Friday, December 24, 2010

Dubai Autodrome

Dubai Autodrome located in Motor city, turning off the Sheikh Zayed Road from Mall of emirates towards the Emirates road u will see the signages leading to the Dubai Autodrome and the Motorcity. About 15-20 minutes drive from the sheikh Zayed road. One can still see a lot of construction activity in the area.
Once you enter the motorcity keep on going to the end almost and u will see the Outdoor Kartodrome sign on the left. We reached about 5 pm(the opening time in the evening shift) and proceeded to the viewing gallery.  The viewing gallery was sparsely crowded but apart from providing a good overview of the track, it also provided us a good location to click a few good pictures. From the deck you also make out where mostly the drivers were making mistakes, although i found that avoiding these mistakes is easier said than done and of course requires to slow down which looses on precious lap completion times. This done we reached the registration kiosk as directed by the cabayan counter girl. Registration done we pay the money 120 AED for the first time and proceed to the change rooms where driving outfits for various sizes are hung in racks. The kit includes Driving suit, A sheer fabric inner wear for the helmet+Helmet+Gloves, and of course you can avail the lockers.
Well the carts are having a low CG and difficult to choose the fitter one. The first one i choose had a steering problem and i had to pull out to the pits after the 1st lap itself. The second cart fared better in steering control but was prone to shaking vigorously on speeding. The wheel alignment was in for a toss.
We were in Session 12, the instructions were pelted out and we were off. It takes a couple of laps to understand the track and  my timings were pathetic and improved for the later laps. Well i din't tell before but the time for each session if 15 mintues and normally completes 5 laps. It certainly gives u a adrenaline high and one starts enjoying the challenge of the compete.  The better guys did 1.08-1.10 minutes for a lap and amateurs like me finished last with the best time of 1.42 minutes. Santhana along with me clocked 1.38 minutes. Well there is always next time..:-)
Must check for the driving enthusiasts, albeit the Karts could be better.
Cheers! gotta go now




Sunjay