DUBAI // There will be seven former Formula One drivers on the grid in the Speedcar Series this season. But Johnny Herbert, the defending champion and winner of three F1 Grand Prix, has picked Sheikh Hasher Al Maktoum as one of the biggest threats to his crown.
"To be honest, Hashar was very competitive last year," said the Briton, who has driven for Benetton, Sauber, Lotus and Jaguar among others in an 11-year F1 career. "He has learnt a lot and I think he will still have to learn a bit more, but he is moving in the right direction.
"So he should be one of the challengers. He thoroughly enjoys racing here and we enjoy racing against him because he is a hard driver to race against."
Hasher hopes he can prove Herbert right.
"I am looking forward to doing better this season," said Hasher, 23, who had one podium finish last season. "The more time you spend driving, the more you learn. Every time you are out on the track, you learn something new. So I am confident of a better show."
Hasher has driven everything from a 12hp go-kart to the 620hp Speedcar over the last three years, but he doesn't see himself getting behind the wheels of a Formula One beast. "I started very late and I do not think it is possible for me to drive in Formula One," he said.
The Speedcar Series will start its second season today at the Dubai Autodrome, with revamped cars that boast of rip-roaring V8, 6.2 litre engines and lighter, composite panelled bodies. There will be seven teams and 14 drivers starting on the grid, hoping to make a head-start in the six-round championship that is worth US$500,000 (Dh1,836,550) each for the winning driver and team.
"We are very pleased with the high level of teams we have on board at the moment," said Claudio Berro, the operations director of the Speedcar Series. "Our focus this season is to attract professional teams and we are accomplishing that.
"We are still waiting for a final adjustment to the list of drivers, but I can anticipate it will include six former F1 drivers - Herbert, Jean Alesi, Heinz-Harald Frentzen, Stefan Johansson, Gianni Morbidelli and Jacques Villeneuve, and Vitantonio Liuzzi."
The Speedcar Series will top bill at the Grand Racing weekend, with Hamad al Fardan of Bahrain, the first Arab driver in the single-seater GP2 Asia series, will be attracting interest.
@Email:arizvi@thenational.ae
Nayanthara: Beyond The Fairy Tale
Starring: Nayanthara, Vignesh Shivan, Radhika Sarathkumar, Nagarjuna Akkineni
Director: Amith Krishnan
Rating: 3.5/5
Company%20Profile
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More on Quran memorisation:
About Okadoc
Date started: Okadoc, 2018
Founder/CEO: Fodhil Benturquia
Based: Dubai, UAE
Sector: Healthcare
Size: (employees/revenue) 40 staff; undisclosed revenues recording “double-digit” monthly growth
Funding stage: Series B fundraising round to conclude in February
Investors: Undisclosed
COMPANY PROFILE
Founders: Alhaan Ahmed, Alyina Ahmed and Maximo Tettamanzi
Total funding: Self funded
How to turn your property into a holiday home
- Ensure decoration and styling – and portal photography – quality is high to achieve maximum rates.
- Research equivalent Airbnb homes in your location to ensure competitiveness.
- Post on all relevant platforms to reach the widest audience; whether you let personally or via an agency know your potential guest profile – aiming for the wrong demographic may leave your property empty.
- Factor in costs when working out if holiday letting is beneficial. The annual DCTM fee runs from Dh370 for a one-bedroom flat to Dh1,200. Tourism tax is Dh10-15 per bedroom, per night.
- Check your management company has a physical office, a valid DTCM licence and is licencing your property and paying tourism taxes. For transparency, regularly view your booking calendar.
The specs
Engine: 1.5-litre 4-cylinder petrol
Power: 154bhp
Torque: 250Nm
Transmission: 7-speed automatic with 8-speed sports option
Price: From Dh79,600
On sale: Now
From Zero
Artist: Linkin Park
Label: Warner Records
Number of tracks: 11
Rating: 4/5
Iran's dirty tricks to dodge sanctions
There’s increased scrutiny on the tricks being used to keep commodities flowing to and from blacklisted countries. Here’s a description of how some work.
1 Going Dark
A common method to transport Iranian oil with stealth is to turn off the Automatic Identification System, an electronic device that pinpoints a ship’s location. Known as going dark, a vessel flicks the switch before berthing and typically reappears days later, masking the location of its load or discharge port.
2. Ship-to-Ship Transfers
A first vessel will take its clandestine cargo away from the country in question before transferring it to a waiting ship, all of this happening out of sight. The vessels will then sail in different directions. For about a third of Iranian exports, more than one tanker typically handles a load before it’s delivered to its final destination, analysts say.
3. Fake Destinations
Signaling the wrong destination to load or unload is another technique. Ships that intend to take cargo from Iran may indicate their loading ports in sanction-free places like Iraq. Ships can keep changing their destinations and end up not berthing at any of them.
4. Rebranded Barrels
Iranian barrels can also be rebranded as oil from a nation free from sanctions such as Iraq. The countries share fields along their border and the crude has similar characteristics. Oil from these deposits can be trucked out to another port and documents forged to hide Iran as the origin.
* Bloomberg
Company%20profile
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The specs
Engine: 1.5-litre, 4-cylinder turbo
Transmission: CVT
Power: 170bhp
Torque: 220Nm
Price: Dh98,900
What She Ate: Six Remarkable Women & the Food That Tells Their Stories
Laura Shapiro
Fourth Estate
SNAPSHOT
While Huawei did launch the first smartphone with a 50MP image sensor in its P40 series in 2020, Oppo in 2014 introduced the Find 7, which was capable of taking 50MP images: this was done using a combination of a 13MP sensor and software that resulted in shots seemingly taken from a 50MP camera.
Citadel: Honey Bunny first episode
Directors: Raj & DK
Stars: Varun Dhawan, Samantha Ruth Prabhu, Kashvi Majmundar, Kay Kay Menon
Rating: 4/5
SPECS
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Sri Lanka's T20I squad
Thisara Perera (captain), Dilshan Munaweera, Danushka Gunathilaka, Sadeera Samarawickrama, Ashan Priyanjan, Mahela Udawatte, Dasun Shanaka, Sachith Pathirana, Vikum Sanjaya, Lahiru Gamage, Seekkuge Prasanna, Vishwa Fernando, Isuru Udana, Jeffrey Vandersay and Chathuranga de Silva.
Killing of Qassem Suleimani
ILT20%20UAE%20stars
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COMPANY PROFILE
Name: Almnssa
Started: August 2020
Founder: Areej Selmi
Based: Gaza
Sectors: Internet, e-commerce
Investments: Grants/private funding
If you go
Where to stay: Courtyard by Marriott Titusville Kennedy Space Centre has unparalleled views of the Indian River. Alligators can be spotted from hotel room balconies, as can several rocket launch sites. The hotel also boasts cool space-themed decor.
When to go: Florida is best experienced during the winter months, from November to May, before the humidity kicks in.
How to get there: Emirates currently flies from Dubai to Orlando five times a week.
