Behind the Scene

This week, Sami and Ed join us to give us a peek into the Mongol Rally, the crazy 10,000 mile road trip that they will be undertaking in 2023. This is like nothing you've seen on The Grand Tour, we're talking 20 countries and up to 3 months on the road. Not enough? Oh, did we mention the maximum engine capacity is 1,200cc? We talk about how they're preparing for the trip, get the download on the cars they've chosen and talk about the reason they are going on this epic yet clearly insane adventure. We also touch on UAE car clubs, with Sami currently heading up the Dubai Renault Club and Ed managing the very small yet dedicated UAE Morgan Club.

This week Arun joins us to discuss his journey through the world of photography, eventually becoming one of the region's best known commercial automotive photographers.    We discuss the great length he goes to understand how a car behaves in certain environments to create the most realistic and compelling images that you see everyday on Sheikh Zayed Road or inside brochures and don't even realise.   Arun tells us about his further aspirations and how a Lamborghini global campaign is the true goal, with local dealer photoshoots being more of a low-hanging fruit and something that photographers should all drive to exceed the standard of.

This week, Sultan Al Suwaidi and Wissam Hatim join us to discuss why sponsorships are so scarce in this region, despite the enormous costs associated with motorsport.   We also hear about Sultan's devastating karting accident that proves even the safest motorsports can be dangerous.   Wissam talks to us about his passion for tuning and his love of constantly tweaking to get a faster time, as well as progress on a K-swapped GT86 that he and Sultan will drive together next season.

This week, Dave Egan from Driftgames and organiser of the Emirates Drift Championship (EDC) joins us to discuss drifting in the UAE and how it stacks up against the best of the best from across the globe.   We discuss how the Middle East drift scene evolved from freestyle drift and how that makes for a more unique and theatrical event here, as well as the passion of those trying to make a name for themselves in the local and international drifting scene.   We also try to rationalise why car people choose impractical and in every way inadequate cars over and above the latest modern cars that are way more practical, fuel efficient, fast and drivable.

This week Mohammed - the man behind Flat12 - finally joins us to discuss the car scene in the UAE with a focus on events, of which he is responsible for some of the biggest and highest quality across the country.    We discuss the ever-growing popularity of The Grand Picnic as well as Ramadan Drives and the long-term sustainability of running events for free when the rest of the world has been charging entry for many years now.  We also recognise the huge amount of effort it requires from Mohammed and his team to organise and run such events; essentially a second job that has its own pressures, challenges and rewards.

This week master detailer Jen Mayes joins us to talk all things wrapping, paint protection film (PPF), ceramic coating and detailing with a fresh view on the UAE market having begun her career in the USA.   We discuss the clear difference between price and quality as well as the disparity of the UAE market - where a high price doesn't always guarantee a good product.

Rayyan joins us to discuss his career in building stanced cars that have repeatedly set the bar in the UAE scene. We dig deep into the real reason people take what is quite a controversial route on car building and how difficult is actually is to achieve the perfect fitment.

Yousef joins us to talk about the growing grassroots drifting scene in the Middle East and how it compares to experiences of drifting around the world. We also discuss the Middle East obsession with anti-lag and where the UAE drift scene, spearheaded by The Drift Home, is heading.

Jonathan Mullan of ZRT Motorsport joins us to discuss the grassroots motorsports scene in the UAE and how he took a small, independently owned race team to the famous Dubai 24 Hours.

This week we take a break from having guests to reflect on the year in cars, including more members of the CarCulture.ae team - Andy, Sid and Hashim in addition to our regulars Dan, Alex and Ahmed.   We'll see you in the new year for more new episodes with new guests!