GulfSport Racing announced it will once again host the televised GulfSport Radical Cup – a national race series for drivers of lightweight sports cars, starting next month. This will be the fifth consecutive season, making it the longest running, most successful motor racing series in the Middle East.

Having started in 2004 at the Formula 1 Sakhir circuit in Bahrain, GulfSport later moved to Dubai to run its first International sportscar race alongside the inaugural ‘A1 Grand Prix’ in December 2005. Now with some 20 national and expatriate racing drivers and an even more varied grid of cars, the 2009/10 championship will provide more of the wheel-to-wheel racing it’s become famous for. Current Champion and holder of the GulfSport Radical Cup is Bassam Kronfli.

The first two races take place on October 16 at the Dubai Autodrome, following a national test and press day on October 1. Rounds three and four take place with the FIA GT3 European Championship on November 13-14.

The lightweight design of the competing sports cars help them produce some of the fastest lap times wherever they race. A Radical SR8 currently holds the national lap record for the Dubai Autodrome.

“It looks like this season will be even more competitive than last year, which went right down to the wire,” said GulfSport Racing’s Barry Hope. “With a number of Caterhams and a Westfield now mixing it up with the Radicals, there will be some really tough battles throughout the field.”

The standard of driving will be extremely high. A number of the UAE’s top racing drivers, including Bassam Kronfli, have gone on to win races in the Radical European Masters Championship, exposing them to larger and more experienced grids.

“After a long hot summer I think all the drivers will be looking forward to getting back out on track in October,” added Hope. “What’s more, our growing number of spectators and our European and Middle Eastern TV viewers will really enjoy this new season.”

The GulfSport Radical Cup incorporates two Classes for ‘slicks-and-wings’ high-downforce Radical sports cars, which run alongside the DAMC Invitational Class for other makes of lightweight cars, including Caterham, Westfield and Ariel Atom racers.