Shaikh Salman, Al Muyini enjoy doubles

Manama : Shaikh Salman bin Isa bin Ebrahim Al Khalifa and Ahmed Al Muyini both had twice the reason to celebrate on Friday at Bahrain International Circuit (BIC) in Sakhir.

They won both of their races in their championships, held as part of Round Five of National Race Day.

Shaikh Salman claimed his victories in the BIC 2,000cc Challenge, while Al Muyini rode to his double in the Bahrain Motorcycle Racing 600.

Hussain Al Aswad was also a winner, taking the chequered flag in the sole race of the Bahrain Super Sport Championship (BSSP) 125.

In the BIC 2,000cc Challenge, Shaikh Salman narrowly won race one ahead of pole-sitter Raed Himmo. Both were driving Honda Civics, but Shaikh Salman was 2.570 seconds quicker to the finish in 12 laps. He claimed the chequered flag in 15 minutes 40.519 seconds.

Mohammed Faqihi, also behind the wheel of a Civic, completed the podium placers 12.888s off the winning pace in third.

In race two, Shaikh Salman completed his double in 15:50.212. He was 3.810s in front of Nasser Al Alawi, who finished as runner-up in his Honda S2000, while Himmo came third 11.380s back to take his second podium of the day.

In the BMR 600, Al Muyini enjoyed a virtually perfect weekend. After topping the times in practice and securing pole position in qualifying, Al Muyini stormed to first place in the 11-lap opening sprint in 13:16.036. Al Muyini was 10.910s ahead of Nasser Al Khadra and 20.817s in front of Ebrahim Shareeda.

Race two was no different up front, with Al Muyini dominating for a winning time of 13:21.447. Al Khadra was again in second this time 7.563s behind. Adel Najjar claimed third place a distant 27.376s back.

In the BSSP 125, which is a category under the Bahrain Superbike Championship, Al Aswad won 1.006s ahead of Abdul Samee while Yusuf Qaed came third 3.614s adrift.

The winners were presented their trophies in a podium ceremony attended by high-ranking officials from BIC. The sixth round of National Race Day is scheduled to take place on March 16.