He came in as a replacement for Japanese driver Bankcy, who was busy in the Asian Le Mans Series in nearby Dubai this weekend – and not unsurprisingly dominated the fourth weekend of the Porsche Carrera Cup Middle East 2025/26 in Abu Dhabi: Porsche Supercup star Robert de Haan secured two pole positions and two victories – allowing the Japanese team Seven x Seven to regain the lead in the Team Championship. Unfortunately, James Wallis, one of the overall title contenders, also missed this great warm and sunny race weekend after feeling unwell on Friday.

Already during free practice on Saturday midday, de Haan set the fastest time ahead of last race winner Caleb Sumich from Australia and championship leader Taichi Watarai from Japan, who was looking for a comeback after a disappointing Dubai weekend one week ago. Cedric Chassang topped the ProAM class this weekend and finished in P7 overall, with Petr Brecka from the Czech Republic leading the Masters category.

Qualifying in the afternoon again saw De Haan in front, the Dutchman claiming his first pole position of the weekend, half a second ahead of Watarai and Sumich in P3, with Khaled Alahmadi in P4 fastest of the GCC category. ProAM driver Chassang ended in P8 overall, while the Masters class saw a little surprise: Rawad Sarriedine from Lebanon, who for the very first time took part in the PCCME, was fastest ahead of competitors Mark J. Thomas and Petr Brecka.

The first race on Saturday evening was also the first night race for the PCCME at Yas Marina Circuit, which provides a great atmosphere under the gleaming lights and with its very special architecture. Robert de Haan didn't have a good start and dropped back to P3 for a short time, but managed to get at least back to P2 already during the first lap by passing Khaled Alahmdi. In the back of the field Petr Brecka took the lead, which Sarriedine had a spin and lost a lot of ground. At the beginning of lap 3 the Safety Car had to come out for three laps due to debris on the back straight, with marshals needing to clear the track before racing could resume.

Premiere moment: Saturday’s opening race was the first night race ever held under the floodlights at Yas Marina Circuit, Abu Dhabi. Directly after the restart De Haan began to put a lot of pressure on leader Watarai, at the same time having to be careful not to take too much risk in the fight between the two teammates. On lap 8 he managed to get by and then extended his lead until the chequered flag, with Alahmadi finishing in P3 behind Watarai and also winning the GCC class. Frenchman Chassang as ProAM competitor ended up in P7 overall, with Brecka winning the Masters category ahead of Krister Andero from Sweden and Canadian expat Mark J. Thomas.

Qualifying 2 on Sunday morning saw de Haan claiming his second pole position, this time ahead of Sumich and Watarai, with Alexandra Vateva, the only female driver in the field, lining up in P4. Saud Al Saud in P5 was fastest in the GCC class, ProAm driver Chassang ended up in P8 overall while Krister Andero topped the Masters category ahead of Sarriedine.

Unfortunately, the Lebanese was affected by a technical problem already on the formation lap for race 2, which caused race control to send the field into a second formation lap while reducing the race distance from 14 to 13 laps. This time, de Haan immediately took the lead from pole position while Watarai took P2 from Sumich – an order that remained stable until the end of the race and meant that Watarai extended his championship lead ahead of the Australian.

“It was a great weekend”, said de Haan. “I am thankful that I was invited to step in for Bankcy. We did a lot of things right and I am happy and proud that I was able to contribute to Team Seven x Seven’s success. In general, the PCCME is a great preparation for every driver for the upcoming European summer Porsche series...”

While Vateva also kept her fourth place, there was a change of position between the two Saudi drivers during the last lap, when Khaled Alahmadi managed to pass Saud Al Saud to win the GCC class again. Cedric Chassang finished in P8 overall, while there was a change in the Masters class: Petr Brecka had taken the lead in the class at the start and also crossed the finish line first just ahead of Andero. But he had received a 5-second-penalty for a false start which dropped him back to P3 behind the Swede, who still leads the Masters championship.

Robert Lechner, Series Head and Promoter, was very happy about the Abu Dhabi round, which not only provided highclass racing, but also a lot of activities off-track: Together with PME and their local importer Ali & Sons, an exclusive Porsche event for invited guests only was hosted over the weekend. Each day, around 500 participants enjoyed the races and were also able to take part in a classic Porsche car parade between the PCCME sessions. The two official series partners, Splendid Yachting and Startrader, attended the event with their senior management and their team throughout the weekend, gaining valuable insights into the PCCME operation over both days.

“These kinds of events also continuously rise the value of this series, together with the close racing on track we are seeing each weekend”, Lechner said. “Now there is a little break until the final two race weekend in April, which will be support events to for Bahrain and Saudi Arabian F1 GPs. Our whole team will take the time to be well prepared again for the upcoming championship decisions, which promise to be very tight in all classes.”
Robert Lechner, Series Head and Promoter