Team Abu Dhabi’s Humaid Al Massaood and Jassim Al Shamsi put in a strong German showing this weekend at the world-renowned Nurburgring as they battled it out in round two of the Radical European Masters.

The legendary track, which has been part of the global motorsport scene since the 1920s, lived up to its demanding reputation and provided a steep learning curve for the Emirati duo who, despite only joining the Abu Dhabi Tourism Authority (ADTA)-backed outfit this year, adapted impressively.

Al Masaood was in the Team Abu Dhabi Radical SR3 cockpit for the first qualifying session, where he clocked up the ninth fastest time in his class. Al Shamsi was next in qualifying two and impressed immediately by setting the third fastest time.

For Race 1 it was Al Masaood who came under starters orders and drove a steady stint before handing over the Team Abu Dhabi car, in tenth place, to Al Shamsi who immediately started to push hard to make up positions. The Emirati driver impressed on his first visit to ‘The Ring’ – a display marred only by an unfortunate spin that dropped him to 12th in his class.

"After learning the track I was very satisfied to be 2.5 seconds quicker in qualifying than I was in all four practice sessions. The car was great and the team found a perfect set-up for me. I really enjoyed racing at such a famous track. If anything it taught me how to battle for a good position while in traffic. We will be stronger next time for sure," said Al Shamsi.

Starting from third on the grid, Al Shamsi had the first stint in Race 2 and was amongst the leaders early on. Again he impressed by keeping a strong pace with the SR3 Class front-runners and was fourth at the hand over to Al Masaood. From then on luck deserted the Emiratis as the car started developing severe handling problems which hampered their progress. Al Masaood did well to nurse the stricken car home in seventh.

"I struggled a bit with traffic on my flying lap during qualifying, but that’s motorsport, it's all gaining experience and I want to learn as much as possible on this famous circuit. The conditions this weekend have been great, bright and sunny just like Abu Dhabi, so we felt right at home," added Al Masaood.

Team Principal, Carl Rolaston, was pleased with the team’s overall performance and praised the Abu Dhabi drivers continuing progress.

"There is lots of interest in the team as always. People are fascinated with Abu Dhabi and they always ask where our drivers learnt their skills. With so much practice time, we were able to work hard on set-up which helped massively. I kept hearing Team Abu Dhabi mentioned in the commentary, it's like a celebrity team, Jassim even got asked for his autograph!" said Rolaston.

Team Abu Dhabi’s Radical European Masters sister outfit - the AUH Motorsports run squad consisting of UAE based Jordan Gorgor and Bassam Kronfli – also continued its campaign in the SR8 Class.

Grogor was third fastest in first practice but Kronfli - who had technical problems in the second session - became stranded out on track and only managed the 32nd best time.

Staring from third on the grid, Grogor held the position in Race 1 until the driver change with Kronfli, where a slip-up in the pit stop meant the team lost about 30 seconds. Kronfli however put in a great fight to cross the line in fourth.

Starting from 27th on the grid for Race 2 was always going to be a tough challenge. Kronfli rose to it and was up to 16th at the end of the first lap and climbed to eighth before being bumped off at the hairpin. He lost several places but powered on to hand over the car in 11th to Grogor. The reigning UAE Radical champion proceeded to carve his way towards the front and was as high as sixth when an engine failure put an end to their afternoon. Their final classification put them in 20th place.