The 16th and final round of the championship was held at the Yas Marina Circuit, a venue that had hosted the series only twice before in its eight-year history.
Following on from Interlagos, where home hero Lucas Murno took an emotional victory, Abu Dhabi had a lot to live up to. With Jose Soriano having clinched the Drivers’ Championship back in Singapore, Netrex GP arrived in Abu Dhabi poised to secure the Teams’ title in their first season back in Superlights since 2019. However, True North Motorsport, winners of the last two races, were just 23 points behind and knew that a strong performance could turn the tables. Meanwhile, the battle for third was intense – Brehm GP led Optiminal Racing by just three points, setting up a four-way fight where every point would prove crucial.
Qualifying
Brehm GP looked confident in their fight for third, fielding Owen McGaugie, the 2023 champion, in place of Cas Rietveld. McGaugie, already an eight-time Superlights race winner, had never triumphed in the UAE, but he wasted no time in stamping his authority, taking pole position by one of the largest margins of the season; half a second clear of fellow Brit Harry Smith.
Lucas Murno split the two Netrex drivers to qualify third, while Krupa separated Soriano and Jakab in the midfield. Soltero followed in seventh ahead of Luis Mesa, making his Superlights debut for PZZW. Further back, Zsolt Szucs and Rouven Meschede struggled for pace, starting only 10th and 15th respectively for Optiminal.
Race
At lights out, McGaugie held his lead comfortably, while Soltero passed Jakab for sixth. But heartbreak struck Optiminal Racing almost immediately, as former championship leader Rouven Meschede collided with Omari Watson at Turn 2, sending both spinning. Mirko Lucchini was caught in the aftermath and retired on the spot. It was a bitter end to Rouven’s Superlights season, and with Szucs running 14th, Optiminal’s hopes of taking third in the championship effectively ended there.
Post-race, Rouven said “Well, the race was probably one of the shortest races I’ve ever had! The season has to be divided into two parts. The first part was when I was leading by 30 points and we were also leading the constructors. The second part was probably the nightmare of Optiminal. But it was a fun season overall!”
McGaugie worked hard to control the pace and deny Harry Smith any DRS advantage, while the pack behind settled into rhythm. On Lap 7, Murno swept around the outside of Smith to take second and bridge the gap to the leader. Two laps later, he brought himself within DRS range. His teammate pitted on the same lap, switching to another set of softs for a planned three-stop strategy.
A lap later, McGaugie and Soltero double-stacked in the pits, both emerging behind Jakab. The undercut worked perfectly for True North Motorsport, who gained valuable track position.
The race’s turning point came soon after. On fresher tyres, McGaugie attempted a bold move on Norbert Jakab between Turns 11 and 12. Contact followed, with Jakab spinning and suffering light damage.
Up front, Smith reclaimed the race lead from Murno before the Brazilian pitted for mediums. Soriano stopped the following lap, clearly mirroring True North’s strategy in their title battle.
When the pit cycle settled, Soriano rejoined just ahead of Jakab, with Murno two seconds up the road. The pair began duelling over what was effectively second place on strategy. Soriano defended the inside into the hairpin, holding position, while Smith rejoined a second and a half behind his teammate, giving True North the advantage at the halfway point.
Another incident soon followed, as McGaugie clashed with Szucs through the penultimate corner, this time with Owen coming off worse and forced to pit a lap later.
Lunarc delayed their pit stops longer than most, allowing Fidock to pressure Jakab, pushing the Hungarian back into the clutches of Soriano and Smith. Kwint briefly split the leading pair of Murno and Krupa before both pitted on Lap 16.
Post race, Luke Mitchell said “A very solid season, far from ideal but some really good moments and lots of results that didn’t show the true pace of what we had. Proud of Kings for finishing P7 in the team’s championship and to break into the top 10 in the driver standings. Abu Dhabi was a disaster from my point of view but as an overall season goes, I’d give it a 6/10”
Running on worn softs, the True North cars struggled to match the pace of the medium-shod Netrex drivers. Soriano overtook before Turn 5 to take P3, while Smith attempted an outside move at Turn 9, it didn’t stick, but he made the same move work a lap later. Seeing the softs fade, Krupa pitted immediately after for a fresh set of mediums.
By Lap 22, Jakab and McGaugie were once again locked in combat. A daring dive into Turn 5 wasn’t enough for Owen to pass, as both had DRS on James Knox ahead. The two banged wheels through multiple corners before finally clearing Mitchell-Malm and Robin Moelling, the latter involved in an earlier Turn 9 crash that also ended Kwint’s race.
With clear air, McGaugie attacked again into Turn 9, this time making the move stick for P6. Jakab, however, immediately countered with DRS to reclaim the place before Turn 9 on the next lap. The pair traded positions again, one of the toughest battles of the season, pushing each other to the absolute limit which was allowing Soltero to close in just behind.
Smith made his final stop with 19 laps remaining, while Murno began chasing Puschke for second place. Behind them, the battle between McGaugie, Jakab, and Soltero intensified. With two Brehm GP cars chasing one True North, tensions ran high.
Smith rejoined just ahead of the trio, giving him breathing room. Soltero then pounced at Turn 5, diving inside Jakab while McGaugie overshot slightly. As all three exited the corner side by side, Soltero snatched P6. Jakab fought back down the straight, but in the chaos that followed, three-wide into Turn 9, disaster struck. McGaugie backed out, forcing Norbert Jakab wide, but Soltero was caught mid-corner and hit from behind. The contact spun the Spaniard and damaged his rear wing, ending his race just a few laps later, a heartbreaking end to a stellar recovery drive.
Both Jakab and McGaugie pitted again on Lap 32, while Murno passed Puschke to reclaim the race lead. Soriano led from Smith, while Krupa’s overtake attempt on Murno kept the Brazilian on edge. After a final pit stop for softs, Murno rejoined third, 14 seconds behind Soriano with eight laps to go; too far to mount a serious challenge.
Three laps from the end, Murno overtook Smith, denying Netrex their first 1-2 finish of the season. Even so, it marked their second double podium of the year, with Jose Soriano taking his sixth win of the season, Murno securing back-to-back podiums, and Smith celebrating his first top-three finish since Hungary.
Behind the podium finishers, Draig’s Philipp Puschke finished fifth, overtaking Soltero for fifth in the championship following the Spaniard’s retirement. His team mate Tom van der Voort had this say after the race: “As much as I wanted this year to be an improvement, it turned out to be my worst year with Draig yet. No amount of racing driver excuses can save that. I’ll regroup and come back stronger next year.”
Rouven Meschede retained fourth overall, while McGaugie finished seventh ahead of Jakab in eighth. Zsolt Szucs recorded his best-ever Superlights result in 11th, confirming Brehm GP’s third place in the Teams’ Championship.
After the race finished, Owen had this to say about his performance at Abu Dhabi: “Pace was looking really good after seeing it compared to the Netrex guys. Pole was in the bag and the plan was to run away from the front. I got out of the DRS but i had to overtake a backmarker around the outside of the final corner which got everyone back in my DRS. I had to undercut and to make it work I had to overtake everyone ASAP. Jakab pushed me onto the kerb and we made contact after I thought that he hadn’t boxed yet – which is why I went for the move. After a silly mistake I had to box again and move onto a different strategy and save tyres, where I met Jakab again and had a ding dong battle. I kept it clean and never went for anything crazy but Jakab overreacted a few times and made us lose time. After spinning trying to enter the pits I had to go a lap longer than I wanted before boxing for the last stint, which meant I had to catch 5 seconds to Jakab. I managed to easily overtake him and just had to cruise to the end.”
There was jubilation, too, for PZZW, who enjoyed their best-ever team result; Krupa narrowly missed the podium in fourth, and debutant Luis Mesa impressed on debut with a superb sixth-place finish. “It was really amazing for me to begin my Superlights career with this good result and helping PZZW to score more points to get the highest place possible on the standings”, Luis told us after the race.
With Jose Soriano completing the double by securing both the Drivers’ and Teams’ Championships for Netrex GP, they look set to stay and defend their crown next year.
Behind them, True North Motorsport and Optiminal Racing will already be planning their response, and after the season we’ve just witnessed, expectations for next year are sky-high.
After the race, True North Manager Carter McColman said “This season for True North has been hard fought and I could not be prouder of the drivers for their dedication and commitment to the season. Original predictions had us winning the championship but I never had that as the ultimate goal. I want to thank Jan Dragoun, Norbert Jakab, Lucas Murno, Arsen Saifullin and Oussama Knani for their work this season on track and off. I also want to thank David Fidock for putting us in the position for success that we found ourselves in this year. While we ultimately did not win the championship, we are incredibly proud of the work we did this year, and we are excited to make our SL1 debut in 2026. See you on track and hope everyone enjoys a wonderful break!”
Some may wish to get promoted to Superleague – who that will be, will be a question that will be answered at GPVWC Day in 9 days time.
