BIC to serve up treat to F1 fans

Manama : Bahrain International Circuit (BIC) in Sakhir is set to serve up a spectacular treat today for all ticket-holders to the 2016 Formula 1 Gulf Air Bahrain Grand Prix.

Fans will from 5pm to 6.45pm will be able to enjoy a F1 Pit Lane Walk and get an up-close look at some of the top flight’s teams while they are hard at work in preparation for tomorrow’s start to racing. After the Pit Lane Walk will be a live performance featuring Moroccan star Saad Lamjarred, which will be only the first of a series of fantastic concerts to be held all through the weekend.

Fans will be able to see F1 teams in their element, take photographs and maybe even spot some of the sport’s star drivers hard at work with their engineers and mechanics. They will then be able to enjoy the music of one of the biggest Arabic stars today, as Lamjarred serenades the crowd with many of his biggest hits. All those with tickets to the race weekend will be able to enjoy both Thursday activities.

Lamjarred arrived on Tuesday night and his concert heads a fantastic line-up of live performances at this year’s Bahrain Grand Prix. He will be followed tomorrow by reggae royalty Jimmy Cliff and superstar DJs Axwell and Ingrosso. That will then lead to Saturday’s show by artist and producer Avicii.

This fantastic line-up of performers continues BIC’s tradition of signing only the very best from the entertainment world for the Kingdom’s F1 spectacle each year.

The BIC has also completed preparations across the F1 Village vending area and that was the same in the F1 garages and down the Paddock, where the teams were busy making their final preparations for the start of the weekend’s action. A majority of the top flight’s star drivers have already touched down in Bahrain, with the latest to arrive include Jenson Button of McLaren, Felipe Massa of Williams, Daniel Ricciardo of Red Bull Racing, Sergio Perez of Force India, Romain Grosjean of Haas, Carlos Sainz Jr and Max Verstappen of Toro Rosso, and Marcus Ericsson and Felipe Nasr of Sauber.

Aside from the Pit Lane Walk and Saad Lamjarred concert, also happening Thursday are F1’s initial scrutineering, the F1 team managers’ meeting, a track inspection and a high-speed track test.

On-track action is scheduled to get underway tomorrow with a pair of hour-and-a-half Practice sessions. The first is scheduled to flag off at 2pm while the next will be held under floodlights from 6pm. A third hour-long Practice will be held on Saturday from 3pm.