News round-up: New Infiniti showroom, F1 in Schools and Nissan Maxima UAE launch

It’s been a busy month in the UAE as the Abu Dhabi Infiniti dealer opened a new showroom, the F1 in Schools programme had their finals, and the Dubai dealer for Nissan held a public launch for the new Maxima.

Al Masaood Automobiles, the exclusive distributor for Infiniti in Abu Dhabi and Al Ain, has opened two new showrooms based on their “IREDI Infiniti Centre” corporate design concept. A new one is located in Abu Dhabi’s Landmark Tower and the other is the refurbished branch in Najda. The IREDI look was established in 2005 and here in the Middle East has now been applied to Infiniti dealerships across the region.

The F1 in Schools National Finals were held last week. Students from 12 UAE schools set up their own fantasy Formula One teams with a full business plan to design, build and race a miniature racing car. Propelled by carbon dioxide cartridges, the small balsa wood cars sped along the straight track at speeds of up to 80 kph. Team ‘Blitz’ from Emirates International School, Meadows in Dubai clocked the fastest time of the day. However, when it comes to overall winners, the judging process combines scores from all elements of the competition: racing, engineering, verbal presentations and team marketing display. This means that team ‘Knight Hawks’ from The Indian High School came out winners in the Professional Class, while team ‘Impulse’ from Repton School were triumphant in the Rookie Class. The two team champions will now fly the flag for the UAE against hundreds of students from schools all over the world at next year’s F1 in Schools World Finals in Austin, Texas.

And finally, the all-new 2016 Nissan Maxima was officially launched in the UAE with a public event at The Walk, Jumeirah Beach Residence. The event was hosted by Arabian Automobiles, the exclusive dealer for Nissan in Dubai and the Northern Emirates. We drove the car earlier, if you’re interested in the review.