Spectacular support races set for Bapco 6 Hours of Bahrain

Sakhir : The FIA WEC Bapco 6 Hours of Bahrain is set to be more than the annual endurance racing spectacle at Bahrain International Circuit (BIC).

Set to be a major part of the weekend’s on-track events are three top-class international sprint championships, each of which will certainly add a unique flavour to the highly exciting occasion.

The MRF Challenge, the Porsche GT3 Cup Challenge Middle East and the World Series Formula V8 3.5 championship will all be supporting the FIA World Endurance Championship (WEC) on November 17 and 18.

The event will mark the ninth and final round of the WEC’s 2017 season, making for an extra-thrilling meeting.

Tickets cost BD10 apiece for the entire weekend. Children aged 12 and under can get in for free.

The MRF Challenge is an India-based, single-seater championship. It features some of the fastest young talent from around the world, with races being held all across Asia.

Last season, the field battled one another in one of Asia’s fastest racing cars, but it has since been redesigned. They are powered by a two-litre Mountune Duratec engine with a max power of 250bhp.

Bahrain is the first of four meetings in the 2017 championship. Round two will be held in Dubai in December, round three in Abu Dhabi later that month and then the season finale in Chennai in February of next year.

The Porsche GT3 Cup Challenge Middle East is the region’s leading one-make championship.

This year, the series will be using new Porsche GT3 (991) Gen. II Cup cars.

The Porsche GT3 Cup is based on the highly successful Porsche formula for racing. The championship was created to give the region’s home-grown driving talent an opportunity to realize their racing potential, while enhancing personal circuit experience

It is now well established as the most exciting, successful and professional one-make series on the regional motor racing calendar

The diverse range of drivers hail from as many as a dozen different nations across the Middle East and Europe, making for a truly international line-up.

The first round of the 2017/2018 campaign will be held during the WEC weekend, with a pre-season test happening at BIC the week before. The championship continues until April of next year, with the series making stops in Dubai and Abu Dhabi before returning to BIC.

Meanwhile, the highly acclaimed World Series Formula V8 3.5 championship is set to be the newest addition to BIC’s long list of world-class championships.

Its long-awaited Bahrain debut will be supporting the Bapco 6 Hours of Bahrain, and there will be plenty to look forward with its roster of some of the most talented young drivers from across the globe in single-seater, open-wheel racing.

Cars in the series currently feature Dallara T12 chassis. They are powered by a 3.4 litre V8 engine producing 530 BHP at 9250 rpm, developed by Zytek. In addition, a Drag Reduction System is used, which operates in a similar way to the one in use in Formula 1.