BIC begins to welcome WEC participants ahead of this weekend’s Bapco 8 Hours of Bahrain

TDT | Manama

The Daily Tribune – www.newsofbahrain.com

Bahrain International Circuit (BIC), "The Home of Motorsport in the Middle East", has begun welcoming to the Kingdom of Bahrain the superstar drivers, teams and race officials taking part in this weekend’s highly anticipated Bapco 8 Hours of Bahrain.

The final round of the 2022 FIA World Endurance Championship (WEC) takes Sakhir by storm this Friday and Saturday (November 11 and 12) , and the event’s participants are now here and have kicked off their final preparations for a spectacular weekend of endurance racing.

Race fans will be able to enjoy the Le Mans-inspired action over two days, but the on-track programme gets underway on Thursday (10 November) behind closed doors.

The weekend’s competitors were given a warm welcome upon reaching Bahrain by BIC’s Meet and Greet Team at Bahrain International Airport, and were assisted with their arrival formalities along with their transportation to their respective residences.

Among those spotted at the airport were Peugeot Totalenergies drivers Paul di Resta and Gustavo Menezes, who will be making an historic debut in Bahrain in their team’s 9X8 Hypercars; along with Alfa Romeo F1 Team test and reserve driver Robert Kubica, who is set to compete with LMP2 outfit Prema Orlen Team, and LMGTE Pro driver Richard Lietz, who will be aiming to help Porsche claim the GT Manufacturers’ world title to wrap up the WEC season at BIC.

Meanwhile, set-up has gone up a notch at all corners of BIC with the WEC teams unpacking their crates of equipment to get their respective garages and team buildings ready for Thursday’s start to racing. The events on that day include a pair of 90-minute WEC Practices, along with sessions for the two support series the 2022 WTCR-FIA World Touring Car Cup and the Porsche Sprint Challenge Middle East.

Prior to that, on Wednesday, scrutineering of the teams’ cars will be conducted by officials while drivers will have their traditional track walk around BIC’s 5.412-kilometre Grand Prix circuit.

This year’s Bapco 8 Hours of Bahrain is the final round of the WEC’s landmark 10th anniversary season.

Tickets to the WEC spectacle continue to be available and fans are urged to purchase theirs today so as not to miss out on another extra special occasion at BIC.

All retail customers who have purchased their tickets before 12noon on Wednesday, 9 November, will be automatically entered into a raffle for a chance to win a "money-can’t-buy" opportunity to be on the grid right before the start of the Bapco 8 Hours of Bahrain on Saturday, 12 November.

Tickets cost just BD5 for adults and BD2.5 for kids for the two-day weekend programme. They can be purchased online at bahraingp.com or by calling the BIC Hotline on +973-17450000.

The endurance racing spectacle will feature a packed 37-car grid with competition in four WEC race categories. They will be competing in wheel-to-wheel action from day to night, making for a brilliant spectacle that flags off under the afternoon sun and then wraps up under the stars while being brilliantly lit by BIC’s state-of-the-art floodlights.

The Bapco 8 Hours of Bahrain’s significance goes beyond the racing and entertainment.

This year, BIC will be implementing a ground-breaking new Green Ticket project, which will set the benchmark for a number of initiatives in areas of sustainability. This very special initiative is being done in cooperation with The Oil and Gas Holding Company B.S.C.   ‘nogaholding’ and The Government of Bahrain.

A proportion of the ticket price, together with an amount matched by nogaholding, will be donated to a local environmental project in cooperation with the Government. This particular fund will finance the planting of mangroves in Bahrain, and meaningfully contribute to Bahrain’s commitment to quadruple mangrove coverage in The Kingdom by 2035.

For more information on the Bapco 8 Hours of Bahrain or other BIC events and activities, visit bahraingp.com or call the BIC Hotline on +973-17450000.