The return of the Porsche Carrera Cup Middle East after the holiday break for round 3 of the 2024/2025 season at the Dubai Autodrome saw another dominant weekend for Janne Stiak, who scored another two victories and now has won five out of the first six races and is leading the championship with an advantage of 34 points ahead of James Wallis.

After two productive days of testing for the whole field, the 17-year-old German already set signs for what was to come when he was fastest in free practice on early Saturday afternoon, ahead of Saud Al Saud from Saudi Arabia, who also led the ProAM and GCC class, and Brit Angus Whiteside in P3. Bankcy from Japan was fastest in the Masters category.

With the sun already starting to set over the track, qualifying for the second night race of the season, the first ever for PCCME at this circuit, went underway, with the field mainly waiting for the second half of the 30-minute session to set their times. Janne Stiak secured a dominant pole position, well ahead of James Wallis, with fellow British driver Angus Whiteside in P3. Saud Al Saud in P4 overall led the ProAM and GCC class, while Bankcy again was fastest in the Masters category.

Under the bright lights of Dubai Autodrom, Stiak then lost the start to Wallis, who had a great getaway, but after a hard fight during the first lap, regained his lead and kept it until the chequered flag came out after 14 laps. The championship leader was followed to the finish line by the two Brits, James Wallis and Angus Whiteside. After a very good start, Stiak´s German fellow countryman Soeren Spreng in P5 overall won the ProAM class. Saud Al Saud was on top of the GCC class, while Bankcy in P8 overall topped the Masters category.

“It feels great to win again,” stated Stiak. “I didn’t have the best start, but fortunately I was able to get the lead back. From then on it was important to put in a controlled drive, stay focused all the time, and not make any mistakes.”

The German then secured his second pole position of the weekend in qualifying on Sunday morning, but the big surprise was the other car to make it to the front row: Saudi driver Saud Al Saud put in a great performance and got a perfect lap, which not only made him fastest in the ProAM and GCC class but also put him ahead of all the other Pro drivers, led by James Wallis in P3. Bankcy was fastest in the Masters category again.

Race 2 saw an exciting first lap, with both Al Saud and especially Wallis from P3 getting off the line better than Stiak. The Brit took the lead, but as he had been off track during the overtaking, he had to give the position back to Stiak immediately to avoid a penalty. Saud Al Saud, trying to keep up with the leaders, slightly outbraked himself, which dropped him back to P4. While in the front, Stiak could pull away again; Al Saud came under pressure from Caleb Sumich, a young Australian Pro driver, who made his PCCME debut this weekend. After a close fight over quite a few laps, he had to give in and settle for P5 overall, still winning the ProAM and the GCC class and leading both categories in the championship ahead of his teammate Khaled Alahmadi, who came third twice in Dubai. 

Janne Stiak finally crowned his perfect weekend with a second victory, ahead of the two Brits, James Wallis and Angus Whiteside. Alexandra Vateva, the only female driver in the field, finished in P8 overall, ahead of Bankcy from Japan in P9, the winner in the Masters category, who narrowed the gap to championship leader Mike Mim from Bulgaria, who finished third in both races, once behind Krister Andero and the second time behind Petr Brecka, to 18 points. 

With Round 4 of the series already taking place next weekend at Yas Marina Circuit in Abu Dhabi, Robert Lechner, Series Head and Promoter, was very happy about the Dubai round: 

“It was great to be back here at this fantastic track—and for sure we will come back next year. A big thank you to Porsche Middle East & Africa FZE for all their support! We saw very good racing over the weekend. Janne Stiak continues to show what a huge talent he is, especially in qualifying. But also a big shout-out to our local driver, Saud Al Saud, for his great performance in qualifying on Sunday. Can’t wait to see everybody again in Abu Dhabi in a few days!”