The opening round of the UAE National Racing season at Dubai Autodrome, on Friday 16 October 2009, produced close racing and first time winners. Fans and competitors endured a hot day at Dubai’s premier motorsport venue to usher in the new season in style.

UAE Touring Cars – Al Mutawaa 2 wins out of 2 races
Glenn Portier, team principal of House of Portier made a shrewd move in promoting HSBC Racing Academy graduate Khalid Al Mutawaa to Class 1 of the UAE Touring Car Championship. The Emirati driver, behind the wheel of the TAM Auto Engineering prepared SEAT Leon Supercopa, stamped his authority on the series with two convincing wins.

Khalid Al Mutawaa said, "It’s been a tough day of racing, yet relaxed. Thanks to House of Portier/TAM Auto Engineering for offering me a winning car." He added, "I will try all my best to maintain this amazing result for the team and UAE for the rest of the Championship."

Notable mention for 16 year old Emirati Mohammed Al Mutawaa who made his debut in the House of Portier Renault and hence became the youngest driver to compete at national level in the UAE. He had technical problems in Race 1 but bounced back impressively in Race 2, where he started from the back of the grid, to finish fourth in Class 2.

UAE GT – Al Azhari wins inaugural race for Corvette
The much anticipated UAE GT Championship lived up to the hype with a strong field of GT cars taking to the grid. All eyes were on Karim Al Azhari who, for 2009/2010 season, is racing for the House of Portier/TAM Auto engineering team at the wheel of a Corvette Z06R GT3.

From the outset the multiple UAE Champion meant business in the GTA Class and was quickest in qualifying and went on to dominate the mini-enduro 45 minutes race which he controlled from the start. Behind him the Tarek Elgammal/Cabell Fisher gave spirited chase but had no answer for the TAM Auto engineering prepared Corvette.

Al Azhari said after his win, “I would like to thank House of Portier and the TAM Auto Engineering team for giving me a race winning car. We worked hard for this victory and I am looking forward to a good season with my great team. I am delighted to win the first round of this new Championship.”

Glenn Portier, team principal of House of Portier summed up the day, "What can I say? It was an amazing day for us, everyone in the team put in great effort and hard work which has been transformed into the real deal in terms of results in the UAE Touring Car Championship and of course in the UAE GT championship. I would like to thank each one of them for their contribution, we will keep on working until the end in order to achieve our target of winning all the UAE Championships we have entered into this season."