BIC gears up for National Race Day

TDT | Manama

Email: mail@newsofbahrain.com

Bahrain International Circuit (BIC), ‘The Home of Motorsport in the Middle East’, will be bringing the heat this Friday (Editor’s note: 6 December) with round three of National Race Day this 2024/2025 season.

Three of the Kingdom’s premier local racing championships are back in action, including the Bahrain Touring Car Challenge (BTCC), the Bahrain Motorcycle Championship (BMC), and Time Attack.

Competitors will be lighting up BIC’s 2.55-kilometre Inner Track from morning to the early evening for an exciting day of action in Sakhir.

All are welcome to attend Friday’s events. Tickets cost just BD2 for adults and BD1 for children. Fans will get to witness some of the best Bahrain-based racers battle it out in the three hotly contested series.

National Race Day is organised and run by BIC, in cooperation with the Bahrain Motor Federation, the Circuit Racing Commission, the Bahrain Motorcycle Commission, the Bahrain Autocross and Drift Commission, and the Motorsport Marshals Club.

Formerly known as the BIC, 2,000cc Challenge, the BTCC is the region’s longest-running national circuit racing championship. It is in its first season in its current format.

Isa Ebrahim and Andreas Buelow shared the spoils in the series’ second round, and they will be back looking to build on those victories.

Joining them on the grid are Hamad Khamis, Moaaz Elzahrawi, Ali Baqer, and Wiebke Buelow, all of whom will be competing in their respective Honda Civic challengers. The Radio Bahrain entrant will be racing in a Honda Integra to complete the field.

Friday’s events in the BTCC will feature a practice session at 9.35am, to be followed by qualifying at 12noon. That will set the stage for two 15-lap races – the first at 2.50pm followed by the second at 5.54pm.

Meanwhile, the BMC will see a large group of 18 riders battling it out in two categories – the 1,000cc and 600cc.

Round two winners Saud Al Tourah and Mohamed Al Zaidan are set to return this meeting as they look to maintain their triumphant ways in their respective classes.

The 1,000cc contenders include Al Tourah in a BMW S 1000 RR, Hassan Al Awadhi in a Yamaha R1, Nawaf Al Shuabi in a Honda CPR 100 RR, Bander Bahlul in a BMW 10004R, Fahed Al Hashash in a Suzuki GSXR, Marta Di Lauro in a Ducati 899, Abdulrahman Hassan in a BMW S 1000 RR, Bradley Stewart in a Ducati 848 Evo, Abdulaziz Al Fharm in a KTM Superduke EVO, and Mujahed Alkhashram in a Yamaha R1.

The 600cc bikers include Al Zaidan in a Kawasaki ZX6; Shaikh Khalid Al Khalifa in a Triumph Daytona; Nasser Al Khadra, Saif Al Buainain, and Ahmed Abdulrahman in Yamaha R6 bikes; Ali Bu Sahri and Abdulrahman Ahmed in a pair of Honda CBR600RR bikes; and Achraf Hamoud in a Suzuki GSXR600.

BMC practice will be at 10.10am on Friday, and then qualifying will take place at 12.25pm. There is only one race in the series, and it is scheduled to flag off at 3.24pm.

In Time Attack, competitors are set to battle it out for the quickest laps in six different competition categories, including SU, UL, MA, SA, MB, and SB. Their practice session is scheduled for 10.45am, followed by heat one at 12.50pm. Heat two will then be held at 4pm.

Following all the action, the podium ceremonies will take place at 6.30pm.

Seven rounds of National Race Day are scheduled to take place this 2024/2025 season, to be held all the way through to May.