Historic Dubai Grand Prix Revival

The second edition of the Historic Dubai Grand Prix Revival, powered by Gulf Historic, will bring some of the world’s finest historic racing cars to the magnificent Dubai Autodrome in November. Building on the outstanding success of the inaugural event, the expanded 2022 edition will feature more than 100 grand prix and Le Mans cars racing on the 5.4km track over the weekend of 25-27 November. This year’s timetable has expanded to include two separate Formula 1 categories and two grids for endurance sportsprototype and GT cars. The event will start just five days after the nearby Formula 1 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix and run at the same time as the football World Cup in Qatar as the Middle East becomes a mecca for international sports fans. The first F1 grid will celebrate the era of Ford Cosworth DFV engine, featuring cars from 1970 to 1985. This is the era of great drivers such as Jackie Stewart, James Hunt, Niki Lauda and Nelson Piquet. While these famous cars will race, the second F1 session will be for cars from 1988 to 1994 running in high-speed demonstrations. The fabulous cars from the era of Ayrton Senna, Nigel Mansell and Michael Schumacher ran with V10 and V12 engines and the noise made by these cars is extraordinary. In both cases, the grids will be full of genuine cars running in their period liveries. The sportscar grids will recreate international endurance racing across nearly 40 years, from 1982 to 2010. The first grid will be for the cars from 1982 to 1993 and will include Group C, IMSA and GTP cars from Europe and North America. The Group C era was one of the finest in sportscar racing history as machines from Porsche, Jaguar, Mercedes and Nissan battled for Le Mans glory. The second grid features GT and Prototypes from 1994 to 2010, including 200mph monsters from Le Mans and IMSA. Both the Formula 1 and sportscar grids will be packed with the cars that made history across half a century and, though incredibly rare and valuable, they will be driven with great commitment by talented racers. “Everything at the HDGPR is turned towards the public,” says Romain Dumas, twice winners of the Le Mans 24 Hours. “The circuit is fantastic and the crowds provide great energy. It’s a really wonderful meeting which I hope to attend again in 2022.” The Dubai Autodrome has been a mecca for motorsport in the region since its construction in 2004 and the 24 Hours of Dubai has become an important date on the international sportscar racing calendar. Away from the spectacular on-track action there will be a wonderful range of attractions and activities to make this an event for the whole family. The weekend will include a 1970s-themed dress code, traditional music, dancing and marching bands, classic car concours, a bicycle race around the track for competing drivers and a gala dinner that promises to be a highlight of Dubai’s winter social diary. “Enthusiasm for track-based motor racing in the Middle East has been steadily building in recent years, notably thanks to the region’s growing influence on the Formula 1 calendar,” says Pierre-brice Mena, Managing Director of event organiser GP Extreme. “The HDGPR – powered by Gulf Historic – taps into the spirit of the first Dubai Grand Prix, which was held in 1981 and was ahead of its time.”