Bahrain’s Isa back on track

Manama : Even a hazy Bahrain sky couldn’t block Dylan Pereira’s sights on the podium this weekend, as the young Luxembourg driver repeated his Race 1 form to take his second win. Pereira’s double win leaves the championship title undecided, and left to be resolved in a climatic final round taking place at the 2018 Formula 1 Gulf Air Bahrain Grand Prix.

Team Bahrain’s Isa S. Al Khalifa bounced back from a disappointing result in Race 1 of the weekend, securing a tenth-place finish overall and collected some important points. After incurring a track penalty from Race 1, Al Khalifa started from 17th on the grid regardless of his qualifying session. The young Bahraini driver knew he had his work cut out from the very start, and had to drive a very strategic race.

Al Khalifa picked off his opponents one by one to eventually move up seven positions and cross the finish line in tenth place. Speaking after the race, Al Khalifa said: “The race was quite interesting due to the penalty I incurred from Race 1. I started at the back of the grid and always knew it was going to be hard work. I wanted to focus on having a good race, and try to recoup as many points as possible.

“I had a great start and was side-by-side with Christoffer Bergstroem all the way to the first turn. I managed to gain another two positions early, and was happy to continue my race in 15th until the next opportunity came. The new tires helped me a lot and my pace was quick. I moved up a couple more positions into tenth and held that until the end of the race. I moved up seven places in total and just missed out on a podium finish in my category. I’m looking forward to the next round and hope I can raise the Bahrain flag in front of my home fans.”

Second member of Team Bahrain Isa A. Al Khalifa achieved back-to-back podiums in his return to the championship this weekend, finishing in seventh place overall and second place in the Silver Category, a position higher than his third-place finish in Race 1.

Ahead of Team Bahrain, no one could match Pereira’s pace as he pushed himself up to second from his fourth-place start by the first turn, before overtaking Charlie Frijns in lap two and pulling clear of the grid until the chequered flag. Frijns who started in pole, conceded his place to Pereira before Oliphant forced him to lock his brakes under pressure and sacrifice his tires. Oliphant ended the race in second with Frijns holding out for third.