Simply Abu Dhabi XXVIII

6 3 S I M P LY A B U DH A B I An Austin Healey 3000, a Lamborghini Jarama 400GTS and a Maserati Ghibli 4.9 V8 were just three of the cars entered by Tomini Classics, while a Mercedes 230SL dishtop and a Jaguar E-Type Series 1.5 Coupe represented Europe from the 1960s. Of the more regal entrants, no one could get past the stunning Rolls- Royce Silver Dawn and its matching year, Bentley S1, from 1960, or the immaculate Bentley Mk VI from the mid-1950s. The most modern car – possibly in years and definitely in spirit was – themovie fan-boys’ favourite: the DeLorean from “Back to the Future” of the mid-1980s. Finishing day one back at the Armani Hotel, cars were garaged, wiped down, cleaned, refuelled and turned around ready for an early start the next morning. Day two was arguably tougher with a long drive to Ras Al Khamiah before the daunting task of climbing theUAE’s tallest mountain, Jebel Jais. With cooling systems on some cars well over half a century old and more suited to the European Alps, it was a test of machine as well as the competitors’ patience – but, virtuallywithout fault, every carmade it to the top for a well-earned break and a few minutes to take in the spectacular views over the Emirate. The rally again finished back at the Burj Khalifa after two days of sandblasted, sun-drenched driving and enormously fun rivalry over a combined 11 competitive hours behind the wheel. ”It is impressive how vibrant the classic car scene is in the Middle East,” Mr Scheufele said. “There are collectors just as passionate and knowledgeable here as anywhere in the world, and Chopard is proud to have organised this classic rally in the UAE. We hope that it will be a regular fixture on the regional and global classic car calendar,” he added. To mark the inaugural rally, Chopard launched the L.U.C Time Traveler One – Time of the Desert. Produced in a 20-piece limited series with a refined sand colour dial recalling the golden dunes of the UAE, according to its maker this timekeeper reflects the Emirati gentlemen travellers. Two of these watches were presented to the winning driver and navigator at the conclusion of the rally during the gala prize-giving dinner. The lucky recipients were Hannes Waimer and Hans Hotfiel who piloted Car 12 – an immaculate bottle-green 1969 Porsche 911E – to victory with a total time of 11 hours, 9 minutes and 36 seconds. Five minutes and 45 seconds behind them was Car 03 of Ismail Tamraz and Fred Faidhi in arguably the best sounding car of the event – a V12-powered, six-carburetted, 1972 Lamborghini Jarama. Showing just how close the competitionwas over the two full days, it was just a further 5 minutes and 18 seconds behind the Lamborghini that Car 24 claimed the last place on the podiumwith a well-deserved third, driven by the father and son duo of Imthishan andMohammed Giado in the crowd favourite 1981 DeLorean DMC-12.