Despite being disqualified in the first race and not finishing in the second, Lebanese driver Joe Ghanem came out on top of the inaugural Maserati Trofeo JBF RAK series while Faisal Shaker of KSA finished second while Lebanese driver Zeehog won the third place in the final standings.
It was already decided at the end of the 5th round, who was going to be the Maserati Trofeo Champione. Joe Ghanem was way ahead of the rest and he couldn’t have really minded the way things went on the day of the 6th round – but for sake of sportsmanship. Because, any driver wouldn’t enjoy being disqualified from a race for any reason – Joe Ghanem’s reason for the day was advantage by contact earlier in the race which ended up in the fair verdict in the gentleman’s race. In the eventful day punctuated with contacts and messy turns, the audience enjoyed an exciting and intriguing day at the Yas Marina Circuit.
Patrick Zamparini managed to secure two race victories after race-long battles with his closest rivals.
Patrick Zamparini’s second win came after a superb race-long three-way battle with Ghanem and Ramez Azzam, the latter claiming the second place in the afternoon race. “I was having a great fight with Joe. He managed to get past me at one point, but I thought, ‘no way. I’m getting that position back again!’ And I managed to get back past him. I think it would not have been easy to overtake me. Not today!” said a jubilant Italian Zamparini (No.30).
Finishing second in the first race and third in the second in the sixth round, Faisal Shaker’s (No. 88) strong result also moved him into second place overall in the series ranking.
Owing to an early safety car period, caused when Ramez Azzam and Mohammed Jawa came together in the midst of their own battle, Lebanese rookie Tanni Hanna finished close behind Faisal Shaker in third.
Zayed Al Zayani swings out of control while negotiating his way up the curve. He regained poise and continued to finish the race.
The first season of the Maserati Trofeo JBF RAK series has seen more than twenty drivers from twelve countries compete. Umberto Cini, Managing Director of Maserati Middle East and Africa, was thrilled to see such an exciting finale. “Congratulations to all the drivers for keeping us on the edge of our seats all through the year.” So long, till the next season!
Race monitors watching from the pit stop lane, as a car speeds by. The Maserati GranTurismo MC Trofeo race cars are equipped with a paddle shifts capable of changing gears in 60 milliseconds and 4.7-litre engines producing 488bhp.
