Impressive doubles for Pereira, Sh Hamad and Almuyini at BIC
Manama : The trio of Dylan Pereira, Shaikh Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa and Ahmed Almuyini all secured fantastic doubles over the weekend, to highlight an action-packed sixth round of National Race Day at Bahrain International Circuit (BIC) in Sakhir.
Pereira won both races in the Porsche GT3 Cup Challenge Middle East, Shaikh Hamad won the two races in the BIC 2,000cc Challenge, and Almuyini claimed both sprints in the Bahrain Motorcycle Racing (BMR) 600.
All three series, along with the Bahrain Super Sport Championship (BSSP) 125, made up the National Race Day programme.
In the GT3 Cup, Pereira bested a field of 17 other drivers and secured his fine double after taking race two today in 24mins 52.306secs. He completed the 12-lap event around BIC’s 5.412-kilometre Grand Prix track with a 4.794secs gap ahead of runner-up Tom Oliphant. Charlie Frijns came third 10.056secs behind. The top three overall were all a part of the Gold class.
Winning the Silver category was Saul Hack. He finished ahead of Team Bahrain’s aces, His Highness Shaikh Isa bin Abdulla Al Khalifa and Shaikh Isa bin Salman Al Khalifa, who were second and fifth, respectively, in class. The Bronze category was won by Mohammed Al Saud.
In race one held on Friday, Pereira took a pole-to-flag win in 27mins 01.481secs. Al Faisal Al Zubair was second 6.672secs behind, and Glynn Geddie came third 7.423secs back to complete the top three overall and in the Gold class.
In the Silver category, J B Simmenauer was first. His Highness Shaikh Isa bin Abdulla came third while Shaikh Isa bin Salman was eighth in class. The Bronze category was claimed by Mark Radcliffe.
In the BIC 2,000cc Challenge, Shaikh Hamad had a near-perfect weekend. He started off slow in practice but made up for it in Qualifying by taking pole position for the weekend’s first race.
Driving a Honda Civic, Shaikh Hamad won race one with a comfortable lead at the front, completing the 12-lap sprint around BIC’s 2.55-kilometre Inner Track in 15mins 47.146secs.
He was 3.169secs ahead of runner-up Ahmed bin Khanen in a Honda Civic EG4.
Mohammed Faqihi came in third 15.153secs behind while Raed Himmo was fourth 24.734secs back. Both Faqihi and Himmo were driving Civics.
Nasser Al Alawi in a Honda S2,000 was fifth and Majed Himmo in another Civic came sixth overall.
In race two, Shaikh Hamad completed his double with an even more comfortable gap from the rest of the field. The former champion completed this sprint in 15mins 48.424secs.
Shaikh Hamad was 8.091secs ahead of repeat runner-up bin Khanem while Himmo was this time on the final podium step 19.793secs back of the winner.
Faqihi, Tareq Al Tajer in a Ford Focus and Lee Stones in the top six.
A total of 14 drivers took part in each race of the 2,000cc Challenge.
In the BMR 600, which featured 16 riders, Almuyini was the man to beat all day long. He dominated the first 11-lap race and took the chequered flag in 13mins 09.944s – a massive 28.524secs ahead of Adel Najjar in second. Nasser Al Khadra took third place 28.741secs back. All three riders were competing in the Super Stock class.
Top three in the lower-rung Hornet class were winner Pawel Rosciszewski, Ali Abdulhussain and Abdullah Al Banai.
In race two, Almuyini left no questions unanswered as to who was going to be victorious. He won race one in 21mins 35.625secs. He once again enjoyed a big lead over second-placer Nasser Al Khadra, who was 21.813secs off the winning pace. Ebrahim Shareeda came third 26.008s behind the victor.
All three were in the Super Stock class. The Hornets riders consisted of the same trio on the podium.
The day’s lone race in the Bahrain Super Sport Championship (BSSP) race was won by Abdul Samee. He completed their eight-lap event in 13mins 04.630secs.
Samee edged out Hussain Al Aswad by just 0.155secs, while Georges Mokbel claimed third place 17.473secs.
Nine riders competed in the BSSP race.
After all the action on each day, a podium ceremony was held to honour the winners.
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