future champions in action.
The season's GP2 race finale and the Porsche GT3 Cup Challenge Middle East are also being held in Abu Dhabi. Three teams will vie for the GP2 2010 championship title on Sunday before the second Porsche GT3 Cup season commences over the race weekend.
Despite crashing out of the sprint race at the Autodromo Nazionale Monza in Italy, Venezuelan driver Pastor Maldonado of the Italian team Rapax has already clinched the GP2 drivers' championship title with two races to spare. However, the Yas Marina Circuit will see the teams' championship decided, with Rapax, Spain's Barwa Addax and France's ART Grand Prix teams all within 13 points of each other.
F1 feeder series
The GP2 Series, also known as just GP2, was launched in 2005, following the discontinuation of the long-term F1 feeder series, Formula 3000. Since then, it has firmly established itself on the world stage as one of the premier racing championships in the world.
Meanwhile, the exciting Porsche GT3 Cup Challenge Middle East series will kick off its second season at Yas Marina Circuit on November 13 and 14. Among the competitors will be Saudi Prince Abdul Aziz Al Faisal, returning to the circuit to defend his 2009/10 title. Prince Abdul Aziz is expected to be run close by his cousin and teammate, Prince Khalid Al Faisal.
The UAE's very own Khalid Al Qubaisi will also join the fray with compatriot Musaed Al Murar and Ebrahim Salloum, Bahrain's Shaikh Salman Bin Rashid Al Khalifa, and Bandar Alesayi, Faisal Bin Laden, and Fahad and Fawaz Al Gosaibi, all from Saudi Arabia.
Walter Lechner, founder of Lechner Racing, who runs the GT3 Cup series, said: "It is designed to identify top Arab and locally-based talent in the region and become a platform for entry into the world of international GT and sports car racing."
