If there is one racing team that has made a massive impact on the UAE motorsport scene over the past two years it is the House of Portier Team. With their immaculately prepared cars and striking livery they often feature at the very front of the field. Last year their three drivers took home a great deal of silverware and this year they aim to scoop up even more as they make a concerted challenge for both UAE Touring Car and UAE GT titles.

Big news is the signing of one of the most successful drivers UAE based drivers ever, Karim Al Azhari. The diminutive and vastly experienced driver, multiple champion, has been recruited to drive a one of its kind machine in this part of the world, it's the FIA specs Corvette Z06 GT3 taking part in the UAE GT Championship GTA class.

Known as a Porsche expert, Al Azhari being the professional that he is will have no problem adapting to the Corvette and will be aiming for the inaugural UAE GT title.

Team Principal Glenn Portier has a policy of nurturing Emirati talent and has continued backing HSBC Racing Academy graduates, Khalid Al Mutawaa and his younger brother Mohammed Al Mutawaa. Khalid, who campaigned last season in the House of Portier Renault Clio, will take over the team’s SEAT Leon Super Copa in Class A where he is likely to feature among the front runners.

Sixteen year old Emirati hotshot Mohammed Al Mutawaa is hoping to make news not only as the youngest driver on the UAE Touring Car grid but also as a winner on track. He takes over the House of Portier Renault Clio raced by his brother last year. Young Al Mutawaa has experience racing abroad in the single seater Formula Academy series while being a regular front runner in the local karting scene.

Motaz Abu Hijleh, House of Portier team partner, manager and technical director:
"We are back with a super formula for our team, the merging of House of Portier and TAM Auto Engineering with the objectives of winning many races and titles in the 2009/2010 season. We have worked non-stop on developing our race cars, specifically the Corvette which took five months of hard graft hand in hand with Callaway Motorsports in Germany. We are looking forward to this season and are confident that we are a winning team."

Glenn Portier, House of Portier Team Principal
"If you look at our racing team, you will see professional driver in Karim Al Azhari, a semi-pro namely Khalid Al Mutawaa and a rookie driver Mohammed Al Mutawaa. I could easily ask any professional Malaysian driver to race for my team and we can win each and every race in that case, but I wanted to bring the UAE national drivers into spot light and show that UAE has got great talents and drivers who can secure a great results.”

1st round starts on the 16th of October at the Dubai Autodrome.