Shaikh Salman, Alneaimi victorious in National Race Day at BIC

Shaikh Salman bin Isa bin Ebrahim Al Khalifa and Mishal Alneaimi were the stars of an action-packed National Race Day yesterday at Bahrain International Circuit (BIC) in Sakhir.

Shaikh Salman won both races in dramatic fashion in the fourth round of the BIC 2,000cc Challenge, while Alneaimi captured an historic double in the first-ever races of the Bahrain Superbike Championship (BSBK).

BIC Chief Executive Shaikh Salman bin Isa Al Khalifa was in attendance and presented the winners their respective trophies during the post-event podium ceremony. 

Former Superbike World Champion Carlos Checa was also on hand at the awarding as a guest of the BSBK.

Shaikh Salman had a little luck on his side in winning the two races in the BIC 2,000cc Challenge and in race one saw him start in the front row alongside pole-sitter and brother Shaikh Hamad bin Isa bin Ebrahim Al Khalifa. 

Driving identical Honda CIVIC challengers, the pair were well ahead of the rest of the pack, engaged in an exciting head-to-head battle for first place over the opening half of the 12-lap sprint.

A small mistake from Shaikh Hamad gave Shaikh Salman just enough room to seize the lead. He eventually went on to win in a total race time of 15 minutes 43.911 seconds. Shaikh Hamad (+0.972) had to settle for the runner-up spot, while Alex Longden (+24.495) in a BMW 3 Series/F20C was third.

Tim Birkin in a Honda Integra was classified fourth, Stephen Kellogg in a Honda CIVIC fifth, Lee Stones in a Renault Clio sixth, Tareq Al Tajer in a Ford Focus was seventh and Hussain Karimi in a Honda CRX finished eighth.

In race two, Shaikh Salman (16:13.950) had a more convincing victory and the former 2,000cc champion took the chequered flag with Birkin (+1.346) in second place and Stones +1:05.413) in third.

Shaikh Hamad had a mechanical problem and had to drop out of the race, while Karimi, Longden and Kellogg were also not classified.

Meanwhile, in the BSBK where the riders were competing on identical Ducati 899 Panigale sport bikes, Alneaimi registered a rousing start in the series’ inaugural meeting.

The Qatari dominated the opening race, winning by a massive margin ahead of Wesley Pearce (+32.798) from the UK in second, while Bahrain’s Ali Adiby (+33.119) claimed the last podium place.

Rounding out the top eight were Suriya Raja of India, Shaikh Jassim Al Thani of Qatar, Ian Charles of the UK, Thamer Ibrahim of Saudi Arabia and Rayad Alemadi of Qatar.

In race two, Alneaimi secured another victory to send out a stern warning to his BSBK rivals. He finished the 11-lap event in 13:21.983, ahead of runner-up Pearce (+9.066) with Qatari (+9.205) third.

The next round of both the BIC 2,000cc Challenge and the BSBK will take place on February 12 at BIC.