Shaikh Isa to drive JOTA prototype

Bahrain’s up-and-coming race car driver His Highness Shaikh Isa bin Abdulla Al Khalifa is set to take part in the official rookie test of the FIA World Endurance Championship (WEC) today at Bahrain International Circuit (BIC) in Sakhir.

Shaikh Isa will be testing for leading British endurance racing team JOTA in the Jackie Chan DC Racing no. 37 Oreca 07 Gibson.

“I’m thrilled to get the chance to test JOTA’s Oreca LMP2 car in the WEC rookie test and to do so at my home track makes the opportunity even better,” said His Highness Shaikh Isa bin Abdulla Al Khalifa.

“While the car is new to me, I know the circuit very well and hope to use my knowledge to put on a good performance on Sunday.

“It’s also an honour to work with JOTA, a team with so much experience in endurance racing and a number of highly successful drivers in their race line-up.

” JOTA Sport Team Partner David Clark commented: “We are delighted to welcome Shaikh Isa to JOTA for the rookie test on Sunday at BIC which is of course his home circuit.

“He will receive a warm welcome from the team and will get tremendous technical and sporting advice from each member.”

The WEC rookie test takes place the day right after the FIA WEC Bapco 8 Hours of Bahrain, the fourth round of the 2019/2020 WEC season.

Shaikh Isa has already built up a packed and impressive resume with experience in a number of different forms of motorsport, including the Porsche GT3 Cup Challenge Middle East. He competed in the one-make series for the past three seasons, taking part in races at BIC, which he lists as his favourite racetrack, Dubai Autodrome and Yas Marina Circuit.

Last month, Shaikh Isa was a standout driver in the Pure McLaren GT Series event at Bahrain, winning one race and finishing runner-up in another, while setting the fastest overall race lap of the weekend.

In addition to his successes in GT cars, Shaikh Isa has also tested Formula 2 and Formula 3 cars in the past two years, but will make his debut in prototypes with JOTA on Sunday.

The WEC rookie test gives teams the opportunity to run up-and-coming promising drivers in the same cars that battled for victory over eight hours of racing on the previous day, while drivers get the experience of working in the WEC paddock